July 02, 2008
Arbeia, Angel of the North and Beamish
Today was a busy day.
We began by visiting Arbeia, a Roman Fort near Hadrian's Wall in South Shields, England. It is an active archeological site which has also done reconstructions of some barracks and the West Gate. Very near the site was a spectacular view of the North Sea. Here we saw an offshore oil drilling platform that had been towed to port for repairs.
Next up was a visit to the Angel of the North. The Angel is a public art display in Gateshead that was initially met with much resistance when it was built in 1998. It is Britain's largest sculpture and is extremely popular with tourists. All of us felt pretty insignificant standing at its' base.
Lastly, we visited Beamish, an open air museum set on over 300 acres of land and somewhat similar to Williamsburg, VA. It demonstrates life in North England in the early 1800s and 1900s. The first stop in Beamish was a performance at the Methodist Chapel in the Colliery Village. Space was a bit tight for the choir but the acoustics sounded very nice and Richard Hill commented that he thought it was the best rendition yet of the Ave Maria.
The group had lunch and then split up to explore. The first stop for most of the group was the upper deck of a double-decker tram that circled the property. Other attractions on the property included exploring an old mine, wandering down an old Main Street into all the shops (such as an old fashioned candy shop, a general store, a bank, a freemason's hall etc). There was also a Colliery Village, a manor house, a farm and a train station.
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July 01, 2008
Performing in 3 Durham Schools
This morning we began our day with a performance at the Johnston School. The students there were more close in age to our DCC kids. We left shortly after the performance and walked to Durham Cathedral. Dr. Hill gave us a great lesson on the Cathedral before we entered. The Cathedral was absolutely breathtaking inside and out and we even saw the cloisters where Harry Potter was filmed!
We boarded the coach and headed to our concert at the Hermitage School. What a great time we had! The audience was amazing and we even did a sing along. We were treated to an amazing lunch and the kids were able to talk with the students there. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to talk with students in our sister city!
We ended our day with another concert at the Wolsingham Comprehensive School. It was interesting to see three different schools in one day, and perform 3 different concerts!
It was back to our host families this evening with free time to relax and bond. We definitely need to rest up for our trip to Beamish tomorrow!
Posted by webmaster at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)
On the Road to Durham - Warwick Castle
We awoke early Monday morning with our bags packed and said goodbye to our fabulous hosts at Hafan y Coed - an experience that will forever be in our memories and our hearts. We boarded the Durham City Coach (DCC...hmmm interesting name isn't it?) and began the next leg of our journey to Durham!
Before we landed in Durham we stopped and visited Warwick Castle. The number of amazing historical sites in this country is astounding. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to see and do everything there. The group split up so that everyone could concentrate on the areas that interested them most. Some climbed the towers, some toured the castle which included historical wax figures created by none other than Madame Tussaud's, others went on the ghost tour, visited the dungeon and much, much more. I'm sure that the kids will have much to tell you about Warwick Castle.
We boarded our DCC Coach and finally made our way to our Sister City at 7:00 p.m. We were warmly met by our host families and whisked away to their homes throughout Durham. It was a bit strange to be separated from everyone and yet exciting to begin this part of our adventure.
Posted by webmaster at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)
Dan-yr-Ogof
Our last day in Wales began with a visit to Dan-yr-Ogof. This site contained a number of former mining caves as well as a dinosaur park. One of the caves was called the Cathedral Cave and we performed 4 songs within the cave. The sound was amazing and beautiful. After the performance a gentleman approached Scott and mentioned that his wife had been in tears. That performance in the cave was a magical moment.
After lunch at the showcaves, it was back to the hostel to prepare for our concert with the Ynysowen Male Choir in Aberfan.
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A Visit to St. Fagan's Open Air Museum
What an incredible Saturday we have had! We spent some time at St. Fagan's Open Air Museum which is a bit like Williamsburg. We sampled some wonderful bread and cheesy buns. Some of the kids made pottery, some kids practiced their archery and we all explored the wonderful grounds of this beautiful site.
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