Continuing northward, we finished our time in England in beautiful Berwick-upon-Tweed, which sits just a few miles south of the Scottish border.

Berwick feels compact and walkable, edged on one side by cliffs and a beach. The river Tweed cuts through town, crossed by an old bridge, a newer bridge, and an impressive viaduct. The Elizabethan walls surrounding much of town are one of the best preserved examples of bastioned walls in all of Europe. Neat and tidy paved paths follow the walls, with many signs warning you to keep track of dogs and children given the distance you could fall from the walls and enormous mounds of earth.

We enjoyed brisk, windy sunshine most days, with only one day reminding us of rainy Portugal. The kids went from mittens and hats to just long sleeves and back again to layers in the space of an hour. The lower temperatures haven’t necessary been completely comfortable, but the UK weather overall has surpassed our expectations. We expected better conditions in Portugal and worse in the UK, and after our earlier rainy days this winter, we appreciate each dry day so much.

We splurged and arranged a taxi ride to Lindisfarne, also known as the Holy Island. To visit Lindisfarne, you have to first check safe crossing times. This tidal island can be accessed by several miles of road that the tide covers completely for part of each day. Our taxi driver told us that a car a week has to be fished out of the water.

The Holy Island is considered the cradle of English Christianity with its history of important saints based here. Many centuries ago, residents of Lindisfarne created the illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels. Lindisfarne is also the site of the first Viking invasion of Great Britain.

We froze a bit in the strong wind, but we managed to see the major sights in a few hours before catching our ride back to home base. The island is not necessarily extremely dramatic or stunning, but it captures your attention quietly with its feeling of separation from the mainland for so many hours of each day. It’s not hard to picture religious folks seeking silence and solitude here, nor is it difficult to imagine Viking longboats appearing on the horizon.

We interrupt this broadcast for a special segment brought to you by a rare solo adventure with Nic, written by the man himself…

I went on a historical pilgrimage to the coastal town of Bamburgh (pronounced Bam-bruh), a half hour bus ride from our lodging in Berwick. This place was on my bucket list, and Katie suggested I go during nap time. I haven’t had much time to solo adventure on this trip, and it was a much needed break and an awesome experience!

Bamburgh Castle is rich in history and a remarkable fortress with tales of epic battles, total structural demolition via canon fire during the War of the Roses followed by 200 years of vacancy and ruin, several failed attempts at rebuilding it, and then finally multiple generations maintaining it as it is today. The sprawling castle sits atop a massive protruding rocky fin. It is striking from every angle inside and out and filled with armor, weapons, exhibits and various period artifacts.

More recently, it has had a resurgence of tourism since part of The Last Kingdom TV series was filmed there, a fantastic book series and show that somewhat accurately follows the conquest of the Danes’ raid on Lindisfarne and the decades that followed ultimately leading to Saxon control of the kingdom. The great hall has some of the costumes worn by the show’s main characters, and much of the gift shop celebrates the historical fiction with some themed trinkets and collectibles. After a couple of hours exploring the castle, I headed back to Berwick on a double decker bus and helped put the kiddies to bed. I would love to go back to Bamburgh someday and spend more time exploring the town, castle and beach!