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Sep. 19th, 2015 10:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tvordljWe had a great road trip this week and i'm now winding down. It's my last day here. Don't know if we'll go out and do something or not at this point. I will have to sort out my suitcase and we do have to post a couple of things, some of the gifts we were given that i just don't have room for. I went to the post office yesterday and because the package was 110 grams over the 2kg limit, it had to go by the special parcel service and cost 38 pounds!! if the box was under 2kg it would be 16, this is going by the slow boat but there's no hurry. I came back and opened it and repacked it, hopefulley that will be enough. sheesh.
We did a three day road trip to the northeast with G.'s friend Malcom. It rained most of the way to our first stop and rained a bit on the journey back but otherwise, we had dry and even beautiful sunny weather for most of the rest of the three days. In a nutshell, our first stop was Housesteads Roman Army fort on Hadrian's Wall. That's somewhere I always wanted to see. There are a number of sites along the70+ miles of the original Wall with bits of the wall still visible. There were two i had picked out though wasn't sure we'd get to see both and I may have picked the one that was the more difficult to explore since the fort was on top of a hill with a steepish path a half mile away from the parking lot and visitor centre. The other was more of a village ruins about 10 miles away but we didn't get there.
But I made it up the hill by going slow, 50 paces at a time, stop, rest the legs and breathe. 50 more. repeat. The remains of the fort were interesting and there was a decent stretch of the wall there as well. We made copious jokes about White Walkers on the Wall as Malcom has a full head of white hair. We stood looking over the deep drainage ditches behind the wall and out into the landscape. Graham mused about the Romans standing there in leather skirts, knees knocking in the cold and with fear with hordes of marauding Scots on the outside. There was another couple standing near enough to hear him and they chuckled, even more when it speculated that the Scots were much "harder' that the Italians with jokes about the Scots throwing bottles of irn Bru and nutting the Romans. :)
There was a Roman Army museum there as well and we had a peek in but didn't stay too long as there were many excited children thronging in the gift shop. We headed back down and on to our hotel destination, Seahouses which is a nice little seaside town. The hotel overlooks the harbour though our rooms faced the parking in the back. They also have a lounge and a beer garden, both of which we used. We ate in the hotel both nights. Checked an old pub across the road but it was fully booked which was what sent us to the hotel dining room the first night, that also being quite busy. We ended up just doing that the second night as well. The food was pretty good and the beer was as well. The room was fine, the bed was two put together and a bit hard for my tastes but Graham was comfy. I didn't sleep alll that well either night.
That was Tuesday. On Wednesday we headed up the road a bit to Holy Island, the site of Lindisfarne castle and priory. This was one place that the Vikings hit hard, one of their early landings. We parked in the area just outside of the village and walked in and then since the castle is another good half mile walk out the end of the harbour, we did that first since we still had energy and not-sore feet. I didn't fancy climbing up the steep path right into the castle but I did want to walk out close to it. You could drive but only if you had a disabled pass. There were a lot of people walking out and back. It's a busy place mainly because the island is only accessible by a causeway that floods with the tide. It was recommended to me to go over just before the tide covered the road and stay until it opened again later in the evening, far fewer tourists hovering but we decided against that and went with the flow. There was a piper at the base of the castle as well, just to entertain the tourists as they went back and forth and the views over the harbour were great as well.
The sun was really warm and there was very little breeze which was unexpected since you're right out on the water like that. We walked back into the village and stopped for a coffee and cake break at a busy cafe before walking around to the remains of the Priory and St. Mary's church both of which were interesting. There was also an exhibit on the history of the priory in the visitor centre. We really enjoyed the sunshine while we walked around. There are other things to see, a few little museums and a big shop where they made and sell mead. We didn't go but had we the energy, i likely would have gone to find the one that was about the Lindisfarne Gospels. There was an example of a couple of reproduction pages in the visitor centre. Exquisite.h
Back to the hotel, and out into the sunny beer garden for awhile before cleaning up for our evening meal.
Thursday we headed to Alnwick where there's a big castle and some lovely gardens to check out. The castle was more on the lines of a stately home and we found out that the family of the Dukes of Northumberland still live here in the off season. Exterior shots were used in some of the Harry Potter movies and the interior was used for the most recent Downton Abbey Christmas special. The state rooms were exquisite and very lush. The first room's walls were lined with weapons and armaments which pleased the guys but the rest of it was fancy rooms and paintings and furniture which was more up my street. We had a browse in the gift shop and had a coffee in the courtyard gift shop. One thing i really like about places like this is that the people that work there are very informed about the history of the place and the family and are very willing to talk about it.
