Precious Memories: Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England

HAL Zuiderdam 12-Day Fjords and Highlands Cruise Day 11

Saturday May 27, 2017 -- Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England

Weather: Cloudy, partly sunny, rain

Our last port of call came too quickly upon us today. After several stops in Scotland, we are finally in England before getting back to Copenhagen. I had bits and pieces of information about this port but not enough to help us decide what to do. Some of us were feeling tired after the last few days of sight seeing and walking around but others wanted to make good use of our time here and go into the city.

We were docked at the Royal Quays Marina, about 14 kilometers from the city center. There is a free port shuttle that takes people from port to the Tynsmouth Metro Station where people can take the metro to Newcastle city center for 4.50 GBP day ticket. This shuttle also had a stop at the nearby Royal Quays Shopping Center, an outlet close to port for those who just want to do some shopping. We were told that there is one shuttle going every 30 minutes. A very organized taxi rank taking people to Newcastle for 15 GBP one way or 3.5 GBP per person. While we were standing in line for the shuttle, we decided that we may as well just take the taxi van into the city to avoid the hassle and save time. The only problem was the van can only take seven of us. Mrs. Wu happily decided that she would rather go shopping instead of coming with us. With Dr. and Mrs. Wu staying in the shuttle line, the man in charge of the taxis got us a van and we left the long line and on our way to the city center.

Newcastle

This city on the Tyne River has a vast range of shops, museums, restaurants, galleries and other attractions. It is a university town that has many historic sites including the castle, the medieval cathedral and the Hadrian's Wall. When I studied the map of the city I also found a Chinatown so I decided maybe we should find our way there if at all possible. Other than that, we really had not much else in mind for the day.

It took us about 25 minutes to get into the city center. Our driver asked where we wanted to be dropped off and I asked if the monument would be a good place which he said "yes". He said the monument is actually the center of town with a huge mall and old town nearby. It is also at the top of the hill.

We paid the 24.5 GBP as we got off the van and made arrangements for him to pick us up at the same spot at 2:00 for our ride back to port. This really worked out very well for us without the hassle and worrying about not being able to find our way back.

Our drop-off and pick-up point at the monument right in front of the big mall. This looked quiet and empty now but it turned quite differently that afternoon.

Earl Grey's Monument in the center of town.

For some reasons, ChC's cell phone went haywire and he had to download all the apps again. Fortunately there was free wifi there at the square so we just sat at the benches and waited for him to at least get some important apps done. It was vital that he got "We Chat" back because that's our main communication system between us and our family back home without roaming charges. There were some vendors already set up along the pedestrian street with many artists selling their creations of various means. Very interesting indeed!

As soon as he finished downloading and got his phone working again, we walked down Grainger Street to look for Chinatown. Obviously we missed our turn because Chinatown is actually right behind the shopping mall. Instead we walked down a few more blocks and went the long way around.

Oh well, at least we got to see the old West Wall!

And there, a street in Chinatown. I think this was Stowell Street.

Nothing was opened at that hour.

The Chinese Arch with the Newcastle United Football Club in the background.

Back to Grainger Street walking down towards the river.

St. John the Baptist Church near the Central Station.

Across the street from the church are some shops, restaurants and pubs.

We just had to go inside and check out this church.

This is not a major attraction so there were not that many people inside. A woman talked to MOR for a long time about the history of the church as she was working on some projects. She also let us used the restroom which was near the front of the church. We had a good visit at this beautiful church.

After our visit to the church we walked across to the St. Nicholas Cathedral and Newcastle Castle which are very close together. Unfortunately, because of the sunlight at that time of the day, I couldn't get a good picture of the exterior of the Cathedral.

Crossing the street to the Cathedral.

Statue outside of the Cathedral

Right at the entrance

Burial place of many

We were able to walk all around the cathedral since there was nothing going on that day. This is certainly a beautiful place of worship and its interesting set up made this unusually special.

Interesting set up of a nursery/child care space right next to the sanctuary with no dividers or doors.

Beautiful stained glass windows

I think this was taken at an area behind the main altar.

An altar at one side of the building

Very seldom you'd find a tripadvisor sign on the window of a church.

After spending a long time inside the Cathedral admiring all the details, we were ready to head over to our next stop, the Newcastle Castle down the street.

Newcastle Castle

I went up to the office and inquired about the admission fees and time, etc. After reporting back to the group, they all decided that we did not want to go inside this small castle. It was nice enough just walking around.

Instead, we followed the stairs down to the river bank.

the wall

He had a big bird in his hand.

Bank of River Tyne

The Tyne Bridge

Sage Gateshead on the other side of the river.

Seagulls making good use of the extra space on this building.

Then we hiked up Dean Street and Grey Street back to the monument. This part of Dean Street can be a little strenuous for some but we made it just fine. Notice the steep climb uphill?

Looking back at the slope.

Back at the monument at the end of Grey Street.

There was a big rally going on at the monument. Unlike this morning, it seemed like the whole city was out there this afternoon. People giving speeches, music blaring, there was quite a huge gathering there.

While the rest of our group wanted to do some shopping inside the big mall, ChC and I wanted to find the pie store we saw earlier this morning. It is called Dickson's We bought four big sausage rolls for 3 GBP and four mini minced beef pies for 3.60. I was really surprised at how reasonable the prices were. After the purchase, we went inside Grainger Market for a look.

There are several doors leading into this huge indoor market.

Good prices!

The first Marks and Spencer, I was told.

We were attracted to all the merchandises there especially the food section. Everything looked fresh and cheap! I saw a sweater that I liked and it was made in the UK, selling for 13.00 but then I realized that I don't have luggage space for it. We did buy some berries from a produce stall, 3 boxes for 1.00 and then a big box of Scottish strawberries for 1.35. I considered those good buys.

We went inside the mall hoping to find the rest of our party but failed. After using the nice facilities we came back outside, found a bench and enjoyed the food we just purchased and people watched at the same time.

Sausage roll

Mini Minced beef pie, wonderful!

As we were eating, it started to rain so we made a mad dash to the entrance of the mall where everybody else was by now. The rally was totally disrupted and people scattered all around waiting for the rain to stop. While we were standing in front of the mall, I saw our taxi waiting for us across the street at 1:45 but we were still missing a couple of people. A couple of people went up to the driver and I saw the driver turning them away. After a few minutes he drove away but returned to the same spot where he dropped us off this morning right at 1:56. We hurriedly got on for our ride back to the port. I was so thankful that he kept his promise and came back for us. Making this one hassle free journey for this short day in Newcastle. Thank you, dear driver!

Our very nice driver for the day bringing us back to port.

Back on the ship, I had a salad for a late lunch. Then at 5:00 we went up to the buffet again to see what they were serving and ended up having some 'snacks' before dinner.