Our next day in Northern England was the most active trip day yet. We started the day by heading to Vindolanda, a military fort south of Hadrian’s Wall.

The fort itself was massive. It was built in a valley surrounded by rolling hills, giving it protection. While we were there, active excavations were occurring, which was super cool to see. They showed us some of the artifacts they had discovered in the past few days of their excavations, one of them being a piece of a pot originally from France. One of the exhibits in the museum at the site showcased all of the shoes that had been found in the fort, which is something I had never seen before. There were thousands of shoes.

After Vindolanda, we finally headed over to hike Hadrian’s Wall. I thought it would be a tiny wall, but I was very wrong. The wall was massive and extended around 73 miles. It is tough to comprehend how the Romans were able to build this wall as it goes up and down the sides of hills. The views from our hike were amazing, as I had never realized how beautiful England is. We hiked up and down the sides of hills and in and out of lush areas. We also got to see the famous sycamore tree along the wall. Unfortunately since then the tree was chopped down by an act of vandalism in November of 2023. When the tree was chopped down it also damaged the wall.