As this may be my last blog before I get home, I'll try and keep it short and sweet. Matt and I headed up to Newcastle to see their football club play against Sunderland, their crosstown rival. Now, keep in mind that its pretty much winter here, if not officially, my internal temperature gauge says so, and about two hours out of Newbury (and headed North!) I sat up and gasped, 'I left my peacoat at home!' Unfortunately that was my only winter coat and I was out of luck unless I wanted to buy a new one, which I didn't. Luckily, I pack like any girl would, and I had more than enough long sleeve shirts, cardigans, hoodies and such to make sure I had on at least 5 layers. Anyway, we made it up to Newcastle and spent an hour driving around the city trying to find a car park at a hotel of which we had no address, so after countless phone calls and passing one way streets we couldn't go down (sat nav has no idea about one ways) we made it. We chucked down our stuff in the hostel and went to get Matt a new Newcastle team shirt with his favorite player's name and number on the back and to watch another football game on the telly at a pub.
Next day we got up early, (I wore tights, knee-high baseball socks, jeans, a long sleeve tshirt, a thicker long sleeve shirt and a hoodie), and headed down to the Tyne to see the bridges and a bit of town. Then we went to a pub for some cheeky pre-game pints. At approximately 1130a, barely round the side of a building I saw another Newcastle fan chundering all over the ground, and on an already large puddle of his barf. Ya gotta love hardcore football fans! I've never been to an English football game, or any football game of any importance (well, except my great childhood games, of course) so it was really exciting to see the stadium and be in the atmosphere of these fans. It was electric! People were so pumped up and Sunderland was above Newcastle in the standings, and being rivals it was of utmost importance that we give them a right a** whooping. Our seats were AMAZING! At just about the 18 yard line (the bigger box around the goal) and 2nd row back. I could literally see individual pieces of grass. And being my first football game I was so stoked at our location. We were also next to the season ticket holders, aka the rowdy crowd doing all the yelling and such at the games. If you didn't hear, which you probably didn't, Newcastle won 5-1, with one player getting a hat trick. And the best part, well, not the best but always a treat, was a streaker! It certainly made my game! Oh, and this precious little nugget was 'warming up' the goalie by kicking balls at him and every time he scored he was such a ham!
After the game we continued North, yay no peacoat!, up to Edinburgh, Scotland. A friend of mine, Liz, from back home is working and living in Glasgow for a couple of years so she caught the train over and met Matt and I for a few cocktails out in Edinburgh the first night.
The next day we went on a free walking tour of the city for three and a half hours. It was actually a really good tour, even though I was wearing the same amount of layers plus a scarf, hat, and my raincoat, and the guide was very knowledgable and friendly. We learned about the Mercat Cross, the site of punishments and proclamations; Maggie Dickinson, a Scottish woman who was hung til she was dead and on the trip back to her home town a few miles down the road she came alive and wasn't punished again since she technically had already been hung until dead which was her punishment; Burke and Hare, two men who lured people to a boarding house to kill them and make a profit selling their dead bodies; Greyfriar's Kirkyard where they buried a policeman and from that day his little dog held a vigil over his grave until the dog himself died; and Deacon Brodie, a deacon and cabinetmaker who stole from his customers with copies of their house keys, ended up being asked to head the search for himself, and later was found out and jailed.
Next day we did the tour of Edinburgh Castle, checking out the Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny (a large sandstone block that the King/Queen put their feet on during their coronation). At one in the afternoon we witnessed the setting off of a canon that they used back in the day.
Unfortunately its not a tourist-y town and I couldn't purchase anything with the name Dollar on it but I did get some snaps. Small but quaint little town.
We spent the night in Stirling and went to the Stirling Castle and the William Wallace monument.
Stirling is the small city near where William Wallace and Robert the Bruce won an important battle during the War of Scottish Independence against the English on the Stirling Bridge spanning the River Forth near Bannockburn. Historically it was the gateway to the Highlands from the Lowlands and thus an important place for the Scottish to have control. Stirling Castle was also the site of many battles during this time.
I digress. That's it for the adventure. We had a blast and hit the ground running when we got back making preparations to leave again. T-minus 4 days. South East Asia here we come! Love to all! xx