By now the weather was starting to darken and the rain wouldn't be far off. We decided against looking around the little museums that were in parts of the ramparts because we had a long drive and the weather wasn't going to be great. Back to the car and on the road. We drove the main motorways all the way home and got back here, after dropping Malcom off, about 7. Too tired to cook, we ordered a takeout, pie and chips :)
Yesterday was fairly low key with a meal out with Graham's friend in the evening and I have to try to post that box today. Might go to Platt Hall where there's a Costume Museum.
We did a three day road trip to the northeast with G.'s friend Malcom. It rained most of the way to our first stop and rained a bit on the journey back but otherwise, we had dry and even beautiful sunny weather for most of the rest of the three days. In a nutshell, our first stop was Housesteads Roman Army fort on Hadrian's Wall. That's somewhere I always wanted to see. There are a number of sites along the70+ miles of the original Wall with bits of the wall still visible. There were two i had picked out though wasn't sure we'd get to see both and I may have picked the one that was the more difficult to explore since the fort was on top of a hill with a steepish path a half mile away from the parking lot and visitor centre. The other was more of a village ruins about 10 miles away but we didn't get there.
But I made it up the hill by going slow, 50 paces at a time, stop, rest the legs and breathe. 50 more. repeat. The remains of the fort were interesting and there was a decent stretch of the wall there as well. We made copious jokes about White Walkers on the Wall as Malcom has a full head of white hair. We stood looking over the deep drainage ditches behind the wall and out into the landscape. Graham mused about the Romans standing there in leather skirts, knees knocking in the cold and with fear with hordes of marauding Scots on the outside. There was another couple standing near enough to hear him and they chuckled, even more when it speculated that the Scots were much "harder' that the Italians with jokes about the Scots throwing bottles of irn Bru and nutting the Romans. :)
There was a Roman Army museum there as well and we had a peek in but didn't stay too long as there were many excited children thronging in the gift shop. We headed back down and on to our hotel destination, Seahouses which is a nice little seaside town. The hotel overlooks the harbour though our rooms faced the parking in the back. They also have a lounge and a beer garden, both of which we used. We ate in the hotel both nights. Checked an old pub across the road but it was fully booked which was what sent us to the hotel dining room the first night, that also being quite busy. We ended up just doing that the second night as well. The food was pretty good and the beer was as well. The room was fine, the bed was two put together and a bit hard for my tastes but Graham was comfy. I didn't sleep alll that well either night.
That was Tuesday. On Wednesday we headed up the road a bit to Holy Island, the site of Lindisfarne castle and priory. This was one place that the Vikings hit hard, one of their early landings. We parked in the area just outside of the village and walked in and then since the castle is another good half mile walk out the end of the harbour, we did that first since we still had energy and not-sore feet. I didn't fancy climbing up the steep path right into the castle but I did want to walk out close to it. You could drive but only if you had a disabled pass. There were a lot of people walking out and back. It's a busy place mainly because the island is only accessible by a causeway that floods with the tide. It was recommended to me to go over just before the tide covered the road and stay until it opened again later in the evening, far fewer tourists hovering but we decided against that and went with the flow. There was a piper at the base of the castle as well, just to entertain the tourists as they went back and forth and the views over the harbour were great as well.
The sun was really warm and there was very little breeze which was unexpected since you're right out on the water like that. We walked back into the village and stopped for a coffee and cake break at a busy cafe before walking around to the remains of the Priory and St. Mary's church both of which were interesting. There was also an exhibit on the history of the priory in the visitor centre. We really enjoyed the sunshine while we walked around. There are other things to see, a few little museums and a big shop where they made and sell mead. We didn't go but had we the energy, i likely would have gone to find the one that was about the Lindisfarne Gospels. There was an example of a couple of reproduction pages in the visitor centre. Exquisite.h
Back to the hotel, and out into the sunny beer garden for awhile before cleaning up for our evening meal.
Thursday we headed to Alnwick where there's a big castle and some lovely gardens to check out. The castle was more on the lines of a stately home and we found out that the family of the Dukes of Northumberland still live here in the off season. Exterior shots were used in some of the Harry Potter movies and the interior was used for the most recent Downton Abbey Christmas special. The state rooms were exquisite and very lush. The first room's walls were lined with weapons and armaments which pleased the guys but the rest of it was fancy rooms and paintings and furniture which was more up my street. We had a browse in the gift shop and had a coffee in the courtyard gift shop. One thing i really like about places like this is that the people that work there are very informed about the history of the place and the family and are very willing to talk about it.
By now the weather was starting to darken and the rain wouldn't be far off. We decided against looking around the little museums that were in parts of the ramparts because we had a long drive and the weather wasn't going to be great. Back to the car and on the road. We drove the main motorways all the way home and got back here, after dropping Malcom off, about 7. Too tired to cook, we ordered a takeout, pie and chips :)
Yesterday was fairly low key with a meal out with Graham's friend in the evening and I have to try to post that box today. Might go to Platt Hall where there's a Costume Museum.
