When we were told that we were
staying at different farmhouses and bed and breakfasts and that the first one
was an hour from the last one, we were all a bit skeptical. But, our two-day
stay in the middle-of-nowhere England proved to be the best portion of our trip
so far. We saw (and heard) so many cows,
sheep, dogs, goats, and calves. I stayed in the last Bed and Breakfast with five
other girls, meaning we got to sleep in the latest. Elizabeth Harding, a kind,
direct, and hospitable but not too
friendly woman, runs the B&B. The house was large and beautiful and
comfortable. Peggy the eager terrier even lived there! We ate a full English
breakfast (bacon, sausage, egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, and toast) each morning,
took a sack lunch with us, and sat in the dining room for dinner, dessert, and
tea each evening. Elizabeth had a splendid garden with surreal views and
incredible proximity to Hadrian’s Wall. She also had an excellent collection of
tea mugs featuring the pictures of royal family members. The English really do
value tea as much as you think and seem to often refer to dinner as “tea.” We took an
evening walk down the long country road and followed a portion of the Hadrian
Wall footpath, which led us into a pasture full of sheep. We got our first
glimpse of the wall in person and discovered the most awesome horse + donkey
best friend pair in a nearby pasture.
*Olympic Games 2012: We watched
some of the final events of the Olympics this weekend. The UK is just ecstastic to host the
2012 Olympics and is swelling with pride in the Olympians and the medals
they have earned. It has been fun to watch the games from another country’s
perspective and to find joy in the triumph of any athlete no matter where they
are from. Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah were obviously a couple of my favorites. They
did announce a time or two when Americans took gold, though, and being far from
home made us even more proud of our own Olympic athletes.
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