Lincoln (Roman)

I already have a page for Lincoln but since that time I only dealt with the medieval sections (ie: the cathedral and castle) while this time I saw the Roman bits I felt that they could be safely divided in two. After all, that trip was almost two years ago.

Corinth

 

There isn't very much at Corinth worth seeing. The Romans wiped this place clean in 146 BC and they did a pretty thorough job of it. The city was rebuilt later but I believe it was in a different location since I didn't see any Roman or Byzantine remains here. Certainly by the time of the fourth crusade the Acrocorinth (the big cliffs there in the background) was the main stronghold in the area.

Mistra

COMING SOON

 

Tintagel

Tintagel was fun. We left Arundel at 12:30ish and Tintagel closed at 5:30. We didn't start out rushed but as we got closer we realized that we were going to be pushing it. England is full of speed cameras which means that speeding just isn't worth it. Unlike cops Speed Cameras are always there and they don't skip cars just because other people are speeding. There's also no way to argue your way out of a speeding ticket since there is visual evidence of your identity when the camera takes a picture. Worst are the average speed zones where they average your speed for the entire section. These are mostly construction zones and they are annoying. I'm quite glad I'll never have to deal with them. The point is that it doesn't pay to speed. If a journey takes five hours it takes five hours.

Tintagel is a place filled with myth and mystery. Connected from an early date with King Arthur it has a strong mythical pedigree. This is the supposed site of his birth and where Uther Pendragon conceived him upon Igraine by appearing as her murdered husband Gorlois through the aid of Merlin. It is basically an island connected to the mainland via a thin spit of land. The island itself is all cliff and cannot be approached on any side. It is basically the perfect defensive position except that it is impossible to sneak supplies in. The cliffs are just as deadly for friends as for enemies.

 

Lacock

COMING SOON

Carcassonne

COMING SOON

Cambridge

COMING SOON

Acre

COMING SOON

weew

Lincoln (Medieval)

COMING SOON

Salisbury

Salisbury seems like a nice place. Our group stayed there overnight after doing Glastonbury. We only had that evening and the following morning (before 9) to see the city. After that they hustled us into the bus and moved on. The market square was absolutely dead when we arrived at around 7. Apparently this place is usually a bustle of activity but on Saturday evening and Sunday morning none of that was evident. It had a number of stores that would have been worth going into had they been open and the people manning the pub were friendly and served good food.

York

Modern York is an amazing city. Much of the city is old and feels it, with a complete set of city walls and an array of medieval buildings. It has the largest cathedral in England and the second largest in Northern Europe. The shopping center is a really nice section of town lined with stores and generally a market in the square. It is a very popular shopping destination. There is a Roman bath located beneath one of the pubs (helpfully called The Roman Bath) but they charge for admittance and there isn't much there.
There is very little left of Roman York. It was originally one of the civitas capitals of Britian under the name of Eboracum. It was also known as Jorvik during the Viking era and there is the excellent (but overpriced and busy) Jorvik Centre to see there. As for Eboracum there is a section of wall left as well as a few artifacts in the museum. The centre of Eboracum was located where Yorkminster Cathedral is now. The Normans liked to build Cathedrals on sites of importance since that helped associate their buildings with the prestige and importance of the old ones.

London and the British Museum

Since my year began in London it makes sense to start there. London is a pretty amazing city. Its history spans at least 2,000 years to the creation of Londinium by the Romans. There isn't much left from those times. Fortunately, London itself has a number of amazing places to visit. From the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace to Big Ben... The number of recognizable landmarks is endless! Unfortunately, I missed most of them. Perhaps I'll go back at a later date but for now all I've seen is Trafalgar Square and the exteriors of a lot of buildings. And the British Museum but I'll get back to that.
So what is there in London that would interest a Classics student?

Londinium Walls