Matt's Newcastle

Our friend Matt gave us a really great excuse to go to Newcastle…for those of you who don’t know Matt, he’s a good friend of mine (now ours) from high school. And he’s pretty darn awesome. He’s just recently started medical school at the University of Northumbria…so he spent a little time in London with us first and then dragged us up to the north of England to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Yep, dragged us skipping and giggling, "Wee! A trip!"

So, we arrived on a Friday with Matt at his student housing and reminisced briefly about our lives in dorm rooms. Yucky. Luckily Matt will be so busy studying he won’t have time to hate his new “home.” After settling into our B & B, the three of us hit the town, which people take pretty seriously in Newcastle. I started to wonder how Matt would get anything done in such a party town.

Here’s a lovely picture (stolen from Matt’s camera) of the Castle Keep and the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, as seen from up the road.

Yep, just another castle and amazing, gigantic cathedral plunked down in the middle of town. It's just so unoriginal, building a town around a castle like that. Someone should come up with some NEW new ideas. This "new" castle dates back to 1080.

We started the next day at a place called Wallsend, which has an especially nice ring to it when said with a northern British accent. Wallsend is named as such because it is near the end of Hadrian’s Wall (the gigantic wall that the Romans built to keep those ruffians, the Scots, out of all of England. Pansies.) It’s also the site of an old Roman fort, which isn’t exactly picture-worthy as it’s a big archaeological dig-site which has been filled back in. What sticks up looks like matchbox cobblestone streets. It was cool, though, don't get me wrong.

Here's a small slice of Hadrian’s Wall, next to a wall which they think may replicate what the original once was.

Next we headed out toward the coast (and we're talking the Northeast coast, here) to a place called Tynemouth Priory and Castle. This is where Derek and I became English Heritage site members. Now, to get our money's worth, we have to visit over 400 sites across England (plus more in Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man) in the next year. (It was my idea. I swear, we'll save money. Really.)

The ruins at Tynemouth.

The weather started out crummy, but then turned on us and got sunny! So I took a lot of pictures...sometimes it’s nice to look back at pictures and see what blue sky is like. I'm ready for winter, can you tell?!

Matt graces the archways at Tynemouth Priory.

The Tynemouth Priory...and some handsome guy just walking around like a hobo with a rucksack on a stick.

The cemetery at Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Behind me is a really awesome view of the River Tyne flowing out to the North Sea. Sure wish you could see it...

We hopped on a ferry to take us across the river to see what was on the other side. The grass was greener there--and by that I mean there was good local beer and friendly pub conversation.

Then we meandered through Gateshead, south of Newcastle, and found our way back to the River, where we crossed Newcastle’s Millennium Bridge. Here's the River Tyne, the new performing arts center (the big silver thing) and the Millennium Bridge.

The Millennium Bridge as seen in the "down" position.

We got ourselves a nice pint of Guinness and waited for 9:00, the magical time when the millennium bridge moves. After we watched it, we all came to the conclusion that London’s millennium bridge pales in comparison. If it was music, it would be Jimi Hendrix playing a harp: extremely cool and somehow elegant at the same time. Take a moment to envision that. You'll see what I mean.

Here's the Millennium Bridge in the raised position.

The next day, we walked around by the river again, taking more photos and getting a daytime look at things. Somehow, all the night ones turned out better. Oh, we also found a pub that serves only vegetarian food. AWEsome. I had "chili non-carne." Very clever, eh?

Finally, we wandered inside the beautiful Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas.

We were sure sad to go; Newcastle is a fun and friendly old town. Really REALLY old. But Derek and I had a date with Edinburgh, so we just had to go...More on that later. Ta!