Upon the Tyne

Newcastle UK

Well, we survived our first travel day in the UK via bus and it may have been a late night, but we made it.  Having to go all the way around the city due to road closures, but we made it.

Upon arriving in the city there were still lots of people out on the town even at 2:30 AM on a Sunday night.  This definitely gave it the college-town feel and we were staying basically in the middle of the campus neighboring the Tyne River.  Ah, it kind of felt like home in the slightest way and maybe that’s just because it was Homecoming week at The Rock too.

Anyways, with only one day off we were bound to see something.  And just like Europe promised, there were cathedrals after cathedrals from Saint Mary’s to St. Nicholas to even the Newcastle Castle; which gave the town its name and served as burial grounds from even before 1080 when the castle was constructed. 

There’s so much history in all of these towns and while some are easy to find and others are not, lately we have just been stumbling up on them during our walks through the city.  Grey Street, Eldon Square along with a hidden Arcade were places just as such and lead to more and more shopping.  There are certain stores that you can find basically anywhere for your necessities.  If you need an appliance or every day cosmetics or basically anything there the stores to go to are Boots or Argos and as for groceries, there are Sainsbury’s or even Greggs.

And yes there is a bit of a language difference here.  For example, when someone asks you, “How are you doing?” instead of saying “Hello,” that’s what it is taken for.  Just as when someone says “Cheers,” they are not referring to drinking, but instead it’s their way of saying “Thanks!” or even “Thank you.”

There are old-school taxis and double decker buses and brick and cobblestone streets; some aren’t even wide enough for two cars to go up and down on. 

Oh, and we also got the joy of experiencing a UK fire drill; at 5:30 in the morning!  Ya, they are just the same everywhere. 

But just like that, it was time to move to the next city.  It’s crazy to think that we are already heading into week three of being here and with a full day of sightseeing ahead, it was time to get some much needed sleep before embarking on our journey to Stonehenge and the Roman city of Bath while we resided in Birmingham.