All Good Things Must Come to an End

And if this was the best of semesters, then of course it, too, had to come to an end. But what a way to go out. Amanda and I spent our last days in England on a two-day holiday trip to Richmond, in North Yorkshire. We almost killed ourselves getting my suitcase over to my friend's flat, and then getting Amanda's suitcases to the luggage storage place at King's Cross, but it was great to take the train out to Darlington and then the bus ride into the market town of Richmond. We had made reservations at a bed & breakfast, which was really a private home, the top two rooms of which were rented out by the couple who lived there.

Amanda and I were in the blue room, which was very appropriately named, and we could see the tower of Richmond castle perfectly centered perfectly in our tiny dormer window. The first thing we did after we got our stuff upstairs was to take a nice long nap in our very comfy bed -- a week of exams, presentations and last-minute shopping had taken its toll on us both.

After our nap we wandered downstairs to leave the house and chatted with our hostess, Jill Taylor, for quite a while. She was a very sweet woman who took us to be Canadian schoolteachers in our late twenties (this was not the only time we got this), and she soon launched into a cosmo-political conversation about how the world has gone wrong and how it's almost time for a cosmic shift (she had been studying this, she said, historically, politically and esoterically). We were a little taken aback, but it was sort of refreshing at the same time.

We spent the afternoon wandering around Richmond, which was beautiful and green in the dale (valley) of the Swale river. We found a map at the visitor's center and visited the gardens in the center of town and the marketplace -- the largest cobbled one in all of Britain. Then we wandered through all the winding streets and alleys and up to Castle Walk, the high road surrounding the ruined castle. We sat there for a really long time, just enjoying the sunshine and looking at the countryside, complete with sheep and cute houses.

We had a dinner of Yorkshire pudding (a breaded pie-type-shell full of meat, veggies and gravy) at a pub in town. We met some nice cousins who invited up to play pool with them but then just sat and talked for a little while instead. That night Amanda and I turned in early (what are holidays for?) and went back to the house where we made tea and spent the evening watching Chicken Run before falling asleep rather early.

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast, traditional English, prepared by Jill, who that morning we learned played the flute, taught lessons, and was also a supply (substitute) teacher at the nearby school. After breakfast we went to see the castle (pictured left), impressive ruins on top of a hill that gave excellent views of the whole valley. It was a little chilly that day, but it was still a great day for a walk and history lesson (the castle was built by the Normans starting in 1071). After the castle we went a grocery store to grab some food for a picnic lunch, and we hopped on a trail that led to the ruins of an abbey (pictured below). It was a beautiful walk, but it was long and a few times we were afraid that maybe we were on the wrong path. It was beautiful when we got there, and we ate sitting among the crumbling walls, most of which still showed clearly where the rose stained-glass windows used to be. We walked back by a different trail on the other side of the river, and we learned first-hand about the British rights-of-way laws, where the public is allowed to walk through another person's field as long as you walk straight from one gate to the next. We discovered this as we were crossing a field and suddenly came upon several cows and a couple of goats directly in our path. It was a little odd, but we survived.

That evening Jill and her husband took us to the nearby village of Reeth. We took a drive through the beautiful and very curvy country side among the dales and the moors (hills). Reeth was tiny, and we took a long walk through several sheep pastures, filled with lambs. The hills were criss-crossed with dry stone walls that dated to the time of the Enclosure Acts, and I felt like I had stepped into the filming of The Secret Garden. It was so beautiful, and it was really interesting to see how popular these country walks are with the British, who seem to have a much more solid relationship with their land.

The Taylors took us to dinner at a pub and refused to let us pay for it (we left extra cash with our room payment). They took us home, and we talked as they let us pick out another DVD to watch. We settled on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and spent that evening eating Jaffa Cakes in bed and watching the movie.

Saturday morning we got up and saw the small market that gathered in the marketplace. We took a tour of the oldest surviving Georgian theatre, which was adorable, and we went for tea. Jill gave us copies of her book (written about her deaf daughter) before we left, which we were very sad to do after two such great days. The train trip back was pretty much a disaster because of a delayed train, and we finally got to our hostel around 10 PM. Sunday morning we did some more last-minute shopping, and I got Amanda to the train station for her flight, which was also kinda say because that meant I had three more days in the city without my closest friend.

Those last few days I stayed with my friend Emily, which worked our just great. It was hard to decide what to see and do to say goodbye to London, but I don't feel like I left out anything too important. Of course there are lots of things I didn't get to see that I would love to go back for, so I hope I have that opportunity, sooner rather than later. Since I've been home, many people have asked me what my favorite part was, and in the past two months I have been unable to come up with a correct answer for that question. It was a wonderful experience in so many ways, and I'm beginning to miss it more and more. I miss the food and the grocery stores, the trains and the buses, the skyline and the adventures.

So that's all there is of London for now. thanks for reading. And don't forget to mind the gap. Cheers.