Day 11: Alnwyck – Don’t Panic!
To be perfectly honest, today’s excursion was my least-anticipated. Another castle. Decorated in an Italianate style. Priceless art collection. We simply weren’t excited. I know it sounds like, “If you’ve seen one castle, you’ve seen them all,” but a 19th century castle just sounded so ho-hum.
But I have to admit, Alnwyck Castle (pronounced like “panic” minus the “p”—it’s the same language, honest—the “L” and the “W” are silent—makes sense to me…) was beyond impressive. It’s ENORMOUS. It’s also the filming location for the first two Harry Potter films, Transformers, Robin Hood—Prince of Thieves, and two Christmas specials from Downton Abbey. And I recognized so many spots from those films, like the place where Harry and Neville learn to fly. And even I have to admit the artwork and decorations were impressive. Of course, my favorite was the room decorated entirely with weapons from the Napoleonic Wars (although I didn’t really covet a single weapon—truly).
The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland are incredibly wealthy. One of the Duchesses even had the course of a stream altered just to improve her view. No kidding. Money can change the course of rivers… The castle is their actual residence (although they were not there today).
The castle guards were really cool, in 19th century uniforms with muskets. They posed with guests. I don’t think they were doing their jobs as sentinels, however, because they seemed to let just about anybody in…
One the Earls of Northumberland (before they were elevated to being dukes) apparently committed treason against Queen Elizabeth (the First). He was executed, of course, but because he was both a nobleman and a friend of the Queen (some friend), he was mercifully beheaded (rather than drawn-and-quartered, which is an extremely gruesome form of execution, but I won’t describe it here, although I could…). His death warrant was on display at the castle, signed personally by Elizabeth herself.
And I wish we could have spent more time in the gardens. They were magnificent. A bamboo maze. A colossal cascading fountain. A koi pond. Numerous other fountains. A poison garden. (No kidding.) Our guide in the poison garden was a delightful, soft-spoken man with conspicuous tufts of hair growing out of his ears. We even saw a robotic lawnmower at work, cutting the grass on a section of the gardens. We could have easily spent another hour. Or more.
We had lunch at the garden and ate the best fish-and-chips we have ever had! Cindy ate almost a third of my portion (which, to be fair, was much larger). And she normally hates fried foods!
On the way back to Newcastle, we also experienced our first British traffic jam. Most British roads have two (or less) lanes (meaning one in each direction). However, some of the busier roads (motor ways or carriage ways) have FOUR lanes. (I’ve heard that London and Manchester have a few eight lane highways.) My hat is off to our marvelous coach drivers who navigate those narrow roads so skillfully when there seems to be about enough clearance for an inch between coaches (buses).
We also learned why the British drive on the left (which I now agree is the CORRECT side of the road). When a knight or soldier was riding a horse, he needed to pass an approaching horseman on the left side so that, if necessary, he could draw his sword with his right hand and defend himself. The left is the correct and safe side with which to approach oncoming traffic. This was changed throughout Europe by Napoleon, because the Emperor was LEFT-handed. The British refused to bow to Napoleon and make the change to the right (WRONG) side. (I guess we followed old Nappy.) So they defiantly continue to drive on the LEFT (correct) side.
The British police are so considerate that they are required by LAW to post a sign warning you that they might be using speed guns/cameras in an area. They also post a sign if they are monitoring traffic from unmarked vehicles. How polite! How sporting!
Our guide today was John (a good English name) who was—you guessed it—English. Our coach driver was Brian (a good Scottish name) who was—and I know this might come as a shock—Scottish, with the thickest accent I’ve ever heard. There were several times when they seemed… at odds. John, would comment, “The Scots and the English don’t always get along, you see, but we’re all one big United Kingdom.” He also told us that the fourth verse of the UK national anthem is not at all complimentary to Scots. (I’m going to have to look that up when I get back.)
We experienced an amazing, truly head-scratching magic show last night performed by Kyle and Misty Knight. I was completely astonished. So was Cindy, and she doesn’t usually care for magicians. (Something about she doesn’t like to be deceived. Except at Christmas. I hope.)
The weather today was again perfect. We have been so blessed on this tour.
As we left port today, local people were lined up on the docks for miles to say goodbye. One of the boats that followed us had a large, yellow rubber ducky on the deck. Why? No freakin’ idea.
One thing I forgot to mention about Invergordon—the Royal Navy had its newest and largest aircraft carrier docked there. However, the aircraft carrier has no aircraft. Not one. They aren’t expected to be delivered until 2020. That’s military efficiency for you!
Tomorrow, we are at sea. It is our last full day of the cruise. And I am sad our adventure-of-a-lifetime is coming to a close.
