Lovely day in Lindisfarne

Hello, everyone!

Today was a magical day, indeed.

Karen asked the group to smile and say, "Berwick upon Tweed!"  Laughter erupted :)

We had an early depart; a brief walk to the train and before 9 am we were traveling northbound.  Two and a half hours later, we arrived at Berwick.  April arranged for taxis in advance; they shuttled us out to Lindisfarne, less than a 20 minute drive.

Lindisfarne has a very narrow land bridge; April had to time our trip very precisely so that we could cross during low tide.  Plumes of dry sand and significant puddles of water covered the road in different areas.

Fun fact: Just one week ago, Lindisfarne was uncrossable due to a freak March snowstorm.  We also met four foot high snowdrifts on the sides of the road before reaching the land bridge.

Upon arriving at Lindisfarne, we were greeted by a very friendly cat, whom the girls immediately named "Cuthbert."

A very happy Cuthbert, with Juliet, Kylie, and Emily.

Seeing as how Josh T. is in the back of every single group picture, the guys wanted him front and center for once, in front of a local business.

Josh T. "meaded" to be in front, for once :)

Back: Pat, Jay, Josh R., Ron, Craig

The town of Lindisfarne is quite small, and absolutely lovely.  We walked a few steps over to the Priory and St. Mary's Church of Holy Island (or, St. Mary's on the Rocks.). From here, we'll let the pictures tell the rest of this story.

St. Mary's: Outside

 Inside St. Mary's

Top: Juliet, Emily, Heidi, Casey, Cristina

Bottom: Yuri, Ashley, Karolina, Kylie

Monumental perspective :)

Waaaay out on the sand was a herd of seals.

"Herd" of seals?  I thought it was ridiculous, too.  That's what Google says, though, and goodness knows, Google is always right! ;)

 Everyone was elated for a chance to be at the beach!  Sorry, everyone back home... we heard you're getting a third snowstorm since we've left.  We enjoyed the North Sea and sunshine, extra, for you. :)

L to R: Random beach goer (not in our group,) Josh T, Jay, Maria, Sam, Craig

Jay, Craig, Ron, Josh T.

Lindisfarne honestly felt like heaven on earth.

The top of the hill?  That's where we started from, following a foot path to the sea.

Trekking back up the hill!

After spending a couple of hours exploring Lindisfarne, we went back into town, and enjoyed lunch at the White Castle Hotel.

It is here that we'll break today's post in half.  Our second half of the day was a trip to Durham; we'll save that for a second post.

Tomorrow, Saturday, students have a free day!  Almost everyone has expressed plans to travel to Scotland.  April planned for unlimited rail passes, so they will be well-used during our time in the U.K. :).