Durham Cathedral, 2013

Durham was more or less on our way south, and I wanted to see it again, partly in view of my increased knowledge/appreciation of cathedrals and partly for revenge. Durham Cathedral still has a no fotos policy, as it did in 2009. It is nearly unique among the great religious houses of Europe in that respect. I was still bitter, as in 2009. It rained our first few hours in Durham, and, although we were parked not half a mile from the cathedral, we put off going until the clouds parted a bit. That was after 6PM, and, evidently, the cathedral's camera constabulary had gone home. Or maybe to prayers. Whatever. I and a couple dozen others went wild taking interior pix. I post some here merely to spite the administration of this church. Rather more commentary on the cathedral is at the 2009 post, photos for which were grabbed off the web. I am still bitter.

View from the north; it's not so much large as old, one of the
oldest of the Normans, much pre-Gothic

Very worn grave marker for a warrior

View of choir looking toward nave

Big rose window

Shrine of St. Cuthbert

Cloister

The Holy Roller just where they'd left it in 2009

Elevation, typical Norman; note the striped
piers; Muslim? Moorish?  no two pairs of piers
alike

Nave view

Tomb of Venerable Bede 

More arches and columns that don't look particularly
Christian

Loves those intertwined arches

Contemporary window; see below

Hurrah for Marks and Spencer employees!

Northwest view

The Lindisfarne Gospels were in town; but the exhibit seemed
more about them than of them, so we skipped them

Alnwick Castle

Next stop on the drive south was Alnwick Castle, historic stronghold of the Percy family, Dukes of Northumberland, a major battle site in the wars with Scotland and also in the War of the Roses. It is one of those privately-owned sites, and we judged the admission price, even for concessionaires (jubilados) such as ourselves, not justified. So we drove by, snapped a few more pix--it is picturesque and historic--and drove on. Some of the Harry Poppins movies were filmed there, as well as many others, but Vicki was not moved. We've seen a lot of castles and great houses...

Alnwick Castle

Ditto

Ditto again

The Treehouse, restaurant omplex that is part of Alnwick 

Return To Holy Island

I don't know what it is that attracts me to Lindisfarne, the Holy Island. Probably the safe, free, wild-camping in a place of scenic, natural, and historic interest. The tides are more dramatic in some other places, but there are only a few where the road disappears completely at high tide, year-round. In any case, we made for the car-park on the mainland side and spent a quiet night there, the only sound being the coming and going of the tides. Next day, we crossed over, snapped a few pix, and resumed our journey south before the next tide trapped us there.

Yes, I know, same sign as in 2009

Crossing

Lindisfarne Castle

Alas, closed when we were there this time; no cockles for Mark

From the island, looking back across the channel-about-to-be-flooded

Do not profane the Holy Island

Back safe we are now on terra firma, watching the beginning of the flood

Maybe it's all the tank obstacles that make me feel safe and secure

In any case, we drove on, stopping for lunch outside Bamburgh Castle; privately
owned but open for paying customers

Farewell, Scotchland

After an administrative day in Edinburgh, routine maintenance on the camper and a new windscreen, we reluctantly turned back south. We might have stayed longer in Edinburgh, enjoying the Festival and Fringe as we did, but we had cancelled our campground reservations and were beginning to get concerned about our time left in the UK, sights to see and things to do and get done. Although we had spent more time on a very good visit to Scotland in 2009, we were pleased with this shorter visit, more quality time in a sense. In any case, we hope to get back, next time spending August in Edinburgh with short trips all around.

For those keeping score, my sampling of the local beverage included Edrador, Ardbeg, Tobermory, Bowmore, Laphroig, Jura, the aforementioned Campbelltown from Cadenhead's, and, of course, still my favorite, Highland Park.

Scottish National Gallery

We had walked past the Scottish National Gallery a couple dozen times over the years. Never again. It is a marvelous collection, mostly Scottish art, but also a very impressive assemblage of European art from the Middle Ages to the present. We stuck mostly to the European collection.

Beautiful Botticelli Virgin and Child

Leonardo's Madonna of the Yarnwinder

Younger Holbein's Allegories of Old and New Testaments

Never miss a Cranach

Vasari's Adoration of the Magi

Claude's Apollo and Muses (but mostly the landscape)

The Greek's Saviour of the World

Several Poussins, including a room full of large scenes
from the life of Jesus; here, something utterly unique: a
Last Supper where they're all on triclinia, Roman-style; not
very likely, I'd guess, but then Poussin spent nearly all his
artistic life in Rome, painting classical subjects

Rubens' Herod's Feast

Vermeer, Christ in the House of Mary and
Martha

Steen's School for Girls and Boys

Rembrandt's Not a Self-Portrait

A matrimonial pair of Hals (male not shown)

Nice Watteau genre

A couple of later Van Goghs

Frank Edwin Church's Niagara Falls; then,
on loan, a room of paintings from his world
travels

More Fringe

It's not the oldest, but it may still be the largest

Easy chairs in the bookfest courtyard

Ditto; Margaret Atwood was the one presenter we would have
paid to hear, but she was long gone; her chair was the best quote:
"The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you
set down will never be read"

We saw several Fringe performances; perhaps the best, seriously, was Ballet
Central's Be Captivated! the one and only dance performance (contemporary,
narrative, ballet, dance) I have ever really enjoyed; it ended too soon

Another was Upstairs Downton, an improv parody of Downton Abbey

Another was a marvelous little show of traditional Scottish music and step
dancing, "From Galway to G..." [some hideous Gaelic name...]

But the best by far was The Full Bronte, a Free Fringe take-down of the Brontes;
I probably didn't get much of this, but still nearly hurt myself laughing, violently,
uncontrollablly