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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 like trying to walk AWAY from Fenway on a game day, only without all the hot dogs. I can now say with great confidence that the Newcastle United colors are black and white and that they are supported by Northern Rock.




A slightly better picture of the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas. Apparently the spire was designed to look like Jesus' crown of thorns.




I was kind of surprised at how small it was. Beautiful, no question. Just small.




At least it didn't charge.

After this, I went up to the Tyne Bridge (not the cool pivoting one, the big one with the huge arch) because rumor has it you can get a great view of the city.




Well you tell me.

So the GM Bridge. Coming down from the Tyne Bridge to the Quayside (the walkway along the river), I didn't notice at first that the bridge was going up. But after a minute, it looked like this:




And I figured it out.

No video. It would have been long and excruciating (cool to see in person because the bridge is so huge, but a small-scale video kills it) and my video setting, computer, and Travel Blog uploader would have hated me for it. So trust me...




...that it was really cool...




...to see it go.




It must have been a really cool sight from the boat.

While this was going on someone was talking over a loudspeaker in the aforementioned Geordie accent/dialect/whatonEarthishesaying? I got the vague impression he must have been speaking some kind of human language, but other than that...nothing.

I thought he might have been reprimanding people who got too close to the bridge while it was moving, until a group of teenagers started laughing and he said something that ended in "...wave your hands in the air. Seriously, hands in the air."

So I have no idea.




Not to be outdone, the other low bridge in the city (aptly named the "Swing Bridge") operates a bit like a revolving door when ships go by. Apparently it runs on hydraulic engines and has been in use since the 19th century.

Week two of induction is going well. I may have mentioned before that we already have two assignments, but I'm told it's nothing compared to what the semester will be like. This weekend - my last one before it begins for real - I may go out to Tynemouth (beautiful town on the coast) or try to do some hiking by Hadrian's wall. Expect to hear from me around then.

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Comments

[Erin]

Bridge!
Yay for the bridge! So Newcastle has TWO bridges that are cooler than the drawbridges here. *sigh*

[Mom]

Such a beautiful place.