Northumbria and north (er)

After being given a view from the roof of Langley Castle, We checked out, and Kevin (the same cab driver who dropped us off) took us back to the Hexham train station. We told him about our plans to drive north out of Newcastle, and he recommended that we stop in on Alnwick Castle, where several Harry Potter scenes were filmed, among other things.

We hired a car in Newcastle (actually it's a brand new Peugeot 308 hatchback that started with 8 miles on the odometer) and drove up the Northern Coast. We didn't know how far we'd get, or what we'd see- so the plan was to go as far north as we could go, while still getting back at a reasonable time.

We got onto the A1 and headed north. Getting behind the wheel of a car actually felt nice to me, sonce we've been all about the public transportation since we arrived here. Say what you want about energy conservation, the evils of the internal combustion engine, etc. One thing is quite clear to me once again- no matter how great the public transport system is- you still tend to spend a lot of time schlepping crap around. Anyway- luggage safely in the trunk (0r boot) of the car, we headed north.

We drove about 2 hours up the coast and saw a sign for the Bellhaven Brewery in Dunbar, and immediately headed for it. It turns out that you need to have a reservation for a tour, and the local pub wasn't open, so we headed down the coast, and soon found The Volunteer Arms, a proper Scottish pub overlooking the North Sea.

I got Haddock and Mel got Calamari- both were fabulous- and we both got a pint. I wouldn't call the locals friendly- but they weren't rude, and basically ignored us while we sat in the back of the pub and had our lunch.

The owners were nice, and asked several times if we liked the food, and gave us prompt service- but I suspect they'd pefer to serve the locals and leave the Yanks on the other side of the other ocean.

The Views of the north Sea were pretty neat, and the breaze off the coast gave the air a chill as we got back in the car and turned south. We took the A1 south, and stopped in at a few towns and roadside stops to take pictures of the beaches, various castle ruins and whatever highlights we could find. We realized that this could be a completely different trip over here, and another 1-2 weeks just visiting the coastal towns from Newcastle up.

Although the gardens and everything were closed at Alnwick, Mel did get a chance to hop out of the car and snap a few pics of the castle. It turns out that Anwick castle is quite the actor, having also been in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Elizabeth, and Black Adder.

For pictures of me laying on various hotel beds, more details and better photos overall, have a look at Mel's Blog. as well.