Durham

Durham Cathedral

We caught the train here from Kings Cross station on Saturday morning, arriving Saturday afternoon. The journey takes about 3 ½ hours, passing through Peterborough and York on its way to Edinburgh. Because we were travelling first class, we were served lunch on the way: a bread (brioche) roll, a small tub of yoghurt-like dessert, drinks, and bananas.

 We got a taxi from Durham railway station to our 4* hotel, the Radisson Blu. Now we’re really in corporate territory, I fear. What an experience! The bedroom was on the first floor and was quite large, with nice bathroom with bath. There was no fridge, biscuits or microwave. There was an armchair, so JD asked for an extra duvet.  We did not have a particularly nice view: you could pay extra for that, but there was a large window.

We went for a walk, but were flummoxed by the local area – crossing the river Wear by pedestrian bridge we climbed through modern hospitality area and Millennium Square to get to Market Square and part of the old area. This was a modern area, built to cater for students, with many bars and new-ish restaurants. JD wanted to buy headphones, and although I was very tired we made our way uphill on a mainly pedestrian area to reach the older part of the town and Durham Cathedral on a high plateau. It almost towers over the city, impregnable and solid, for the ages. 

A choir was rehearsing Faure’s Requiem, for Evensong later that day. It was so beautiful and seemed appropriate, as we sat and listened for a while. You aren’t allowed to take photographs in the Cathedral. The pillars are immense! It’s quite different from Canterbury Cathedral. The pillars have a Byzantine influence, something that was later conveyed to us by a guide. This cathedral is quite different from Canterbury Cathedral, although neither of them is particularly ornate.

Then we walked back to our hotel where we had an evening meal: vegetable soup for each of us, followed by a very nice cheeseboard that we shared. A feature of this included a very nice butter, wrapped in foil like a wee cheese, and Wookey Hole cheese – a rinded cheese that was quite mild, but delicious.  We had wine and prosecco as well.

The next morning I wanted to go to the 10 am morning service at the Cathedral. The problem was, where to have breakfast? The hotel offered Full English Breakfast for £25.99. Ridiculous! We could have it on the way, but most coffee shops didn’t open till 9:30 am. There was supposed to be a 24 hour restaurant called Collage at the hotel, but we couldn’t find it, and we’re later told that it was now Josef’s, with limited hours and very high prices.

In the event we ate at Vennel’s Cafe, a rather rustic student hang out where I was rather put off by seeing a fly crawl over their scones. Still the woman serving us was very eager to please. We had their special, a brioche bun with sausage and a fried egg, two oat milk lattes, and two orange juices.  By the time they came it was a rush to eat and drink before rushing up to the Cathedral by 10 am, but somehow  we did that, taking our uneaten food with us.

We got to the Cathedral as the clergy were processing in, and then were allowed to sit down. It was quite wonderful again. A second sung Eucharist, but we could join in singing the hymns. It’s wonderful to sing in a Cathedral, as it was in Canterbury. 

A highlight was singing Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.  Afterwards we couldn’t look at the cathedral till after 12; they had a Morning Prayer service to do yet.

So we walked to the UNESCO visitor centre where we saw the Archaeological museum and also saw Bishop John Cosin’s library. All these old books! One wonders just how many he read. Apparently he owned a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio. The library had all the books in closed bookshelves and was temperature controlled. I really wanted to buy a picture of the large Rose Window in the cathedral, but was told they have their own shop. 

So we went back to the cathedral and explored some, finding the Shrine of St Cuthbert and sitting for a time there. It’s a lovely restful spot. There are signs around asking you to be respectful and prayerful. Then we went down to visit the shop, where there were many wonderful things, all very expensive. I wanted, but did not buy a beautiful blue scarf. But we did buy a book about the cathedral, and a rose window design to stick onto a window at home.  (I later bought a beautiful scarf from the Orangerie in Paris, so I didn’t miss out completely).

Then it was seriously time to have lunch, and we went to a rather upmarket restaurant in one of the streets nearby. If I had known, we were really near the Elvet bridge!  I had Sea Bass with potatoes Dauphinoise, and broccoli; JD had a chicken burger. He also ordered an iced -tea based cocktail which tasted very nice but I fear was a cocktail rather than a mocktail.

After this we wandered back to our hotel where there was no evidence of housekeeping having been! Did they even do daily housekeeping, I wondered? There were several housekeeping trolleys in the corridor. Eventually some one came and I asked for clean towels. The woman was very perfunctory, but we got clean towels and facecloths; no bath mat.

We had a long rest after that, and later went down to the bar for something to eat and drink.  They gave JD his whiskey and ginger ale, and me my appletiser. They also brought two servings of Sticky Toffee Pudding which we enjoyed

Monday was a free day but there were problems with several things being closed: the Oriental museum, and the Auckland project, an interesting venue about 20 minutes drive away.  The Durham museum was permanently close.  However we planned to do lots of walking, and go to Evensong at the cathedral at 5:30 pm. There were two bridges and some galleries I wanted to check out. I had though there were some Turner paintings here, but this was not the case, although he visited and painted the cathedral.

We had breakfast at the hotel, asking at the bar for coffee, orange juice, and two croissants, so as to avoid the exorbitant costs at the restaurant for the breakfast buffet.  That took a while: I think one of the lasses had to go out to buy fresh croissants, but when they eventually came, they were wonderful! Two warmed croissants each, and a pain au chocolat, with beautiful butter and jam.

