This trip was a big deal. The last time I was in the UK was 1988, where I’d just finished primary school. In the intervening twenty years or so, some of my aunts and uncles had been out here, and Mum, Dad and my sister had been back there. Time waits for no man, and it became apparent that as the years went by the opportunities to catch up with family were slipping by. Logistically I found a value airfare with Malaysia Airlines, made sure it was OK to stay with my Aunt and Uncle, organised my passport and a suitcase, and most importantly booked two whole months of leave from work. Yay!

Getting there

One of the things that had put me off travelling previously was economy class. My backside is artistically described as ‘Rubenesque’, and the thought of squeezing into a tiny seat and remaining in situ for 23 hours was not particularly appealling. Enter Malaysia Airlines and their cheap business class fare – fantastic! Having some extra room would also help the Dodgy Leg.  Apart from the bigger seat, there were a number of other advantages to travelling this way;

• The food: Malaysia Airlines food was superb. Yes, it was business, but I’ve been in four star restaurants that have served up dishes inferior to these. Warm, tasty satays, gourmet coffee, and on the return journey a perfectly spiced plum pudding topped with brandy custard! One of my favourites was salmon with a dill and cream sauce – absolute perfection. One observation was that Malaysia Airlines weren’t very big on dairy – there was very little milk, cheese or ice cream etc in the menu.
• The lounge: With a business class ticket comes the airline lounge. Some travellers swear by this for the food and beverages (which were lovely), but for me the lounge came with bundles of peace and quiet! No screaming infants, incessant boarding calls and general noise pollution found in airports.
• Being fast tracked everywhere: A priority pass is worth its weight in gold. Business class comes with a priority pass, so you can ease your way through passport control and get to board early. Not that I was in a hurry, but hey who wants to hang around in a queue?

The service was fantastic, and speaking Indonesian I was able to pick up  most of the announcements, which came around first time in Malay then in English. In short, business class on Malaysia Airlines is worth every penny!

First impressions

The first thing that struck me by the UK was how small everything is. In Australia we have the luxury of space – wide, open roads, large 6-cylinder cars to fill them, urban sprawl in every direction, large houses and acres of back yard. In contrast in the UK, a 6-cylinder is considered a massive car and most of the vehicles on the road are tiny Micras, Kas etc that can fit into the narrow, windy roads and compact car parking spaces. Homes are built along a similar principle – terraced and semi detached dwellings are the norm, with detached houses considered a luxury for the wealthy. Gardens are well kempt – with a few roses or small shrubs  – which are snowed over in winter. It is perhaps this environment that has given rise to the sense of community I felt in the UK – neighbours know each other, and often ‘pop round’ frequently. Everybody is connected, and news is shared readily. Here we’re perhaps more isolated from each other.

A trip up north

One of my Aunts kindly offered to take me ‘up north’ from Morpeth to Alnwick and Berwick upon Tweed. How could I resist? First stop on the way was Berwick upon Tweed – a town very close to the Scottish border. This town has a long history of war – being torn between England and Scotland, and the walls built to keep invaders out can still be seen to this day.

On the way back from Berwick we passed close the the Cheviot, a range of hills which have traditionally separated England from Scotland. I’d love to go back on a day it wasn’t raining and see if I could snap some better photographs – the rain not only altered the light, but managed to fog out the lens…

Alnwick is one of the jewels in Northumberland’s crown. It is considered to be an ideal holiday destination and today still sports a number of coffee shops, boutiques and generally has a lovely atmosphere. Alnwick castle to this day is still a stately home, and is run as a tourist attraction. Unfortunatley it was raining when we visited, but I did manage to get a shot or two;

My favourite stop in Alnwick though has to be Barter Books – one of the largest second hand bookstores in Great Britain. My great finds here were a copy of ‘The Human Mind’ by Robert Winston, and a pack of ‘Keep calm and carry on‘ postcards. You could browse through this shop for hours – it’s built on an old railway station.

Any mention of Alnwick would be incomplete without a paragraph on the Alnwick Garden. A brainchild of the Duchess of Northumberland, the Garden is set on several hectares and features a large treehouse restaurant, cascading fountain, water features and even a poison garden! Again, this is an attraction I’d love to see in summer time.

