We woke up late in Tadcaster after a long and luscious night sleep that followed the night of no sleep on the plane. And then we had to face the fact that we didn't have time or energy for York. Sometime we'll visit York Minister, Shambles and walk on the city walls - but not today.
Instead, we headed north. To break up the five hour drive, we stopped at Holy Island - Lindisfarne. There was a huge Viking raid here in 793 - a splashy, dramatic raid to escalate the move from Vikings from traders to raiders. Lindisfarne was a wealthy, prominent community, so it was a big deal when it was attacked. We'd seen references to this attack in many videos about the Vikings - so it was interesting to stop and see the actual place.
These days, there's not much to commemorate that raid. The place is mostly known for other reasons - the birds, dunes, a castle that is not a castle, and for being an island that is not really an island.
This causeway/road connects the island to the mainland for half of each day, when the tide is low.
It's important to check the time tables before you go to Lindisfarne, because it's a drag to get stuck until the water goes down. But it's not hard. There are timetables posted way in advance, and there are signs reminding you when it closes. I was afraid that the road would be slimy or sandy from being covered twice a day, but it wasn't. It's just a very low road with wet/water on both sides. Neat, though. And yes, I checked the time tables before we went!
Here's the castle - which is not actually a castle. It was first a fort around 1550, then turned into a holiday home in 1900.
We parked in the huge parking lot and followed the crowds through the town and along the path to the castle, stopping at the big bird blind to see the water birds that over winter here.
Back over the causeway that was still safe to pass...
and soon we got to the Scottish border!
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