JD wanted to do some washing, so we set out to walk to the nearest laundry, which turned out to be near the railway viaduct. When we got there, the laundry wasn’t self-service, and the washing had to be picked up the next day! That was no good for us.  The hotel did not have a guest laundry, like most New Zealand motels do! Our fancy hotel would do laundry starting at £3 for one pair of socks! Ridiculous. We then set out to walk to the Elvet Bridge, which turned out to be very near where we’d been the day before. There were boat services too, including one cruise at 12:30 pm.

So we went to a cafe close by to have a quick lunch before sailing. Of course, nothing happens quickly! I ordered a tuna and mayo sandwich, which was enormous; JD ordered more widely- a ham and cheese toastie. Again, we ended up taking our uneaten food with us. We should have shared!

We found our way back down to the River where you paid £10 each on board for senior citizens. It was very cold on the boat, but there was a nice man sitting in front of us who was very informative. He had travelled in Europe and had actually taken the train trip I had booked from Paris to Milan! I was comforted by that, as it had been hard work to book, with two changes. More about that later.

The tour took about 45 minutes, and was good value. We saw Prebends bridge, and had many more wonderful views of the Cathedral and the castle. There was great scepticism about Londoners; Durham reminded me of Glasgow far more than the south of England.

Then we went back to our hotel for a rest before going to Evensong. Again, housekeeping had not been to our room! I made the bed, and asked for clean towels and more teabags. Then someone else knocked on the door to ask whether we’d like our room serviced.

It was dark when we went to Evensong, but we climbed up the hill again and got there a few minutes early. We were guided to sit in a section of the choir stalls. This was an Evensong/Evening Prayer service, with the choir of St Hild and St Bede. It was well attended. Strangely, the person officiating did not pray in relation to the American Election, which, of course, was on everyone’s minds.

After that we headed back to our hotel, hoping to find somewhere to eat on the way.

We stopped at the Market Inn, but they didn’t seem that interested in serving us. then we walked though the Odeon Centre. There were many Italian restaurants, and many strange newer ones, but we went back to our hotel where I had a delicious starter – a kind of ham terrine, with “pease pudding” which turned out to be stewed split peas and tasted rather like hummus, with a slice of toast and pickled vegetables.

Afterwards I had lemon posset with berries and shortbread biscuits, and JD had a Chocolate Pie with “drunk” berries, which was also delicious.

This morning we breakfasted at a local coffee bar, in Millennium Square. I had a bacon sandwich and black filtered coffee, while JD had fresh fruit and a sultana scone with butter and jam. That worked well for me! We walked up to a a Gregg’s store to buy food to take on the train back to London. Then we checked out of the hotel and caught a taxi to Durham station.

Then we caught the train back to London (second class this time), to Kings Cross Station.

Back in busy old London, we walk to Gower Street where the Regency House Hotel is located. It is fine and warm, although confusing, of course, to get there. This is a more salubrious area of London.

The B&B Hotel, recommended to me by a friend, is in an old house with lots of stairs. As luck would have it we’re placed in a family room on the ground floor, with plenty of space. There’s also a fridge and a microwave oven, and a tiny bathroom with heated flooring.

We went out to find a laundrette, not too far away; then we had dinner at a Greek/Turkish little restaurant in the Russell Square area.  We went to sleep, but sadly I woke before midnight to learn that the US Presidential Election was well under way, and Trump was winning!  After that I didn’t want to listen any more.

In the morning we dressed and went down to the breakfast room, where, as my friend had told me, the breakfast was excellent. There was juice, a small pot of brewed coffee, plenty of toast, and whatever you wanted of the Full English Breakfast. You could also have an omelette. We sat at individual tables, which was nice.

Then we left our bags at Reception, and set out for the British Museum.

While we waited for it to open at 10 am, we went to a café in the park nearby.

The museum was busy, and confusing, but we saw lots of classical statues, the Parthenon Friezes (formerly known as the Elgin Marbles), and the Rosetta Stone.

Then we set out to walk back to Regency House, pick up our luggage, and head off to St Pancras Station for our Eurostar journey to Paris.

It was quite a long way, and we were relieved to get a taxi just as we were getting back to our hotel. But it was very slow indeed getting to St Pancras – it probably would have been faster to walk. I was worried that we hadn’t allowed enough time to check in.

In the event I need not have worried. It was crammed, everywhere, and we were unsure where to go. There seemed to be an insane number of checks. Silly me, although I’d printed our tickets, I’d printed them double-sided, which is not good for the QR-code reading machines with gates to let you through. JD had to get an old-fashioned boarding pass.

Then we went through to a packed lounge. The Train before ours, going to Brussels, was delayed, so all those folk were there too. There was nowhere to sit: I ended up sitting on the suitcase, till I had to move for a rubbish collector. Then a young man gave up his seat, for which I was very thankful.

Soon our platform was announced, and we went up an escalator to find the correct train and the correct carriage and seats within it.

Again, we were on a full train. Again, we were served lunch – a chicken salad, I think. The route to Paris is grey and not very interesting.

Slava Ukraini! Nga mihi nui.