Hadrian's Wall

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sleepy right now, so this post won't be particularly emotive.

This weekend, we went to Hadrian's Wall, built in the beginning of the 2nd century by the Roman emperor Hadrian. He built this to mark the northern border of Roman rule in England. The wall is over eighty miles long. We first went to Housesteads, an excavated Roman fort. For so long we have been talking about Roman forts, their set-up, their construction, etc. But seeing a fort, walking around it and through it, was so much more interesting than just seeing a picture on a Powerpoint. Housesteads was situated in a beautiful location: rolling hills and sweeping vistas (and hedges and sheep!).
After exploring the fort, we hiked three miles to another point, where our coach was waiting. This hike, though more strenuous than I had anticipated, was the highlight of the excursion. We walked up and down hills and along cliffs. (I did almost trip on the edge of the cliff, which might have put a damper on the rest of the day).
Our last stop was Vindolanda, another Roman fort. This was not so picturesque as Housesteads, but it is one of the most important archeological sites in England. In the museum, we saw the Vindolanda tablets, which are correspondences between residents of the fort and other places. Some of them are about the military or transporting goods, but there is also a correspondence between two women where one invites the other to a birthday party. The excursion was pretty tiring, but definitely worth it.
Yesterday, Karyn and I went to the house of Vera and Ken, an older couple from our church, because we needed to interview some British people for our British culture class. They were so lovely! They told us about growing up in World War II (they're both about 82), particularly about the bombing of York and other raids. Vera served us tea and biscuits, and Ken showed us old photographs of him as a boy in the church choir. They also wanted to ask us questions. For some reason, the first question British people seem to ask us is "How are you affording this semester?" to which we reply, "We aren't." Oh well. If I don't think too much about it, maybe it will go away.
This week we are going to Clifford's Tower, the site where, in 1190, about 150 Jews took their own lives to avoid being murdered by an angry mob waiting outside. Yikes. Then, next weekend it's off to Edinburgh again to see the family!