Newcastle (although the castle is actually very old...)

I'm sitting on a train on my way to Inverness, Scotland, thinking I should probably get caught up on my blogging. The week I wrote this blog was the beginnings of what I now know was going to be a very bad and very lengthy cold. I've got three more days of vacation until classes start again, and when I get back to Alnwick, i'm making an appointment with a doctor -- at this point, i'm all but certain its a sinus infection. Anyways, on with the blogging! This was what I started after our field trip to Newcastle -- Enjoy!


Why hello, gentle reader, its been awhile! I am actually on the tail-end of what I believe to be the worst head-cold I have ever had. Walking to breakfast a few days ago, I kind of picked up my head and thought, "Oh yeah, I live in a castle, that's what is happening right now..."

I spent all day Saturday in bed -- it was the pique of my cold, although Sunday wasn't the greatest day either. I only made it through the field trip last Friday because I found some sudafed mixed in with the generic cold medication stockpiled in the pottery room. (The pottery room is where all the "leftovers" from previous groups are kept.)

The main reason for our trip was to show us around the closest big city. Don't get me wrong, Alnwick is beautiful, but if you need something specific (like a pair of rain boots, or a carry-on bag) you may not be able to find it around town. Our trip consisted of a tour of the BBC studios, a history museum, Newcastle university campus, and the museum of modern art.

First stop: BBC Studios. I must say, it was pretty cool. We were brought through a few different sound stages, and we were given the chance to sit in the morning news chair and take a picture. I could tell that all the broadcasting kids were in heaven. Even though I do not count myself in that group, I still enjoyed myself thoroughly. 

The next stop was Newcastle University. In comparison to St. Cloud State, Newcastle University was very impressive. When we arrived, my morning dose of cold medicine was wearing off, and I needed a pick-me-up. We visited the University coffee shop, which served a very bitter cappuccino. England as a whole seems to serve very bitter cappuccino, though that may just be me and my homesickness for French vanilla coffee mate. 

Across the street was the history museum. We were supposed to spend most of our time in the Hadrian’s Wall exhibit, but I spent most of it in the Greek and roman exhibit. Greek pottery is an especially piqued interest of mine after writing a report on Paleolithic vases for the early Olympic Games. I tried to take a selfie in from of a dinosaur. Yeah, I suck at selfies- and i'm pretty proud of it. Its a good thing to be bad at such a narcissistic pastime.

Down the street a little ways was a beautiful church- St. James, or St. Joseph, or St. Jeremy... I don't remember. England is littered with beautiful churches. It was under construction, so it was rather chilly inside.

After  short bus ride across town, we were taken to the millennium bridge. York has quite a few pretty impressive bridges in the city, though this one definitely stood out. When boats come to pass under the bridge, the entire thing tilts up in the air enough to let them pass. It was pretty cool, but since its only a walking bridge, I couldn't help thinking it was a bit unnecessary...

   

After a new dose of cold medicine, my interest in art seemed to take much longer to explore than everyone else’s, and I was left alone with the paintings and sketches of Newcastle. The rest of my time in Newcastle was spent wandering aimlessly around the streets -- which didn’t bother me one bit. At one point, I found the central Arcade, a kind of indoor/outdoor strip mall, that was covered with beautiful Nouveau architecture. I think i can safely call the trip a success.