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Back from the north--and the countdown begins. That last three days have been spent in Hexham, Durham, Carlisle, and Newcastle... and many points in between. morganlf and I spent them exploring Northumbria a bit--we took in the Durham Cathedral and Castle (oh my gosh--it's gorgeous, but they don't allow photos inside.), Hadrian's Wall and Vindolanda, the archaeological site of an immense Roman fort, and the Hexham Abbey (over 1100 years of church, abbey, and crypt!)...it was pretty awesome. My favorite site was probably Vindolanda--we saw the inner workings of a Roman fort as experienced through it's garbage. This included bones from a chicken dinner, notes written home asking for more beer, and a note that was attached to a parcel of extra underwear being sent to a Roman soldier. And all of this is almost two millenia old--it's pretty amazing. The Hexham Crypt looked pretty impressive too--what we saw of it. In the middle of the church there's this stairwell leading down into blackness--we talked to a mostly-deaf pastor and asked if we could visit it, and he asks us--"where did you say you were from? a few miles from here?" we just nod and he leads us over to the crypt stairwell--it's pitch black and he tells us that they have been redoing the wiring--he's not sure, but there's likely a switch down at the bottom.

Alison leads the way, and we're groping our way down this steep, dark staircase into a 9th century crypt--at the bottom it's as dark as night, and there is nothing on the wall. Your hand gropes along damp stone, and touches wall--and then there's a hole filled with dust and who knows what. All the while I was thinking that this was a scene straight out of Call of Cthulhu! Sheesh. Anyway, we survived... :-)

In Hexham, we visited the wackiest italian restaurant--the owner was an old italian who spoke English with a italian/scottish accent. Very odd combination, especially when you realize he's sporting the largest belt buckle we've seen this side of Bakersfield... The food was great however, and we also had the best cheesecake I've ever had (sorry cubetime), and the hottest Indian food that I've ever tasted the next night. I had a Chicken Tikka Vindaloo that made me cry, it was so frigging hot. I love hot foods--I can take a lot of heat--but this was mightier than me.

We're back in London now, for one more night at the Generator, London's biggest Hostel--and then it's back home. I'm tired--this has been a great vacation, but.... it's time to go home!