Corbridge, Northumberland, England 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Istanbul! I thought I would pass along my first set of pictures from my month-long trip in the Old World before too many had accumulated. I finished up a frantic last month at NJCU in Jersey City before heading out. I am grateful from the break even though my itinerary is hectic. By the end of twenty-nine days from mid-May to mid-June, I will have taken eleven flights, attended a wedding in England, taken a trip to Tokat, presented at a conference in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, done research, and co-led a ten-day class trip to northwest Turkey for ten NJCU students. Woosh.

 Although all that travel and activity that sounds daunting, it has been very relaxing so far! Late last night I returned to Istanbul from my friends David and Katie's wedding in Corbridge, England. I flew into nearby Newcastle via London. The wedding, conducted over three days with welcome, reception, and goodbye dinners, was an intimate affair of thirty-five.

Corbridge is located on the River Tyne ten miles west of Newcastle in Northumbria, the border region between England and Scotland. This is Sting country, Bob! Almost all the old construction was built in stone, and the Church where the wedding took place had marvelous Gothic arches and solid wood beam ceilings. I can tell why medieval Europe ran out of big trees.

One of Corbridge's earliest incarnations was as a Roman fort and garrison town. David and Katie treated us to a visit to that English heritage site; it was only a fifteen minute walk west of the "modern" village of 4,000 or so. Roman Corbridge had an important bridge that washed away under the force of the swift Tyne at some point in antiquity. It was also an important cog in the network of Hadrian's Wall. I didn't visit the later because of time constraints and due to the fact that there was so much worthwhile to see in little Corbridge.

Britain lived up to its stereotypes in a lot of way. Its villages were immaculate and bucolic. Its pubs were homey and inviting. Lots of sheep and rain.

Over the last two days of my visit, Britain showed a side I didn't expect. The sun came out, and it got warm for a while! Also, I hadn't realized just how far north Northumberland was; the sun did not set until 9:45 pm and it rose around 4:30 am or so. 

I had a lovely time reacquainting myself with old friends and making some new ones. I will be back to Britain some day for a longer stay. Congratulations, David and Katie!

jkb (ACTUALLY) in Turkey