July 15, 2004

July 15, 2004 - Newcastle

Driving was better today (I was more familiar with the new systems) than yesterday; it was very exciting at times, but I didn't hit anybody, despite several apparent attempts on my part. We are ensconced in our hotel in Newscastle, having had dinner and now settling in to write the day's journal.

The main task today was to get from Edinborough (Scotland) to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (England), seeing a few sights along the way. We did both. First, we carefully planned our route out of Edinborough, whose signage, like that in France, has been designed to confuse German invaders (or maybe Vikings, which were a big problem in Britain). Despite streets not being named as anticipated, we escaped the city without actually experiencing the city per se. Soon we were out on the open road, which was a four-lane divided highway (from time to time).

We made three stops on the way to Newcastle. Our plan was to see everything north of the city that interested us; then we can focus on places to the south. While we certainly didn't see everything worthwhile between Edinborough and Newcastle, we were pleased with what we did see.

The first stop was Dunbar, Scotland. While we ended up with VERY good feelings about this small town, we stopped there for a specific purpose. It is the birthplace of John Muir, the great American conservationist, for whom Muir Woods in Marin (among other things) is named. Here's his birthplace on the right. The main street of Dunbar is below, left.

Although we were familiar with Muir's general story, we learned a lot here in Dunbar and were re-inspired by this great man.

Outside of town, we visited the John Muir Park and discovered a wonderful wetlands leading to the beach--probably one he walked around in as a young man.

Next stop was Berwick-on-Tweed, just over the border in England. Our main interest was in seeing the city's massive walls, which did not disappoint us. (Paying 20 pence to use the toilet was another matter.) (And I think the attendant of indeterminate gender cheated me out of 20 pence in making change, but that's another story.) (Actually, that's it. There's no story.) Here are a couple of views of the walls of the city--and the city the walls were guarding.

When we had lunch yesterday (waiting for our Hertz car) (remember that?) (don't make me repeat it), we had great conversations with the barman. When we acknowledged that we hadn't gotten inside the Edinborough Castle, he responded, "If you've seen one castle, you've seen them all." Although I had been leaned in that direction myself (every town of more than five people has an ancient castle), we stopped to see another, which had been touted as special. In fact, it was. Bamburgh Castle was begun in the 5th or 6th century, but our visit and tour pointed out something we hadn't really thought about. Castles are evolving things. Sometimes they are largely destroyed (in wars, for example) and have to be rebuilt. Sometimes, they are captured in war and the new owners make changes in accord with their desires or customs. If a castle exists for a few hundred years, new technological advances appear, which the current owners of the castle may want to incorporate: running water, indoor toilets, electricity, internet access (oh yes, the new hotel has it, too). At first, I was a little disappointed to learn that this neat castle had been restored in recent times, I finally got that's just part of the process. Here's how Bamburgh castle looks today.

Before leaving Edinborough, I checked into the website for our new hotel and copied out the details instructions for reaching the hotel (deep in the center city) from the freeway. Unfortunately, I made one mistake in copying--putting a landmark on our right side instead of our left side. As a result, I made a hasty, swerving lane change (I didn't hit anyone) to get it on the right side of us, and we were soon driving randomly through rush-hour urban traffic, on winding streets with left-hand drive. (I haven't broken them of that habit yet.) Through the kindness of strangers, we finally arrived, hassled but healthy at the Malmaison in Newcastle. Here's the look out our window as I put this journal to bed. (I guess this is the River Tyne, since we're in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.)

We've decided that our day trips romorrow will be by train. I don't even care which side of the track they drive on, as long as they are all agreed.

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