The castle at Newcastle, Dog Leaps Staircase, the Millenium Bridge at Gateshead
Sage Building at Gateshead..all windows, window washers about 1/3 the way down, a railroad bridge in New Castle
Monday, July 19, 2010
We awoke, how refreshed is questionable, but we were awake—a combination of vacationing hard in Paris, Amsterdam, and the warmth of our cabin and the rocking of the boat. We had the breakfast buffet which was quite good….American crisp bacon and lots of fresh fruit. We giggled quietly about the buffet mentality of people. There was a very small petite woman in line in front of me who filled her place to heaping proportions with eggs and bacon. We all had plenty of breakfast and coffee. We then packed, not a big task.
The four of us went up on deck to watch us come into the Tyne Estuary at Newcastle. We watched as the ferry parallel parked at the pier (yes, it really did), and then made our way to the stairway to the disembarkation ramp. It was quite crowded for a long while then it thinned out, and we could use the nifty luggage escalator as we walked off the ship. Then the line jammed up again as we got closer to passport control. Nancy went ahead to see if there were special lines ahead---she was right, the crowd was for those with European Union passports—we had US passports and the out line was much shorter—nobody was in line. The young man chatted with us and checked us through. We walked out of the terminal looking for the bus to central station. A travel advisor told us that a bus would be 3.50 pounds each, but one cab could take us for 12.00 pounds ---we took the cab even though Peter thinks this may be cheating as travelers. It was a lengthy cab ride to central station, well worth the 12.00 as we did not have to wait, and it was after all cheaper.
In downtown Newcastle we checked our bags at the Left Luggage Office and set out to explore a bit of Newcastle. We walked straight down hill past the really old castle left over from centuries ago (like the 12th) to the river. We stopped in the Tourist Information office, got some information, and set off along the river. Pedestrians contest the river walk with sea birds who nest in the girders of the bridges and the roof edges of some buildings. In some spots it seems the birds are winning with their droppings.
We went to a unique draw bridge named the Millennium Bridge where the span and its supporting arches are at angles from 180 and 90 degrees. When they wish to raise the bridge the arch swings on its side a bit and the walk way rises a bit. A very elegant design, but this was only for light duty—bicycles and pedestrians. Pete and Jess thought they wanted to look at the huge glass building across the river in Gateshead. The building is Sage at the Gateshead designed by Norman Foster, a k kind of a glass four tiered armadillo—but the walk up the other side of the valley looked very very steep so they looked at it from afar. We headed back up hill and split up—Pete and Jess looking at more architecture, and Nancy and I back to the station to sit down. Steeep! Hills are hard on older tendons, ankles and knees.
At the station we relaxed. I went into a News Stand for a coke and found they had scads of Railroad and Modeling Magazines. I bought two and had lots to look at. Pete and Jess showed up and we had lunch at Burger King no less. The food was completely American-- what a surprise. Our train came we got on—kicked some people out of our reserved seats and enjoyed a pleasant ride home. Once home we collapsed early—Jess was facing work the next day, and we had errands to run, including such mundane things as laundry and groceries.
11,983 steps—not bad for a day spent being transported about,
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