Day 23 Durham to Fountains Abbey to York

Day 23 was actually one of our more relaxing days (but of course we still did a lot and saw a lot!).   We started the morning in Durham and after enjoying a nice breakfast and walk around the river, we checked out.  Then we saw medival Durham and the Durham cathedral.  Next off we drove to Fountains Abbey and Royal Water Garden.  Finally we drove to York for the night.  

First activity of the morning was walking to starbucks to get breakfast.  Spending $15 per person on the hotel breakfast didn't seem worth it when we could do a nice 10 min walk to Starbucks for a much cheaper breakfast

Breakfast in the room

Lincoln used breakfast time to enjoy his bouncer

After breakfast we went for a walk along the river to put Lincoln to sleep.  It was a beautiful walk!

View of old bridge, Durham castle and Durham Cathedral

The walk was hidden along the river for much of the way.  After this we tried to go to Hall Croft Gardens but it was closed.  Instead we just enjoyed a little more downtime in our room before checking out

After checking out we did the small town walk in Rick Steves.  We stopped at this indoor market where I actually found the duct tape I needed.

The town square was crowded with a farmers market

We stopped here for some fish and chips.  It was gigantic but very good

The old part of Durham lined with lots of cool shops

And Durham Cathedral which is why the city is a World Heritage Site.  It is Norman in design and gigantic

Door handle to the church

The church looking through the cloisters

Sadly they don't allow pictures inside.  I was able to sneak one, but it doesn't show you the true scale of the chruch

Planting by the College.  After walking back to our car we drove a little over an hour to Fountains Abbey and Royal Gardens which is another world heritage site

Fountains Abbey which of course is ruined like all other Abbey's in England because Henry the 8th wanted to get divorced

Cool looking area that still had a ceiling

The main part of the church must have been  huge!  Even in its ruined state it was very pretty

Lincoln was enjoying his walk around

Then we walked about a mile to the Water Garden part.  This English garden was built by basically a rich person who thought they could make the Abbey even more beautiful.  The pond area was lovely.  Above is this tunnel we found.  It looks like you are going far underground but it is actually the path back down to the lake area

The gardens for the top path we hiked up

Zach and Lincoln enjoying the view (well actually I think Lincoln was sleeping)

Statue in the middle of the pond

Panoramic view of the main pond area

Very large swan hanging out by the water

At this point we had to hurry back to our car.  Turns out there wasn't a path where thought so we had to walk through the deer park area and hurry back to the car before they locked the car park.  On the way we actually saw the deer the park was named after

On the drive through York we caught a glimpse of the Ripon Cathedral

After about 45 min we reached York.  We were tired from the day and it was pretty late so we just stayed in our room for the night.  We are staying at the Burton Stone Inn which is actually some nice newly renovated rooms above a local pub

We tried Uber Eats for the first time and got food from Source.  It was all very good and the Uber thing worked out quite well

Eating in our room meant Lincoln also got more bounce time so he was a happier camper.  After that it was time to finish planning a few things get the blog done and get to bed before a full day of sightseeing in York

Day 22 Edinburgh to Farne Islands to Hadrian's Wall to Durham

Hard to believe but we are already on day 22 of the trip and we only have a little over a week left!  Day 22 was filled with travel and diverse sites (with diverse weather to go along!).  We drove from Edinburgh to Seahouses to catch a cruise to the Farne Islands.  Then we drove to Hadrian's wall for a short visit and finally it was on to Durham for the night.  Another great day!

The morning started off with a good breakfast at the Channings Hotel.  While a lot of things seemed less than ideal at this hotel the breakfast was good.  Zach is enjoying his salmon and eggs

First stop on the way out was starbucks for coffee and some sandwiches for lunch later

The drive took about 2 hours and it was mostly great scenery.  Here is part of the northumberland coast as we drove past

There was a surprise castle along the coast pretty close to the Seahouses

And then we arrived at the Seahouses for our 11:45 tour of the Farne Islands by boat.  Lincoln is now a pro at the boat rides.  He loves them, and the wind especially makes him happy

Stop 1 on the tour was Staple island to see some nesting bird colonies.  There are thousands of nesting birds of different types, but many were just heading out to sea for the year

Grey seal colony.  It was hard to get their picture because by this time it was raining and they kept diving

Lighthouse.  There is some story about a girl named Grace who lived here, but I didn't catch the entire story.  I think she helped save some sailors and tragically died young

And then we landed on Inner Farne Island to see some birds.  At this point it was raining pretty good, but we only had an hour to see birds so we toughed it out

Baby bird.  His nest was right next to the viewing platform

The puffins were mostly gone for the year but we did see a few lonely ones chilling with the other birds

Dinky with his peeps

On the way back we caught a small group of puffins swimming away

Then it was time to say good bye to our boat just as it was getting nice out

Next up was a 2 hour drive south and inland to see Hadrians wall.  Again lots of great scenery this time with some sun!

We arrived at the Housestead fort only 40 min before closing.  We were told they weren't selling tickets anymore because it was quite the hike.  Well not for us.  Lincoln got backpacked up we walked the half mile up hill so we had about 30 min to explore the old roman fort built on Hadrians wall

Part of the fort

Family selfie on Hadrians Wall

View from the top of the fort

Again sheep everywhere!  They could go on the main ruins but they were on other ruins just checking out the people

An hour drive and we arrived at what is probably our nicest hotel the Radison Blu in Durham.  The room was huge and had a nice view of the river

And we got room service!  The food was pretty good, reasonably healthy and not very overpriced.  Plus that gave Lincoln some needed bouncing time

After dinner we went for a brief swim in the pool

And finally after letting Lincoln scream it out (which only lasted about 15 min!) mom and dad had a chance to drink our beer in peace and relax for while.  Lincoln seemed to do much better at sleeping now.  He only woke up once and didn't really protest going back in the crib.  Lets hope this keeps up so we can cut back to only 1-2 trips to the coffee shop each day!