"0"^^ . "2012-02-07T00:00:00"^^ . . "A low, late morning sun through bleak winter trees covered in moss and frost.....a quintessential English countryside view....and unbelievably beautiful.\n\nWe happened upon Hadrian's Wall by accident on a freezing Saturday morning, having seen the brown tourists signs to a desination that has been on my \"bucket list\" since I was about 13 and learned about it in school on the other side of the world.\n\nHow magical to just happen upon it one morning, quite by mistake!\n\nThe Roman Fort in Birdoswald was practically empty - but we were still greeted with smiles and banter and the good news that Scottish Heritage cards mean free entry to the Fort. Excellent - that entrance fee will go on coffee & cake after a wee explore!\n\nThe exhibition itself is well laid-out and with enough mixed media to keep even bored people interested, although I always wonder about the artists who make the replica food for these installations - I don't think Hiroshi Nagashima will be handing out any stars! \n\nThat being said, the information is excellent and the museum is a good yet relatively brief introduction to the Wall and the history of this particular area of it; I do recommend buying the small booklet on the history of the Wall - especially when entry is free.\n\nWalking around the grounds, there are further boards and the frosty morning really was the most amazing time to see it - the Wall itself is an incredible feat; the tramworks people in Edinburgh could learn a lot, considering the Wall spans the width of the entire country and was completed in 7 years - and is still in pretty good condition hundreds of years later!\n\nThe wee cafe is clean, functional and not uncomfortable. More importantly, the coffee is good and the malteser slice we decided to share was good enough to make us wonder if sharing wasn't the way to go!\n\nWe will definitely come back and do some walking along the wall when we have appropriate shoes - for now, it was just a thrill to touch it, to see it, to have a magical morning become even more so with the reminder of amazing things it's possible to simply stumble upon."^^ . . "0"^^ . "4"^^ . . "0"^^ .