Adventures in London and Europe: January 2014

Before January ends, I will finally post the final part of my winter recap: a visit to the Tower of London, and a Fulbright Forum in Durham. This post will be long!

TOWER:

It started on a cold sunny day...

Tip: If you are visiting the Tower, they include a "donation" in the price of your ticket. You need to refuse the donation at the counter if you want the actual ticket price.

Traitor's Gate, the entrance where they brought up prisoners:

Colorful guides are all former military members. They live in the Tower and maintain it. (Not the dungeons obviously...)

A view of Tower Bridge:

Torture devices

Ridiculously long line to see the Crown Jewels:

Guards walking by:

Sadly, they are very strict on not photographing the Crown Jewels, so please read about it here:
http://www.royal.gov.uk/the%20royal%20collection%20and%20other%20collections/thecrownjewels/overview.aspx

Basically, they are spectacularly shiny and opulent jewels decorated on crowns.

Next, visit to the armory to see some Kingly armor:

For some reason they have samurai armor too:

Oddities from Victorian times:

Tower at night:

Bonus pictures of Westminster:

Bonus picture of food:

DURHAM:

Short: We stayed in a castle.
Long: We stayed in a castle that was built by William the Conqueror to keep out the Scots. We also learned about scholarly things.

The marketplace down the hill from the castle:

Castle great hall: (Yes, a real great hall!)

Most of the forum days were composed of intense presentations by talented Fulbrighters. It was quite overwhelming to be honest, since there were so many topics presented in rapid succession it was hard to keep track. Ultimately, however, I did learn a lot.

We also visited the Durham University archaeology department. They are good at preserving old English relics:

Outside view of the castle keep, where I am staying in:

My seat for the endless presentations:

Durham Cathedral, another one to add to the list of grand cathedrals.

Inside:

My room:

Cathedral at night:

The river surrounding the castle:

More great hall. We had a formal dinner here:

On the last day we had a trip up the Northumberland Coast. First stop is a mining museum:

There wasn't much to say about it. Unfortunately the mining industry declined as the Thatcher administration tried to modernize the economy.
Some bonus fun facts:
This is Berwick-Upon-Tweed. Other than the funny name, this is actually where the Baron Tweedmouth bred the first golden retrievers!

Here is the town of Washington, where George Washington's ancestors originated from:

Traveling up the scenic coast bordering the North Sea:

There were a TON of sheep. Apparently all the sheep in Britain are free-roaming. They set them free for most of the year, and only gather them up a few times a year.

Bamburgh castle, a scenic seaside home!

A small church by the castle and sea. It really is quiet in there...

I am slowly heading toward the beach, while taking castle shots:

The sea!

The castle from the beach:

Back on the road, to the small island of Lindisfarne. Here was where the patron Saint of Durham, Cuthbert, worked as a Bishop. They are also known for their mead.

A gang of sheep accosted us on the way back.:

Final stop is a quick trip to Newcastle upon Tyne. This is their Millennium Bridge:

Last day, view from the Keep:

I also climbed to the top of the Durham Cathedral. It was an extremely narrow and high passageway up the tower. It's amazing to think that they built this structure so long ago!