![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.glmorganwrites.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Hadrians-wall-1.jpg\")
<\/a>storehouses and other structures can be seen.\u00a0 In many places, the floors have been excavated to show stone pillars that would have held up the floors and allowed heated air to circulate beneath the buildings.\u00a0 Anna and I lost track of Dad as we wandered among the ruins, walking in tiny passageways and wondering if we were moving along streets or sewers.\u00a0 I wish Jenn, my good friend who helps me with so much research, could have joined us.\u00a0 As a classics major, I\u2019m sure she would have known the difference!<\/p>\nVindolanda is currently the site of on-going archaeological work.\u00a0 The anaerobic soil means that many objects that would otherwise have rotted have remained beautifully preserved.\u00a0 The Vindolanda museum contains more than 400 examples of leather footwear, ranging from infants\u2019 shoes to women\u2019s slippers, to men\u2019s sandals.\u00a0 We stopped to watch the archaeologists at work, and one of them came over to chat with us.\u00a0 He had with him a piece of leather they had found that morning, and I was allowed to handle it.\u00a0 2000-year-old leather\u2014the mind boggles!\u00a0 What the archaeologists are most interested in finding, though, is wooden tablets. \u00a0 Excavating and preserving the tablets is a time-consuming job.\u00a0 Archaeologists cut sections of the compacted earth out and \u201cdissect\u201d them, carefully removing the tablets, which are wafer-thin pieces of wood.\u00a0 The first tablets that were found were stuck together, and when pried apart, had writing on their inner faces.\u00a0 The finders were so excited that they took the tablets to show the head of their expedition, only to discover that the tablets had blackened with exposure to the air.\u00a0 Infra-red photography at a local hospital (thankfully) made it possible for the writing to be read, and transcriptions to be made of the tablets.<\/p>\n The archaeologist we spoke to said he thought they would likely be excavating at Vindolanda for the next 200 years!<\/p>\n Away from the actual ruins of the fort, down a rather steep hill, is a series of three recreated Roman buildings, where voice-overs describe what life was like for the people who lived and worked at Vindolanda in Roman times.\u00a0 Just across the river is a small caf\u00e9 where we ate lunch.\u00a0 There was a young boy in the caf\u00e9 dressed in full Roman kit, who received some very envious glances from the other children present!<\/p>\n We left Vindolanda and headed west to Housesteads.\u00a0 Parking here is owned by the national parks authority, the land is owned by National Trust, and English Heritage maintains the ruins.\u00a0 Parking wasn\u2019t covered by Anna\u2019s English Heritage membership, but either an English Heritage card or a National Trust membership will gain access to the ruins of the fort here.<\/p>\n We purchased our tickets at a small visitor centre, then made our way across a sheep-strewn field and up a very steep gravel path.\u00a0 To the left is a small farmhouse-turned-museum, and to the right, the path continued to a kissing gate, which gave access to the ruins of The museum at Housesteads was lovely, if a little small, with a short video explaining what life was like for the soldiers who were garrisoned here, and a children\u2019s education collection that allowed me to see what the hobnails on Roman shoes and a variety of brooches looked like.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve had a great trip, and am sad to be leaving Britain.\u00a0 There\u2019s so much history left to explore.\u00a0 Then again, I suppose that just means that there\u2019s all the more reason to come back again! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n Acknowledgments Wednesday, May 29, 2013 Today, our last in the UK, Dad, Anna and I set out to explore the Roman ruins around Hadrian\u2019s Wall\u2014the famous defensive structure that stretched from the Solway Firth to Wallsend near Newcastle, and separated Roman … Continue reading <\/a>More than a hundred of these tablets have been found at Vindolanda since the 1970s.\u00a0 Like postcards, they contain tidbits about the lives of people who lived at the fort.\u00a0 One of the most interesting, and certainly the most famous, is a birthday invitation written by a scribe from one woman to her sister.\u00a0 At the bottom, written in the woman\u2019s own hand, is a post script; this is believed to be the oldest writing by a woman in the western world.<\/p>\n\nHousesteads<\/h1>\n
<\/a>Housesteads.\u00a0 These were much the same as the ruins at Vindolanda, but a little more difficult to navigate.\u00a0 Unlike Vindolanda, the remains of Hadrian\u2019s Wall were actually visible here.\u00a0 At its highest point, the wall reached just over my head (I\u2019m just over 5 ft.), and we were able to walk along it for a short while.\u00a0 There are some better preserved sections of the wall further inland, but I\u2019m content to have found it and walked along it at all.<\/p>\n
\nThanks to everyone who made this research trip possible: Dad for all the driving, the friends and family who hosted us, Mom for staying home to take care of guide dog Andy, and the various volunteers and site-staff who let me have hands-on experience with the history.\u00a0 This has been an amazing experience!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"