The Falkirk Wheel

Friday 11:45 pm, York

Hello again! As it is so late, this will be a short post, but I will have time to write more tomorrow. We have been without wireless for a couple of days, but we're staying tonight at the University of York, so we have wired access. Andrew went to university here in his late teens and early twenties, so I'm getting a better sense of his younger years. The campus is absolutely lovely; photos to follow in a later post.

Yesterday, we drove down to England via the Eastern coast of the North Sea. It was a fast drive through very scenic, yet narrow back roads; again, more photos to come tomorrow. Andrew and I are both getting comfortable driving; it's great not to squeal every time a big truck comes at us in the opposite lane! :)

As promised, here are some photos from Wednesday. The first is one of my favorites, of Andrew and Gwynneth at the Stirling castle.

As I mentioned in the last post, on our way home, we stopped to see the Falkirk wheel. This enormous feat of engineering raises or lowers boats from one canal to another. Just as we arrived, it ran through a cycle (empty). It was quite a sight to see it move that much water, much less to think of adding a boat. The basin that holds the boat is inside the circle you see in the photo below.

Here's Gwynneth alongside, to give you a sense of scale:

And these? These are narrowboats, a version of houseboats suitable for canals. They have been pulled by horses, pushed with poles, and moved through tunnels by people lying on their back and "walking" the boat through. They have a top speed of about 4.5 mph, contain several beds, a little kitchen, bath, and dining area. I am in LOVE and hope to be able to rent one on our next visit, hopefully with the kids.

Ok, it's off to bed now. I'm still struggling a bit with jet lag and wanting to stay up all night. :) Much love! xoxox, Erika