Blogs from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, England, United Kingdom, Europe

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You know how I said my next blog entry was coming from Bergen when I wrote last? I LIED. Most of my trips away have literally been over seas, so I tend to forget that trips that don't involve boarding a plane are still are still in fact, trips. Such a trip, is a weekend away in Newcastle. It was really to nice travel within the UK for a change, something I don't do enough of, but plan to correct this year. For a start, you don't need your passport, you don't have to pack stolen hotel shower gel bottles into a tiny, clear zip-lock bag, you don't need to bring an adapter with you, you can use your iPhone normally without being charged through the roof for it, and you can enjoy a ride with ... read more

I continue to be amazed at the little things that can be different between the US and UK. Living here for about 5 months, (plus 5 months in 2007), I feel I've learned many of the terms and phrases: "Are you all right?" meaning "How are you?", "brolly" for "umbrella", "hair bobble" for "hair tie" or "hair elastic"... etc. But yesterday, when I was preparing picture cards for a therapy task, I had trouble finding the picture that went with the word "CARAVAN". So I asked someone (not a coursemate, not someone I'd ever met, but I didn't have much of a choice and she was really nice about it), and it turns out that what the Brits call "caravan" we call "trailer." (Brits, etc.: This is what a caravan is to me.) Or this one, ... read more

Earlier in the semester, I mentioned that there might come a time when I have too much work to do any traveling worthy of a blog entry. That time is upon us, and I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Anyway, tomorrow I hop the train for Manchester, a city that is almost twice the population of Newcastle. I've never been, but I'm told their Christmas Market is one of the best in the UK. (I should warn you now that it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so the pictures may not be spectacular.) The morning after that, it's a train to London and a plane to Boston, and an even longer Blog haiatus (during which I will probably see many of you). Last week I visited the Christmas Market in Newcastle, hoping ... read more

My first correction: Last week I labeled some pictures of a street in York - the one lined with old-looking shops and Christmas lights - as "The Shambles." I'm told by experts that this is wrong, that the street is called "Stonegate." "The Shambles" are in another part of town. Many apologies. As the title suggests, this week I've had not one but two visitors, and I've relished the chance to show off this wonderful city. My dad stopped in for a few hours on Friday afternoon, to explore the sights, bring my US mail*, investigate how the bridges work and point out the wind farm on the western horizon. *And a bag of Goldfish! Coursemates, prepare to be amazed. Provided they weren't crushed on the plane, and/or I don't eat them all before Monday. Which ... read more

Mid-week post! That means a) no new places and b) only a few pictures. But I'm really proud of them, so if you don't care about all this talky stuff, you can at least check them out. I went down to the Quayside (pronounced "Key-side") after dark to see the bridge all lit up. Keeping in mind that we are on the same latitude as Newfoundland and Labrador, so "after dark" means around 4:30 pm. (Sunset was at 4 today.) Although I don't believe for a millisecond that winter weather is going to be anything like what I'm used to in New England, I will grant that the darkness here is way worse. I don't think the sun sets this early even in December for us. But maybe this will make it better: img=http... read more

Note to subscribers: Sorry about the false link yesterday. As I said in the email, I hit "publish" instead of "save" and so inadvertently sent out an unfinished entry. Further proof that I should wait until the next day to write about these things rather than attempt it late at night after I get home. General note: A few of my coursemates asked to see this blog, so if you're reading this, hello! I hope you enjoy my crappy photos and dumb attempts at humor (that's American for "humour"). Anyway. This weekend, 5 or 6 of my friends on Facebook posted "Remember, remember the fifth of November..." or something like it. Interestingly, they were all American. (Also fans of the movie "V for Vendetta.") Although we don't celebrate it in the US per se, for ... read more

I hope 2 blogs in one day is not too much to cope with- but I must catch up as I am now back at home after a week up north. When I say "Up North" I am always reminded of a children's book I used to read, Stanley Bagshawe, where he lived with his granma " up north where it's boring and slow"- and so the phrase always comes into my mind and I laugh because now it is anything but "boring and slow". My old home town Gateshead reaches out across the River Tyne and the regeneration along the riverbanks is quite a tourist attraction these days. Behold culture - The Sage for music, The Baltic for art, the newly refurbished Theatre Royal , magnificent stone facades of Grey Street and the Grey's Monument, ... read more

...and that's funny. **NOTE. I will be visiting Tynemouth (small coastal village with a priory from a year that is a 3-digit number) this afternoon with a girl from my course. I decided to separate the entries so people only interested in pictures don't have to drudge through all these annoying words.** Two things I did since my last post: 1. Joined a choir. 2. Survived my first week of classes. (1.) It's a student choir (including the officers and the director, I'm pretty sure), with a mix of ages, levels and International/UK students. Note that "genders" is not included on that list; we have four Tenors. I did not count the Basses but would comfortably bet that there are less than 15. Meanwhile about half the women had to get chairs from another part of ... read more

I saw the bridge go! But more on that in a minute. Newcastle is very much what we in the States would call a "college town", I can tell that and the majority of the students aren't even here. Yet it has a lot of local color as well; walking by a pub in the evenings you can see a lot of people in older generations standing and talking in the 'Geordie' accent - so thick you could almost call it it's own dialect. It's fun to listen to, not quite the Scottish brogue that Julia is hearing up north, but closer to it than any other type of English accent. Speaking of local color, never be around a British football (soccer to us) park when there's a match starting. Not a good idea. It's ... read more