Grandma Goes Coastal: July 13, Carlisle

The day began with a walk to the train station. Since I am leaving for Newcastle tomorrow, I wanted to make sure the station was easy to find and so on.

I, always fearing potential disaster, had already purchased my train ticket

Then it was off to see the sights and the sites, too, some of which I was planning on returning to, like the Cathedral for example:

This arch was adorable:

I went to a couple of major parks, which were ever so nice! But at one point I veered off the derech (path) and had to cut through a trailer park where this horrible little yappy dog came after me. I screamed at him very much, especially after he nipped at my leg.

Bad, bad dog!

One park had an Asian section, but the only Asian item was this pagoda:

It was a very small Asian section.

The Hadrian's Wall walk passes through Carlisle. To play that up, three or four huge boulders have been set on bases because maybe the scratches on the surface mean something old:

And one is supposed to be awash with a feeling of reverence, I think. The selfie is not part of the display.

A decorated mosaic seat I will call Roman-evocative:

The walk also went through a golf course:

After the walk came the castle.

When they shot whatever out of this window, or whatever they did (maybe they just looked)

for sure they did not see:

When the men folk were buy attending to fires and such, the women folk were tasked with raining down boulders onto the heads of the invaders:

Apparently they did this with much enthusiasm:

I did not think that the castle was well curated or all that interesting. Here are my big takeaways:

Next stop: Interior of the Cathedral.

Doggies who go the church are good doggies! Yes, they are!

I had the most fascinating time at the cathedral. A volunteer spent a huge amount of time talking to me about the magnificent organ:

And many other fascinating features of the cathedral. Here is just one:

The underside of that bench shows Richard II being crowned by two heavenly cherubs. According to the gentleman expert, that was taking the divine right of kings a little too far.

Last stop was the museum. I will skip to the three pieces worth commenting on.

This is Sisera's mother:

In case you need a refresher on the Song of Deborah, here it is in short. Sisera, the Canaanite general who is losing the battle, runs away and takes shelter in the tent of Ya'el. "He asked for water and she gave him milk; she gave him milk in a lordly bowl." Anyway, he drinks the milk, falls at her feet, and she hammers a tent peg into his temple. Meanwhile, Sisera's mother is looking out the window in anticipation of her son's victorious return, imagining his bringing spoils such as many dyed fabrics. Curation: "Sisera's Arab mother....." Don't even get me started!

Then there was this Ophelia: