Areet mate? alright mates!

Our last full day in Newcastle, we have enjoyed our visit here and have found it peaceful to be out of the tourist hot spots – even if we are one of them ourselves! The locals are all very friendly and willing to engage you in conversation. Seven bridges in the middle of the city centre appear to make the traffic move a bit more smoothly than in some other places we have been and we have walked over several. Our accommodation is almost on the waterfront on the other side of the river from the city centre but easy to get across to the shopping and other amenities.

Four of the bridges across the River Tyne

Our first priority were haircuts and we found a small salon and Dalton, a Jamaican hairdresser with an encyclopaedic knowledge of rugby! Very impressed with his recall of New Zealand activities on the field and of our players, both former ones and current.

The next day we took a train to Durham, just a 12 minute trip away. This is a delightful small city with narrow, cobbled walkways and streets. One of the main ones is controlled by traffic lights to hold traffic at one end as you can’t drive up and down at the same time, it is so narrow and twisting! The Durham Cathedral dates back to the 11^th century and was very impressive! It is one of the seven original heritage sites in the UK.

Cloisters of Durham Cathedral

Yesterday was family time and I met up with a 2^nd cousin, David Hanvey, and his wife, Wendy. They took us to see the Angel of the North, a large sculpture that sits on a hill to the south of Newcastle. 20 metres tall with a span of 54 metres. Following this we had a good look around Ryton, the area to the south of Newcastle where my paternal grandfather’s family settled in the early 1900s. Later in the day we also met with their daughter, Amanda. She was in New Zealand at Christmas time last year so enjoyed hearing of her adventures there. A great day out and enjoyed seeing some areas we would not normally have got to.

Barbara with Wendy, David and Amanda

Last day in Newcastle today before getting the train to London tomorrow then Heathrow before our trip to Malta and cruise starting Tuesday.

Barbara

Howay now all canny lad and lasses! Divent worry I’m not losing the plot, just giving you a taste of the local lingo. Newcastle/Geordie/Toon Town/Whey Aye Man and How ye deein’?

 The geordie accents mean you have to have a keen ear to understand some of the folk.  This time my “go to” song has been the theme from the TV series of the late 1960s “When the Boat comes In” starring James Bolam. Of course some of you won’t have a clue what I’m talking about but for the rest of you – “Who shall have a fishy on a little dishy, who shall have some haddock, when the boat comes in”.  Classic.  Durham is a delight.  Such a charming “City” (because it has a cathedral), vibrant university life, a café called “Flat White”, that disappointingly had nothing to do with New Zealand even though it had marmite on the menu, and a pretty walkway along the winding River Wear. 

Durham Town Square

Durham display

I find Newcastle a treat. The myriad of bridges add an extra interest to the River Tyne. A couple of them swing open to allow bigger vessels. One of them is called the blinking eye (or Millennium Bridge) which we hope to watch in action today.  We are going to a local version of The Last Night of the Proms tonight at the Newcastle Cathedral. It features the cathedral choir and Dunston Silver Band. Seeing The Angel of the North up close was great.  Very well-developed calves I thought! 

Angel of the North - spot Pam in pink

Poser

It was nice to meet Barbara’s northern family, they showed us around some hidden gems and gave us some interesting local info.  The ammunitions industry employed thousands in its time  (Vickers Armstrong especially).  And…… not only did we brave a haircut, I also had my eyebrows done – in a Superdrug store (think supermarket with a one stop beauty/make-up area at one end of a cramped aisle) – cheerful and cheap – my two favourites things – and they appear to be even!! Added bonus! Our accommodation here is just a 10min walk across a bridge(of course) into Newcastle, or Gateshead the other way. The Hilton is opposite and the Masters Golfers are staying there at the moment.  We have been over a couple of times to voyeur (to no avail – but then we wouldn’t actually know if we had seen anyone important anyway!)

Hilton Hotel with Tyne Bridge

So until our next update….”Champion wor kid” – meaning we are doing alright xx

Pam

Thomas Cook travel promotion - Quayside, Newcastle

Getting close in Newcastle

A wee bit more ...

I like to match up songs to where I am, so the one currently going round in my head is “Good Good Good Vibrations”, not because of any Beaches, or Boys, but because of the bone rattling double decker bus ride we took down to take a cruise on the Firth of Forth.  Most of the trip seemed to be on the old cobbled roads, that I would normally call ankle turners when trying to walk on them, but I think they should be thought of as a physiotherapist’s dream, when riding them as I’m sure many backs have been shattered or at least put out of alignment!  That aside the cruise to view the three bridges that now cross the Firth was good.  There is the original red Forth Railway Bridge that still takes over 200 trains a day, the Forth Road bridge built in the late 1960’s and the brand spanking new Queensferry Crossing road bridge opened by Her Majesty 3 weeks ago (which we got to drive over on our return from our wee car trip  last Thursday).

Forth Rail Bridge painted in Forth Red

3 Bridges

On Saturday we had a cultural and family day in Glasgow.  My cousins John and his wife Linda, Karen and Mhairi showed us some gems of renowned Glaswegian architect/designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh in the Lighthouse Gallery.  Climbing to the top of the old water tower in this building gave a view over Glasgow. There is an honesty and a charm to this view -  no Trump like towers (thank goodness) but rather, a grittiness that reflects its hardworking history. 

Pam's cousins John, Karen, (Pam) Mhairi, Linda

Part of the Glasgow skyline

But Glasgow is indeed a city of universities, art colleges, modern meeting old architecture that fits like glove.  We had time to look around the Kelvingrove Art Gallery too.  Here I found myself looking at paintings by Renoir, Cezzane, Rousseau, van Gogh and my new favourite Henri Matisse.

Art installation at Kelvingrove

Following a rather nice meal at an Italian restaurant we saw a one woman show at the Tron Theatre.  She took us on a journey in a show called “All the things I lied about”, making it at times a sobering, amusing, political look at ourselves and others. Our culture fix was to continue as we made our way back to Edinburgh on the train amidst some fervent, well liquored football supporters.  I have no idea what they were saying as their accent by this stage in the day was unrecognisable. Dear Edinburgh still has a special place in my heart.  It looked after us 12 years ago and did so again this week. We spent the last full day soaking it all up, visiting old haunts and giving thanks that we were able to see Old Reekie once more.

Pam

Edinburgh Castle

Queen Mary's bathouse at Holyrood Palace

Pammy found a wee friend at the Museum of Childhood but clearly they fell out!

Evening walk Holyrood Park at the end of our street

Track up to Salisbury Crags

Everyone should have one of these in their castle!

Glaswegian humour - best sign we have seen yet for facilities - and we have seen a few

Hail Caledonia

A calm Irish Sea gave us a smooth sailing from Ireland to Scotland on Tuesday, The following day we took time to familiarise ourselves again with Edinburgh and the changes that had taken place since we lived here 12 years ago. We started with a walk up the Royal Mile from Holyrood Palace to Edinburgh Castle, on to Princes Street (the main street) which is restricted now to the new tram system, buses and taxis, and then on to Morningside where we used to live and Bruntsfield.

We picked up a rental car the night before ready for an early start yesterday to travel up towards the Trossacks with several stops on the way. The highlight was seeing the Kelpies, a modern sculpture of two heads of horses standing 30 metres tall. Massive and very imposing. Then on to Stirling and a small village called Callander, where one of Pam’s ancestors originated from. On our way back to Edinburgh we stopped off at Gleneagles Hotel and the famous golf course, then on to Kinross and a trip across Loch Leven to the ruins of a castle where Queen Mary was imprisoned in the 1500s before she famously escaped across the water.

A late return to Edinburgh meant being caught up in rush hour traffic and the nightmare of trying to negotiate the city streets to drop off the rental.

Today has been a little quieter with me spending some time in the main Scottish research centre and Pam on the streets again!

Barbara

I will address that comment about me walking the streets shortly.

Leaving Belfast

What a crossing from Belfast to Cairnryan, Ayrshire Scotland.  It was like a millpond, very few on board meant we had a choice of fantastic viewpoints both inside and out. If any of you are thinking about how to take in Northern Ireland & Scotland then this Stena Line connection is worth  considering.  Either bring a car across with you on the ferry or pick up one on the other side.  We chose to take a “Sail/Rail” ticket which took us across the Irish Sea, coach waiting to transfer us to Ayr where a train took us Glasgow and then finally a train to Edinburgh.  Left Belfast 7.30am, arrived Edinburgh 2pm. Some lovely coastal scenery on the bus as you follow the coast for some time en route to Ayr.  Ailsa Craig looking splendid.  All you keen curlers will know this is where all the granite comes from to make the curling stones. I’m delighted that Edinburgh feels familiar, and that I don’t have to get a map out at the drop of a hat. Re-visiting old haunts, travelling on buses and knowing where they go is a treat! We also hopped on one of the new city trams and went out as far as Murrayfield. 

