Newcastle

7/2012 Update:  a series of blog entries from a Norway cruise I was fortunate enough to take in the Summer of 2008. Although it feels funny to have relayed trip updates via a blog, it was a pre-Facebook way of telling friends/family about my travels.

 Hey, guess what, kids?  Yes, it's Wednesday!

We docked in Newcastle this morning and we set out on our first shore excursion, Alnwick (pronounced "Anick") Castle and Gardens.  Getting there involved a bus ride into Northumberland, which was fun.  The castle was really interesting, still occupied part of the year by descendants of the original owners, and full of amazing art and interior features.  The exterior was used as a location in the first Harry Potter film (the first flying lesson scenes).  A very beautiful area and my only regret was not having more time to see it.  The Alnwick gardens were beautiful and well worth the trip.  I'm skimming over the detail for this stuff since I'm trying to cram several days' worth of entries at once.  If anyone's desperate to hear the details, I'll share them later.  At the end of the day, we got aboard the ship and we headed back out to sea.  Right now, a couple hours after leaving dock, I can still see the shoreline in the dark.  But enough of this foolishness...must get to bed so I can get up to do our next outing:  Edinburgh, Scotland!