Newcastle Upon Tyne Girls Weekend May 2013

Headed to Newcastle Upon Tyne for a weekend with the Geordies! I absolutely loved this city. We had such a great time sight seeing and enjoying ourselves down by the river to watch the bridge blinking, check out the art gallery and have brunch. The city is built on a massive hill and with heels we definitely got our calves worked on that weekend!

Bridge "blinking"

Inside the art gallery, the old flour mill!

Up on top of the "new" castle with all the bridges in the background connecting Newcastle to Gateshead

The Angel of the North, one of the world's most viewed modern Art pieces.

Cardiff, Wales April 2013

We headed to the land of Wales and the birthplace of Roald Dahl! We checked out Cardiff Castle, a boat exhibition and the National Museum of Wales! We also sampled some local welsh dishes including cockles and brains beer! Yum!

All the little passes with tonnes of awesome shops and tea rooms!

Cardiff's national symbol...the dragon!

Interior of the Georgian addition to the castle.

Taking a little walk through Bute park (the Bute's were the richest family in Wales and occupied the Georgian House in the Castle )

Brains Pub, so nice on the outside, unfortunately the inside has been converted to a really tacky gay bar!

Scotland 2013

Scotland - April 2013

Spent a week in Edinburgh and a few days travelling through the Scottish Highlands. Definitely got my fill of Haggis and the crap scared out of me on a ghost tour. The tour brought us through the tunnels where thousands of poor people died, and back into greyfriars cemetary which is the home to a nasty poltergeist. Near the end of our absolutely terrifying tour a young girl passed out on her face on a mausoleum (with a chamber 100 ft deep underneath us). Needless to say it took a beer and a lot of laying in bed to fall asleep that night.

 The Scottish Highlands

The Lewis Chessmen... inspiration for Harry Potter! They were the massive chess pieces featured in the series and were carved from walrus ivory in the 12th century. They also feature a "beserker" biting down on his shield. The beserkers were the insane norse warriors who attacked the UK quite often....the vikings. (third in from the left hand side and second from the back row)

Holyrood House (the Scottish residence of the monarchy). Holyrood means "Holy Cross"  and this area is thought to hold a relic made from the actual Holy Cross.

Hiking up to Arthur's seat...the highest area in Edinburgh and looking down at Holyrood House.