Up this morning about 7 am to another blue sky and sunshine-y day. I had a lovely soak in the tub and we went downstairs to a lovely Hilton buffet breakfast. We were both really exhausted last night – R thinks that 2+ weeks of some intensive driving, walking and sightseeing really wore us out! In fact, he was asleep before I was, which almost never happens! At any rate, we’ve decided to take it easy today and give the car a rest. So, a museum in the morning, a bit of lunch in town, and then???
Out of the hotel about 10 and a fast Uber – and truly, these drivers appear almost instantly – either Newcastle isn’t very big – which I don’t think is true – or else they’re everywhere – which I suppose could be true! But I don’t think we’ve waited more than 2 or 3 minutes yet! Fortunately, our Hilton is very centrally located and very easy to find. Into the car, down the hill across the Swing Bridge, and right into the center of town! Oh! I forgot! From our room, we look directly on to Newcastle Castle! Or, Newcastle2 as I like to call it!
Also, about the swing bridge. Robert has put together the following piece, which should have gone in last night.
A swinging bridge sits on a large pivot set in the middle of the river. When a boat needs to pass, the bridge rotates 90 degrees on the pivot so that it is parallel to the tread of the river, allowing passage on either side.
The Newcastle Swing Bridge, built on the site of earlier bridges across the Tyne from 1270, 1781 and possibly even original Roman Pons Aelius, went into service in 1876. In 1926, the bridge was opened over 6,000 times to allow boats to pass but traffic on the Tyne has diminished significantly since then. A fire in 2016 damaged part of the bridge, requiring significant renovation but at the re-opening in 2021, it failed to swing. (Which I think is SO sad! A Swinging Bridge that no longer swings!) The City of Newcastle is now considering the future of the bridge.
Arrived at the Great North Museum: Hancock, which is on the campus of the University of Newcastle in just a few minutes. On the website, there is a “notation” indicating that if one is looking for a “quieter” visit during “term time” (which I’m thinking means when the children are in school), one is advised to visit after 2:30 pm. And oh my, how those halls do echo! The Museum had a complete overhaul in 2009 and included many interactive computer-related activities and information panels. Unfortunately, in the way of things that get very intensive use, many of them no longer work or work properly, but the ideas are good. There were a great many school children – and the Egyptian and Greek sections were particularly noteworthy. There were several really beautiful pieces on loan from the British Museum to round out a very nice interactive collection. There was also an excellent presentation on Hadrian’s Wall, where we will be traveling tomorrow, as well as an Iron Age room where finds from the local Northumbrian area are very well displayed and described. All in all, a very pleasant place to spend a couple of hours!
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| R's breakfast; mine looked very similar! |
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| View from our window; Newcastle Castle! |
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| Me on museum steps -- in the sunshine! |
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| Ramses II as a scribe |
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| On loan from the British Museum |
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| Sekmet, also from the BM |
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| Loved this foot, from Abydos! |
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| Looking down on an exhibit of Hadrian's Wall |
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| A huge stone of fossils! |
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| Beautiful stones from the Wall |
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| Amphora from the Wall |
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| Cast of a full-size T-rex! |
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| Original ice age carvings |
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| Cup and ring marks |
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| Ice age pottery |
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| Tiger Hornsby; very comfortable! |
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| Fizz Friday! |
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| Our Mezzo Platter |
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| Looking down the Tyne from the Swing Bridge |
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| So many arches! |
From the Museum, we then Ubered back to the River Tyne. Again, truly, the quickest Uber pick-up on record! I hadn’t even finished confirming, and the driver was there! We had him drop us off at the Newcastle Hard Rock Café. My very oldest friend, Sandy, (I think we met when she was 1 and I was 3!) has been fighting a very difficult and valiant battle with cancer, and was just – on Tuesday – released to go home after literally months in hospital. I don’t know if she still collects Hard Rock pins, but I wanted to get one for her. So, Sandy, another one to add to your collection!! Here’s to you, Girl! Way to go; always and forever in your corner!
As it was definitely lunchtime, and even though we had had such a good breakfast, we decided that before we would take the swing bridge back to the hotel, we would see what we could do about food. Right across the street from the Hard Rock Café (where the piped-in music was much too loud), we found a place called Tiger Hornsby, which was rather interesting. I think it was a wine and drinks bar, with boards – and least that’s what I would call it. It was arranged with very comfy couches and tables, and a lovely looking bar. At that time – around 1 pm, there were only two other gals who were having a mezze board, and it was very peaceful inside. I ordered a glass of Prosecco (it was, after all “Fizz Friday”) and R ordered a glass of Newcastle Dark Ale which arrived in a HUGE bottle, and a mezze platter to share. It was very good. There were several kinds of salami, humus, some tzasiki (sp?), spanakopita, some pakoras; pita rolls; made an excellent lunch.
From there, we headed back across the Swing Bridge – we both did it, for you, Marg! So fun to walk over! There are so many bridges right at that section of the river – railroad bridges, auto bridges – people bridges – it seems to be a city of lovely beams and arches everywhere! From there, it was UPPPPPPP (of course) to our lovely Hilton. I had a nice nap, but by hors d’oeuvres/cocktail time, neither of us was hungry in the least and we will skip dinner, as well. We really don’t feel like going out to a restaurant tonight and the prospect of eating here at the hotel isn’t very enticing, especially after last night’s experience. Having been seated, the waitress (who was very embarrassed) had to tell us many of the items on the menu were not available; our guess is that they didn’t get their delivery. No pasta (no cheese), no pizza (again, no cheese), no salads, etc. Maybe they solved their problems for dinner tonight but…
I’m afraid that we’re probably going to be very boring this evening (truly, if anyone is looking for night life, they have decidedly picked the WRONG blog!) and stay in and watch movies! On to Hadrian’s Wall and Hexham tomorrow!!
m
xxx
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