We hadn’t planned to go to England when we left home. It all began when we walked the Camino back in August and September. We met a fellow pilgrim named Brian and we walked over half the Camino with him. He is from Manchester, England. Somewhere in the process of enjoying the Camino we mentioned Hadrian’s Wall. Brian had never walked it and thought it sounded like a good idea. So when we parted ways in September, he went back and started making a plan. By October he had it all scheduled and in May we were flying into Manchester to meet him. We flew into Manchester and spent a couple days exploring the city and resting. Brian was gracious to let us stay with him, which included doing our laundry and he was our tour guide. He plays bass in a band and they had a gig while we were there, so we got to experience a real pub band. He also hosted a gathering with family and friends, who we had heard about while we were walking the Camino, and we were delighted to meet them.
After a few days we headed up to Bowness on Solway to start our six day walk, west to east (mostly) on Hadrian’s Wall. We had set housing for the week which meant we didn’t have to carry our heavy packs, thank goodness! But it did involve some transportation coordination from the beginning and ending of each days walk, which could get complicated. We took buses, we used Brian’s car, a taxi and we even hitchhiked once. The walk was beautiful and peaceful with very interesting history. The scenery in northern England is incredible, hilly in spots but great views North into Scotland and south into the Lakes District. We walked through many pastures of cows and sheep, it was lambing season. We had all kinds of weather including hail but we tucked into a pub to miss that. The rhythm of walking for multiple days felt good after so much fast paced travel, and we took our time.
Jim and I added a day because Brian had to get back for another concert, life of the rich and famous. So all in all we completed about 60 miles of the wall, which was good enough for us. We then took a train down to York to visit the historic city and a few days of site-seeing. We walked the city wall, sipped tea, learned about some of the gruesome history and how the Harry Potter series got its inspiration for Dagon alley from here. After a few days we hopped on a train back to Manchester to have one more evening with Brian and a farewell bonfire in his backyard. It felt like a quick trip and there is so much more to explore and so much more walking to do, another time. The highlights definitely were visiting with our friend again and walking together.
We left Manchester for two quick stops in the States. First we flew to Boston, rented a car and drove to Burlington, Vermont for Emily’s graduation. She finished nursing school and we celebrated over a long weekend, including her best friend Morgan who flew out to join the party. Burlington is a nice, little city. It reminds me of Seattle in some ways with all the microbrews, cafes, good coffee, and street musicians, plus the lake and the mountains. It was a great visit and a festive occasion!
We then drove back to Boston, flew to Atlanta, rented a car and drove to Asheville, North Carolina to see my parents and my youngest daughter who goes to school there. We had six days to catch up with everyone including meeting my nephews wife and brand new baby. That makes me a great aunt for the second time! We ate southern barbecue, went to my daughters house warming party, and attended a pig roast to see another Camino friend. We also rested, drank coffee of course, and spent time with family. It was perfect.
It was good to reset our batteries back “home” for a little while before leaving on our last leg of this adventure.
Ecuador, Peru, and Columbia
Here we come!
Our Travels Abroad 