In mid-August I visited Fiona and Barry in Newcastle, where they were just finishing up a year abroad doing a post-doc and an MBA, respectively. In this case "just finishing up" meant them moving out of their place on the Wed after my weekend visit (they were far too gracious to mention this advance!). This is just one of the many times I was impressed by their easy-goingness and supreme organizational skills.
Things didn't start out as peachy as I had hoped for my trip, but at least there was a happy ending. There are no direct flights to Newcastle and I had planned to fly Munich->Düsseldorf->Newcastle, my first flight leaving at the ungodly hour of 6:30 am which meant I had to get up in the middle of the night to be at the airport on time. I was flying carry-on to prevent any mishaps with lost luggage (alas; this meant no tasty German BEvERages to bring for my hosts given liquid-and-gels-restrictions), and half-asleep, trying to find my gate number on the huge departures board I realized my Munich-Düsseldorf leg had been cancelled for "technical reasons" which they refused to explain any further. The nice man at the Lufthansa ticket centre explained that my options were to (a) take a much later flight to Düsseldorf and the second of only 2 flights to Newcastle a day, arriving at 8 pm, which was an unfathomable +14 hours away or (b) fly to Frankfurt then on to Edinburgh for early afternoon, approximately 180 km from Newcastle and find my own way there. I decided on option (b).
A sign I never expected to see after an unexpected detour to Scotland.
Fiona and Barry were great though and showed extreme flexibility despite last-minute changes, deciding to book a B&B for us all in Edinburgh (no easy feat given the very popular Fringe Festival going at the moment) , driving the 180 km to Edinburgh and picking me up from the airport. Thanks again guys! So there I found myself in the land of Braveheart, haggis, kilts and people with really cool accents with fellow Calgarians Fiona and Barry.
Fringe Festival performers convincing people to come see their show later in the evening. It's incredible since these people aren't just actors, but do their own marketing, PR, props, costumes, make-up.
The best street performer we saw on the weekend; this guy did amazing acrobatics/strength/balancing acts on this pole which is supported only by four tethers held by audience members!
Sir Walter Scott commemorative statue
Scottish Parliament
This made me think one thing: Aslan
Fiona was six months pregnant and had been a great sport walking around all over the place with Barry and I, but decided to opt out of a hike up to Arthur's Seat, the peak in the centre of Edinburgh.
Lots of great views at the top although it was a little windy!
View of Edinburgh castle
I really enjoyed all the great ales and ciders they have in England and Scotland. Before heading off back to Newcastle I enjoyed a tasty traditional Scottish meal of turnips, taters and haggis.
(OK, I have a confession to make; my haggis was vegetarian, but I did try Barry's real one.)On the way back to Newcastle we stopped off at Bamburgh castle. It's right on the coast with breathtaking views. I love the sandy beach which gives way to undulating grassy mounds which lead up to the castle.
Back in Newcastle we enjoyed tasty authentic Indian-takeout, took-in a football game at the pub on Sunday and wandered around Newcastle downtown.The Newcastle Millenium bridge in the middle of its fancy tilting manoeuvre.
Fiona and Barry were great hosts - thanks for your generosity guys and I hope you are enjoying being back in Calgary for the fall!
