Britannia Hotel Newcastle Apt Newcastle upon Tyne

Lonesome George is a tortoise who lives in the Galapogos Islands. The last of his kind he is the rarest creature in the world. Despite having a small hareem of female tortoises for his leisure and earthly pleasures he persists in a state of unnautural abstinence that would make even the most dedicated Buddhist monk envious. That or maybe he just ain't all that attractive to the ladies. Not being a tortoise, I can't comment further, but for the namesake and the fact ...

... bit of Mohito, Vanilla, Choc-orange and Lemon Meringue. We stopped at the Oxfam recycled bookshop for a look and then headed to the church. I stood in line whilst Dan bought tickets and we managed to make the 2pm climb up. The stairs were super narrow and steep, and it was a one way climb up and one way down only. There was no place for another person to pass as you went. My legs were burning by the time we got to the top but the views were ...

... church was built and they had his bones for 300 years before a beautiful chapel was built to house his mortal remains. For Bede, life was brief but held the knowledge of the mercy of Christ. He liked the English and wrote the first history of the English speaking people. I love his prayers but he is not in that black stone box; he flew to the light of his Lord long before the first stone was laid for Durham&#8217;s great Cathedral.<br><br> We got to Durham at 2 pm ...

Well I wasn't really going to write anything here since this was strictly work-type stuff - I was in Newcastle for the International Sports Science and Sports Medicine Conference (which was brilliant by the way) - but seriously, this place was nothing short of fantastic, I can't believe I've never been here before.<br><br>Loved it - for future reference: must return to Newcastle!<br>

... map we were following showed a steep incline leaving Stanhope. So far the hills we experienced today did NOT warrant a marking on the map. So I wondered what we were in for&#8230;<br><br>A s could be expected: a VERY steep hill. I could barely push the bike without it tipping over backwards let alone pedal it! Signs upon the descent warned of a 17% grade! We saw almost zero cars going up, and the ones going down were shaking their heads and ...

Arrival in the area of Hadrian&#8217;s Wall today. What history! Order to be built around 122AD it is an immense structure. 10&#8217; wide and 15&#8217; high, and spanning the country from coast to coast about 73 miles (although most of it no longer remains). It&#8217;s hard for me to fathom the manpower it took to raise this structure that took 15 years and was never fully complete! This wall is not random rocks like some of the small walls in ...

... saw backs to compensate for the rise. We sat and rested, as well as tried to psych ourselves up for the climb. Luckily, it wasn&#8217;t as bad as I had feared. A nice incline, I could keep a steady pace all the way up. <br><br>At the top was the boarder between Scotland and England. However, my pride of climbing without stopping was soon to be squelched. The hills in ...

The students have passed their first test... Carried their rucksack to school... to check content and packing! Very impressive for some, very heavy for others! Meeting to give last few advice and recommendations before departure...which is Friday night at 10.30 at school. See you all there!

... all the mod cons. Hard life this backpacking business! So it was hard not to enjoy the week we spent there. It was great to be by the coast too. This evening we leave Newcastle behind for an overnight coach trip (saving money on accommodation) to London where we'll stay for a few nights before venturing to Stonehenge and Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the infrequent updates. Abby

... colors in the sunset. It was just another of those little moments that make a trip special. <br><br>We headed back toward the B&amp;B after the impromptu concert ended. Along the way, we stopped in the Rajpooth Tandoori Restaurant which is across the street from the B&amp;B. The host of the place put us in a parlor and put menus in front of us. He kept coming back to check on us, but would never take us to the tables. Finally, we asked when we would be seated. He said he ...