NEWCASTLE ON TYNE
This morning we docked at the port of Tyne near Newcastle. We went for a leisurely breakfast in the Compass Rose restaurant and had a freshly squeezed orange juice with ginger and crepes with lingonberry sauce and maple syrup. Delicious.
We will be meeting Bill and Sandra at 12:30 for our shore excursion of the Durham Dales and town of Blanchland. We will spend about 4 hours on a bus and a half-hour in the town - a very relaxing day. Hope the traffic isn't as bad as around London. The weather is cool and rainy so we may be glad we are spending most of the time on a bus!
We left in pouring rain and boarded the bus. The driver put the heat on - it was wonderful - until those enamoured of air conditioning asked the driver to lower the temperature. For an hour and a half, we froze as our clothes were still wet and a cold breeze assaulted us. We arrived at the stone village with its Abbey that dates back to 1161 when building started and 1165 when it was completed. We visited the requisite gift shops, the Abbey - now a church - and a Pub with two lit fireplaces and a working radiator that you could lean up against. Welcome warmth. After a bathroom break, we toodled off to see the rest of the village. There were the most wonderful vegetable gardens, flower gardens but the best part of all, one garden was festooned with bird feeders and I saw a number of species! To the best of my recollection, I saw both the Great and Blue Tit, Wagtail, Bullfinch, European Goldfinch, and Wood Pigeon.
The Dales are mostly owned by private enterprises and pension funds who rent them out for enormous sums for shooting game birds. I saw ring-necked pheasants and what looked like quails but I cannot find them in my bird book. They had two white spots on top of their wings.
Now back in our room, we have time to relax and prepare for the "block party" where we meet guests on our floor before trying out a new lounge for our pre-dinner drink and dinner.
This morning we docked at the port of Tyne near Newcastle. We went for a leisurely breakfast in the Compass Rose restaurant and had a freshly squeezed orange juice with ginger and crepes with lingonberry sauce and maple syrup. Delicious.
We will be meeting Bill and Sandra at 12:30 for our shore excursion of the Durham Dales and town of Blanchland. We will spend about 4 hours on a bus and a half-hour in the town - a very relaxing day. Hope the traffic isn't as bad as around London. The weather is cool and rainy so we may be glad we are spending most of the time on a bus!
We left in pouring rain and boarded the bus. The driver put the heat on - it was wonderful - until those enamoured of air conditioning asked the driver to lower the temperature. For an hour and a half, we froze as our clothes were still wet and a cold breeze assaulted us. We arrived at the stone village with its Abbey that dates back to 1161 when building started and 1165 when it was completed. We visited the requisite gift shops, the Abbey - now a church - and a Pub with two lit fireplaces and a working radiator that you could lean up against. Welcome warmth. After a bathroom break, we toodled off to see the rest of the village. There were the most wonderful vegetable gardens, flower gardens but the best part of all, one garden was festooned with bird feeders and I saw a number of species! To the best of my recollection, I saw both the Great and Blue Tit, Wagtail, Bullfinch, European Goldfinch, and Wood Pigeon.
The Dales are mostly owned by private enterprises and pension funds who rent them out for enormous sums for shooting game birds. I saw ring-necked pheasants and what looked like quails but I cannot find them in my bird book. They had two white spots on top of their wings.
Now back in our room, we have time to relax and prepare for the "block party" where we meet guests on our floor before trying out a new lounge for our pre-dinner drink and dinner.
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