Alnwick, Lindisfarne & Berwick

Another lovely English summers day. Fortunately the temperature had improved with a high of 17, but pesky thunder showers were still hanging around.

First stop today was Alnwick (pronounced Annick) Castle. The castle is famous as it has been used in many films and TV shows, most notably Harry Potter, but also home to Transformers, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and Downtown Abbey. We jumped on the movie scenes tour and it was very cool listening to some of the stories, particularly that the fear in Neville's eyes during the broomstick scene was real.

We walked through the inside of the castle (photos not allowed unfortunately) and marveled at the antiques, sculpted ceilings, and incredible chandeliers.

After Alnwick we made our way to Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island. The island is joined to England by a causeway which is covered by water and impassable for about 4 hours at every high tide. On arrival, Vela was suffering from a lack of sleep so we took a short intermission - probably quite a good thing as a rather heavy downpour went overhead, including a small amount of hail. Once it had passed, we walked over to Lindisfarne Castle - which made for a very striking figure on the only hill at the head of the island. On our way back to the car, the heavens opened on us again and we tried to hide under our one umbrella... Of course this led to both of us getting rather damp.

As the rain lightened again, we stopped past the ruins of the old Lindisfarne Priory. Vela also found a little cottage with the most amazing gardens - it looked like a fairy lived there.

We left Holy Island via the causeway and headed up the coast to Berwick (Berrick) for our overnight accommodation. A very cute little hotel with a sea view. Nathan thought it was prudent to crack open a hazy by the seaside and we relaxed with the sound of waves lapping the beach outside.Read more