Hello everybody !
My name is Fanny, I am from Bagnères-de-Bigorre, in the Pyrénées. I just finished my second year in the History in English BA in Toulouse, I mainly chose this curriculum so that I can spend a year abroad in England. I am starting on the 29th of September at Durham University in the UK !
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| Me being all happy about the new year ahead ! |
Let's start with the basics, a little wikipedia-esque summary: Durham is in the north east of England. Is is a city of around 42 000 inhabitants, including more than 15 000 students, tha inhabitants are called the Durhamites. Its university is one of the oldest in England (it was founded in 1832). It is the little red dot on this map:
After a 3-hour train
ride from London, my little brother and I arrived at the Durham station. From the train, we already saw the famous cathedral and the castle, both registered on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
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| The view from the viaduct, before entering the station, by DWaterson |
My new landlord picked us up at the
station, and drove around, giving us a quick view of Durham. Once at the
house, we took some rest before exploring everything. My new roomates were all on holiday, so it was just the two of us in the house. When the day was
starting to fall, I went out, wanting to see the important features of the town.
I am about 5 minutes walking away from the heart of the old town. I just went
down my street to reach the market place, from which I climbed up the hill to
finally getting a closer look at the cathedral. It was getting darker and all the lights were on, it
was very beautiful.
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I even managed to see the History department of Durham University !
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The center is only made of
very ancient buildings, which is something I personally love ! The next
morning, I did the same kind of tour, to get to see things by day, and see the
Durhamites (such a cute name though). All the ones I met were lovely, and every
old woman called me "pet" or "love" when talking to me. The
people speak here with a strong geordie accent, which can sometimes be tricky
to understand. This is an extract from thz show Hebburn, set in a little town a few minutes away from Durham, and they've got pretty much the same accent.
On my second and last night, I tasted the local beer, brewed in town, and it is amazing !
Though Durham's a
small city (about 30 000 inhabitants, and 50% are students), it is full of restaurants and shops, much more than
I was expecting.
I'm coming back to Durham around the end of september to start
my year at the university, but now that I've seen the buildings, my new home and the town,
I'm even more excited to start !
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| View of my new home from the back garden |
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| My home from the street (my room is the window at the bottom right) |
