The Theatre of Dreams

As we prepared for our travel day, we had a leisurely start with our final breakfast in the Great Hall. Following shortly thereafter was a tour of Durham Castle by a current Durham University student. The Castle is used as student residences during the academic year and is opened up for Bed and Breakfast accommodations in the summer. Here are just a few short highlights from the tour:

• The castle updated their kitchen facilities in the 1970's to keep up with England's food standards and safety practices. The tables they had used previously are still inside the castle walls and are over 600 years old. Yes America, they are older than our country. They have one table so massive it took the entire Durham rugby team to haul it up the stairs into the hallway which overlooks the Castle courtyard.
• They only have one "verifiable" haunting in the Grand Staircase area. The woman has only been seen by students so the accuracy of the story cannot be confirmed. However, you may want to see which pub the students visited before they "saw" her.
• Preservation work is still underway around the Castle grounds. Work includes studying and repairing the exterior stone work, as well as the seats in the main Chapel.

After the tour, we left for Manchester. Movies were enjoyed along the way, with a soccer and comedy film shown on the coach's television screens. Once within Manchester's city limits, we were directed to Old Trafford Stadium, home of Manchester United Football Club. We were taken on a behind-the-scenes tour to see the pitch (field), dressing rooms, and player's lounge.

Once the tour was completed, we headed to check in to the Britannia Country House Hotel. Once settled, we had a buffet dinner at Jenny's Restaurant with a wide selection of dishes. After dinner, the boys either took a dip in the pool or caught up on sleep.