Terry and Sooz's Travels: August 24, 2023

The last couple of days we've been moving. After leaving the Lake District we visited:

Vindolanda, an active archaeological site with a large exhibition area. Archaeological excavations of the site show it was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD. We were both blown away by the exhibitions showing how advanced their society was.

Hadrian's Wall - Several people we met said this was a must see. It is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Remnants of it cross Great Britain from east to west. It's mostly just out in the open that we were able to ride up to and take pictures of it. It crosses pastures and runs parallel to a few roads. It's wild to touch and walk on this structure that is almost 2,000 years old.

Motorcycle Museum, Mike Barry, Carlisle, England - Visiting this motorcycle museum and meeting Mike Barry was a blast. Mike has collected and maintains all of the bikes. He has raced a sidecar in the Isle of Man and still rides. You can watch the 3 minute video above that I took of the museum with Mike telling Sooz a hilarious story in the background. Once he started talking, we couldn't get him to stop, and it was great. He had a can for collecting 5 pounds a piece for visiting his shop, you can't beat that. Sooz found this museum when she was looking for things to do in the area. We didn't know about it before, and I had never heard about it before. Finding this museum and talking with Mike, was one of the joys of traveling and not over planning the trips. Being able to carve out time to visit this shop is why we travel without booking all of time, minute to minute.

Balmoral Hotel, Moffat, England - we stayed here one night and enjoyed it. It is the classic UK hotel and pub. We stayed in a basic cottage in the back of the property and had dinner and breakfast in the pub. Sooz and I don't drink alcohol, but we felt very comfortable having dinner in the pub. Pubs are community meeting places, social, drinking, eating, listening to music, watching TV. It's a really comfortable place to spend time.

Rosslyn Chapel - Sooz also found this historic site to visit. It's a little south of Edinburgh. We stopped here after staying in Moffat on our way to Glasgow. Rosslyn Chapel, formerly known as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, is a 15th-century chapel located in the village of Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland. We listened to an interesting presentation inside the Chapel, where photography prohibited. It was prominently featured in Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code (2003) and its 2006 film adaptation.

VIDEO at the Vintage Motorcycle Museum - England - Mike Barry - Watch HERE

Vindolanda cafe area

Yes, that's Hadrian's Wall behind Sooz and the GS

Mike, Sooz and me

Giacomo Agostini on the left, with Mike Barry

Mike with some of his bikes

This is the sidecar Mike raced in the Isle of Man

An incredible collection of motorcycles

Mike in his shop. He is 71 years old and still working building and repairing gates and fences

The Balmoral Hotel and pub, where we stayed one night and enjoyed it.

The former carriage house. Our cottage is on the right.

This could have been a movie set, an old graveyard in Moffat

This captures a little of the culture and atmosphere of rural UK. Having a community walk sounds boring to us active Yanks, but it's a significant community event. Walking is an important pastime in the UK.