The kelpie horses are fantastic! Modelled on real working Clydesdales Duke and Barron, this art installation sits alongside a newly created canal and some canal boats were taking advantage of mooring up here.

The Kelpies - Duke and Baron

In Scotland Kelpies are mythical creatures often presenting as horses

The visit to Callander was to try and find Pam’s great great great grandmother’s (father’s side) grave, which we knew was there, and in which cemetery it was. Very sadly there had been recent vandalism at the cemetery and several headstones has been pushed over, requiring the cemetery gates to be locked.  The drunken lout has been arrested and charged.  I wanted to express my disappointment and the only people available to listen to my “I’ve come all the way from NZ to see this grave, and I’m so upset I can’t get in“ routine were the rather patient people at the Info centre.  They said they would fill out one of their customer complaint forms – didn’t really cut the mustard and the gates were still padlocked!

Not happy!

Callander - The Tom na Chiseag cemetery

To make myself feel better I felt I needed some time in refined surroundings so we headed to Gleneagles Hotel for what turned out to be a brief photo opportunity in the front lounge. Men were leaning around the sides of their newspapers looking at these clear interlopers. 

Gleneagles Hotel Lounge - regular customer!

We decided not to take up membership of the golf club (which shall we say, given our penchant for the game – Raewyn & Ron will understand  (think Millbrook concert and B’s black eye) was probably just as well!! Onwards to the next highlight of our day – Loch Leven and a 10 min ride in a very small boat to see this ancient ruined castle.  Queen Mary made good her escape by rowing to the mainland – good on her! Came back over the Firth of Forth via the brand new and rather impressive Queensferry Crossing Bridge.

Artistic shot - Loch Leven Castle

Now, as for the comment about me walking the streets of Edinburgh – true, all true.  But all in a good cause.  I was sussing out a decent pub for a meal of haggis neaps and tatties for our lunch.  The Black Rose in Rose street was the lucky winner!  Yum yum yum.

Pam

bit more of the craic!

Craic - fun/enjoyment and having a good time!

We arrived in Belfast and managed to ditch our bags fairly quickly as we were wanting to spend the afternoon at the Titanic experience. This certainly was well worth the time and covered the history of Belfast through the linen mills and the major shipbuilding period. The highlight was the ride on cars (rather like a gondola) suspended on a moveable (up and down) attachment that took us through a miniature shipbuilding yard.

Where's my Leonardo deCaprio?

Inside Titanic Exhibition looking out with cruise ships in background

Model of the current Titanic Exhibition Hall in comparison with size of Titanic

We found our accommodation, then a supermarket and it was good to be able to sit down to a “homecooked” meal, albeit a simple one!

Saturday and we found our way to a local hotel to be picked up by our coach and driver to take us to the Giant’s Causeway via various points of interest. A wet day but not cold and we enjoyed all that was on offer. Lots of walking and we must be getting fit by now!

Giant's Causeway

A little giant at the Causeway

Selfie at Causeway

Sunday was taken up with travelling south to the Mourne Mountains with stops on the way at Belfast Castle, the folk museum and a family history stop at a small place called Killinchy. Unfortunately I could not explore the church I wanted to see in any great detail as a large number of people were arriving for a funeral. We only know this as Pam asked someone was it a “wedding or funeral”! Everyone was very dressed up and an interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon! And so to the mountains a granite area with many stone walls enclosing small paddocks, and stretching up into the mountain area. Our driver for the day was a bit of a find, he had taken us to our accommodation on the first day and had offered his services at a rate equivalent to what it would have cost for a rental, fuel and so on – and none of the stress of finding our way around!

Boulder Fences - Mountains of Mourne

First sighting of the Mountains of Mourne - Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland

Our final day in Belfast, was quite varied from how to make a spade the old-fashioned way, the political environment and the fantasy world of CS Lewis.

