Bamburgh Castle 2010

Our next stop was Bamburgh Castle also in Northumberland on the east side of England facing the North Sea and looking across to Denmark. (The link will take you to a page were you can access a virtual tour. Pretty neat.) The castle isn't just a relict of history but also owned and inhabited by descendants of the Lord Armstrong Family.

Walking in the entrance

A hidden energy bar for IF an emergency need arose. It did.

A scale replica of the castle and grounds

Many different displays in the King's Hall. Not a very good picture, since we weren't allowed to use flash, but it gives an idea of what the rooms were like.

Left side of Cross Hall

Right side of Cross Hall. The main room is roped off from visitors, but can be opened for weddings and such.

One of many...

...suits of armour.

The ladies sitting room

A tapestry made by Russian prisoners from their uniforms during the Crimean war.

Looking down to the beach from high up in the castle. It was a cold and misty day.

Bamburgh Castle, Home to the Kings of Northumbria

Holy Island 2010

One of the castles we visited was on Holy Island in Northumberland. We had to drive over a causeway to get to the island.

There were warnings for naive tourists...
...and shelters for the heedless ones! The tide comes up quite the height.
Lindisfarne Castle in the distance.
A bench to rest on the way.

A piece of sheep's wool caught in the fence. There was a small flock that wandered over the castle grounds.

An expired crab we found on the beach. Unfortunately, my camera lenses didn't have enough zoom, but there were some seals on rocks in the bay. We could hear them barking to each other. :)

On the path, winding up the hill to the castle, you could look down to the beach.

Some sort of lovely flower.

Looking up at the Lindisfarne Castle. We decided to save our money for the next castle on our list, so we didn't go inside, but rather toured the grounds.

Flowers growing just off the path...

...beside an old fence going down to the beach.

Zooming into the foliage

An icicle in need of sustenance; the monastery and village are in the background.

All is well with the world once again. Jenn chose a raspberry swirl ice cream on a dare, while I opted for a hot bacon sandwich. For those of you, who don't quite understand the definition of English bacon, it's very much like Canadian peameal bacon, or thick American slices of ham. Glorious to the palette and comforting to the tummy!

We followed this lovely path and discovered a cozy little cafe for the tea and coffee drinkers in our ensemble.

Some of us almost had to leave... :p