Hadrian's Wall. Everyone has heard of it, but I'm pretty sure the majority of the world has no idea 1. how expansive it is and 2. how many more sites, forts, outposts, turrets, etc are associated with it. On my trip (October 27-29) We visited around 7-9 different sites along the wall. We started, all 12 of us, at Arbeia. It was a fort along the wall and all that remains is the reconstructed gate and the outlines of the rooms around the area. This was no ordinary gate! Oh no. It was reconstructed and turned into a museum so you could go in it and see what it was like to be posted up there. We toured the barracks and got to see all of the different layouts that were possible, since no one really knows. How typical of archaeological sites!
We then ventured on to see a part of the wall that was built back to it's original height... upwards of 26-30 feet. If I was a Scottish barbarian I would be slightly discouraged... not to mention the archers waiting to shoot me while safely behind a stone wall and the spikes coming out of the ground that would have acted as barbed wire. Not exactly the most welcoming of sites, but today it is pretty cool! The whole wall stretches 81 miles across England. We started at one end and made it about 40 miles inland, by car of course.
The first night there, my friends Mike and Angelo took a night walk with me. Those of you back home may not realize what dark means until you go to North Umberland. When they say dark, they MEAN dark. I had to flash my camera to actually see if I was still on the road. It was something out of a horror movie, but with a better ending in my case. However, on our way back we were vocally attacked by a cow. We were walking along minding out own business and then Voldemort was reincarnated in this cow. It... moo-ed at us... but it was the most demonic moo it could possibly have uttered. Scared the living crap out of 2 men and then me. I have a weird feeling farmers up there secretly train their cattle and sheep to haunt passerby in the middle of the night. Must get a kick out of it.
After the excitement, we decided to walk back, but we couldn't help but stop and stare at the stars. I have never seen so many in my entire life. For the first time in my life, I saw a shooting star. There's just nothing like it. So of course being the educated MA students that we are, we decided to lay down in the middle of the road to watch them. Unfortunately, someone was driving full speed down the road and we scrambled to jump into the ditch. I really wonder what the person in the car thought was going on. He saw us run from the road and then as he passed Angelo was waving like nothing had happened, I was halfway up a tree gripping on to it for dear life, and Mike was in the ditch with his butt in the air because fell over.... I'll just leave you with that mental image.
The next day was spent exploring more forts and then we walked along the wall for 5 miles. Seems like a simple enough task. Mother nature decided the steep hills and cliffs weren't enough for us archaeologists. She added some wind, rain, and extreme cold for us as well! The view was unimaginable. I wish my pictures did it justice. I will post a few but WOW. It is definitely not a site to miss if you ever get the chance. I hope to hike the entire wall one day! Yes, all 81 miles! The walk was so wet that my shoes dyed my feet blue and yellow.... Yep, definitely wished I had listened to my Dad and brought along my hiking boots. Oops.
To get a little deeper.... Hiking the wall in those conditions, which was typical of Northern England, really put into perspective how it used to be not just manning the posts, but also what it was like to haul that much stone which was extremely heavy, that far. The hills there are no joke. It was a tough climb, definitely rewarding, but I couldn't imagine doing it over and over carrying literally tons of rocks. It gives you a whole new appreciation of the past. They were very dedicated to this project and it gives a whole new interpretation to putting blood, sweat, and tears into an undertaking.
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