Part of mural - Falls Road

CS Lewis - The White Witch with tempting Turkish Delight

So – on to Edinburgh!

Barbara

So let me tell you about some blokes I came across in “The North of Ireland” or “Northern Ireland’’ depending on the perspective one is listening to.  Samson and Goliath – these are the nicknames given to the enormous dock cranes in Belfast operated by Harland and Wolff.  They are painted bright yellow and dominate a grey skyline,   I was mesmerised by their size and power, plus they made handy markers as to where we were in relation to our digs.

Samson (or Goliath)!

Jonathon greeted us every morning in Belfast, and is a ruggedly handsome man.  Admittedly he lay down on the job all the time we were there, and for a good few centuries before we arrived!  I’m talking about a rock formation that lies on Cave Hill, that overlooks the city from above Belfast Castle. We could see him from our flat.  If looked at in a certain way you can see a face – the face they say that author Jonathon Swift saw every day and got inspiration to write Gulliver’s Travels. So I said hello to Jonathon each day.

Jonathon's face above rooftops- chin at bottom right - use your imagination! but he is there

Then there was Pete.  Now Pete was a portly taxi driver.  Portly, as he openly admitted to enjoying an odd Guinness (or two) and Irish Stew every night. Pete became our driver for the day on our trip to see the Mountains of Mourne. I nicknamed him ‘’Carrickfergus Discount” as one of the first places we visited, a folk museum, he knew the man in the ticket booth and asked him to let us in for free, which he did! Now Pete is ex-military, and I guess that he still has some pulling power.  Pete talked, quite a lot, and had lots of interesting quips/comments/opinions to share. He lives in Carrickfergus just north of the city, travels regularly to Germany (where he was stationed), and to the Canary Islands for “’warm holidays”; he was in the Falklands; he found us the dirtiest toilets we’ve used to date; he gave us a great tour round and we got home in one piece – so all in all – a decent bloke – and for those who follow Coro – he spoke just like Jim McDonald!  That was Pete.

With Pete at The Silent Valley

Pete and Pam heading into The Silent Valley which is the site of Belfast reservoir

The car ferry that took us from Strangford to Portaferry

The reservoir at The Silent Valley

I will now move on to Patrick – our Black Cab Political Tour driver – Patrick turned up in a Red Cab – anyway – he gave us a value for money tour and commentary of the Falls Road, Shankill Rd, Peace Wall area, plus a real bonus, as we were standing outside the Sinn Fein headquarters the current MP came out, knew Patrick (of course) we were introduced, shook his hand, told us he had a nephew living in Auckland, said a few words and moved on. The Peace Wall remains covered with murals and messages of peace from all over the world, including a few scribbles from Kiwis. Alongside this wall are the mean looking heavy metal gates that still get closed every night and the tall barbed fences that convey a threat that this peace could break down at any minute.  The murals that adorn the walls can change depending on the political climate anywhere in the world, and the peace messages get cleaned off once a year….

As for food, well, we have indulged in new(ish) potatoes – well we are in Ireland. And found a very tasty lolly cake alternative called “fifteen” made with digestives, small soft marshmallows and glace cherries, it seems you get about 15 slices from the recipe, hence the name.

As we leave the Emerald Isles, I realise that we have only scratched the surface. I have more appreciation than ever before of the dreadful time the locals endured during the “troubles” and how skilled many of them now are at relating that time to tourists.  They love visitors, as not only does it mean economic upturn but a chance to meet other people and learn from them as well.   Beautiful, green, political, hardworking folk, helpful locals everywhere, horses, hedgerows, narrow lanes and a sense of hope. Let’s hope so.  And I haven’t even told you about our visit to the Spade Museum in the middle of the wop wops….

Off on a ferry, then bus then a train on our way to Edinburgh.  Farewell to the Emerald Isles, hello to the land of tartan & haggis

Pam

More pics!

Mosaic Salmon by the River Lagan which runs through Belfast

For all you Game of Thrones fans - this was the dark hedges film site en route to Giant's Causeway

On wall in the café at Bushmills Whiskey Distillery - a proud moment for Munster

What remains of Dunluce Castle - northern coast

Pete and Barbara - Belfast Castle

View from Belfast Castle