What Would Hadrian Say?

An absence of a couple days, I see. Sorry about that. Have been rather preoccupied and under the weather, and Steve paid a surprise visit last night!

We went to Hadrian's Wall today. We've been wanting to do this for a while, and as neither of us have been to Scotland yet, we thought it might be fun to set foot on Scottish soil and say we've been at last. Hadrian's Wall is en-route. It took us about an hour and a half from Lancaster, and it was remarkably hard to find. Not surprising, in the end, because it turned out to be little more than a parking lot and a low stone wall. 

I love low stone walls. Yet somehow I expected a little more of this great relic of Roman/British history. A grand fort perhaps, or the ruins thereof? A graveyard to mark the lives lost in defending the wall from who knows how many invaders? Maybe we only went to the small bits of the wall, maybe there's a grand structure somewhere else. If not, Hadrian must be turning in his grave...

That said, the rare sunlight over England and the countryside looks gorgeous, doesn't it?

Very little to add re. books and writing. I've done very little and am rather ashamed of my lack of progress this week. I've achieved close to nothing. I'm hoping to finish my dissertation chapter tonight, and write another one tomorrow. Or at least finish both by the end of tomorrow. That will make me feel a little better about this week and work.

A further note about Hadrian's Wall: this photo. Erm, why? Why tease me with mention of a fort? Magic invisible fort?






 If anyone is British, unsure about the elections, and reads Glamour, there's a great article about the elections in this month's issue. Clear, concise, and clever. It made things make sense for me, and I can't even vote.

Manchester United lost to Chelsea today. Steve wasn't pleased. My brother, however, will no doubt be over the moon.



Update on Monday, April 5th: My brother was over the moon. He snickered as he offered Steve his sympathies.