Durham and Yorkshire Dales

I was invited to give a talk at Durham University, so we decided to make a family weekend of it in the north country. Rachelle and I scooped the kids out of school Thursday afternoon and hit the motorway. We arrived at our posh hotel (thank you Durham University for the nice digs) that evening after grabbing some Brit roadside food along the way. The Brit Breakfast in the hotel was fab as they say, and we headed out to explore Durham.

Durham is a quaint, cobble-stoned, old city with a wonderful cathedral and castle. Most of downtown is a pedestrian zone, with bridges over the rivers and great little shops and restaurants. We spent most of the morning exploring the cathedral, which author Bill Bryson called the "best cathedral on planet Earth." We were able to extend our visit because there were challenging, fun, and time-consuming kid activities for Noah and Liv. To be honest, Rachelle and I greatly enjoyed helping them search through the carvings, stained-glass windows, and statues for animals and other hidden treasures.

After picking out some books at a little shop, we found a great cafe for lunch and reading time. I headed to the university for my talk, which was followed by a pub gathering, and then off to a Thai restaurant where Rachelle and the kids joined the Durham faculty, students, and me. Liv held court at one end of the table telling three Brit students about life in America and in Bath.

The next day we headed out of Durham for home. We wanted to get back because Noah had a friend coming over Sunday and I was eager to try out my much improved ankle on the football field. Along the way, Rachelle and I discreetly detoured a bit into the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

After lunch in a great pub, which helped to quell the kids' protests about the upcoming hike, we headed to the tiny town of Malham. Malham has a population of 200, but 500,000 hikers descend on the town annually to walk in the surroundings. We hiked along a river up to a cove and enormous waterfall. We climbed the 400 or so stone stairs to the top and scampered around on the granite rocks and cliffs before descending back to the river. The kids had fun hopping on stones in the water and managed to stay at least partially dry before we drove back to Bath.