Learning the lingo

As with any destination, it did take a little while to learn some of the lingo. Most people in Northumberland speak with a Geordie accent, however my Uncle speaks a much broader dialect, known as Pitmatic. It’s mainly the vowel sounds which are different – for instance instead of saying ‘yoga’ (spoken in an Aussie accent as ‘yoe-gga’) it sounds more like ‘yorrga’. There’s also different words for things – like throwing something out is ‘hoying oot’, and instead of ‘yes, I’m good thanks’ it’s ‘aye, ahreet champion hinney’!

Widdrington (aka ‘Widders’)

My Aunt and Uncle live in a village called Widdrington, near Morpeth. It’s quite picturesque, even if prone to flooding.

The Toon

Newcastle upon Tyne, affectionately known as ‘The Toon’ by locals, is the largest city in the region. Technically it’s not located in the county of Northumberland, but in Tyne and Wear. Significant investment has occurred into the city in recent years; there is a strong push to make it a hub of scientific research and arts and culture. This is evident by The Sage music complex and The Baltic contemporary art museum. I can’t comment on The Sage, but The Baltic was well worth a visit.

Off to Bonnie Scotland

A trip to Great Britain wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Scotland, and I chose the highlands as my first foray into rebel territory. On the way we went through a lovely place called Moffat, which although is reknowned for knitwear didn’t have a single skein of yarn for sale!

Unfortunately the coach trip was also home to Moaning Moira, a middle aged lady with a very nervous (and annoying) disposition. In hindsight she was probably had some sort of anxiety disorder, but for the duration of the trip she clung to me and was constantly asking questions about what time it was, and stressing over the smallest of details – like a button on a dress. She’s also frequently check her watch and once burst into tears because the coach hadn’t arrived 20 minutes before it was supposed to! Well, at least she was character building!

We got to stay in a small village near Inverness called Strathpeffer. The whole setup was quite amusing, as the proprieter, Lin, was Chinese by birth. The haggis however was absolutely delicious – something I hadn’t really anticipated enjoying!

The next stop was Drumnadrochit and Inverness, in search of the evasive Nessie. Unfortunately she must have been on holidays for the winter! To be honest, Loch Ness was a little disappointing – it’s nothing more than a large lake and surrounding scrubland. Although the lake is quite large, the ecosystem of the area is such that it’s highly unlikely to have ever supported a mammal or large fish.

Inverness was wonderful – and of course would have been better if it hadn’t rained! One thing I did notice in Inverness was the large number of Polish immigrants – there were many signs in Polish and shops selling Polish smallgoods.

The next day I got to the northernmost point in the trip – the village of Ullapool, on Scotland’s northwest coast. There was a fabulous knitting shop there, but being a Sunday (and very limited Sunday trading in Scotland) the shop was closed! 🙁

York

Luckily, I also had the opportunity to go to York, ostensibly to catch up with a cousin, but also to see the wonderful Christmas Market they have – absolutely amazing!

Edinburgh

After the highlands, it wasn’t long before I again had the urge to head northwards. This time I stayed in Edinburgh for a few days – an amazing experience (and yes, it rained!). The Edinburgh Pass was a worthwhile investment, as it worked out a lot cheaper than paying for the tourist attractions individually. The highlight of my time in Edinburgh was a visit to Dynamic Earth – similar to Melbourne’s ScienceWorks but with a focus on geology and earth sciences. It was absolutely amazing! Coming a close second was Camera Obscura, an attraction which focused on optical illusions (and one of the few which actively encouraged visitors to bring their cameras with them!)

The Edinburgh Zoo and Edinburgh Botanic Gardens also get a noteworthy mention. To be honest though, the Melbourne (and in the case of the Botanic Gardens, Geelong) are just as good, if not better. It was quite ironic that the star attraction at the Edinburgh Zoo were koalas!

The Edinburgh Castle was a big disappointment to be honest – the cover charge was not included in the cost of the Edinburgh Pass, and I found the staff to be quite pushy. They took a photograph of you when you first went into the castle, and made it look like an entry requirement. In reality it was just a ploy so they could sell you photos at the end of the tour – very dodgy indeed. The other factor which detracted from the Castle was that the Scottish War memorial was located inside – and you had to pay an entrance fee to visit the memorial. Pretty low if you ask me. Oh, and the Scottish crown jewels weren’t worth writing home about!

Off to the continent

My great Aunt and I took a coach tour along the Rhine in Germany, where I also have more relatives (we all tend to travel a fair bit!). Our first stop was Wiesbaden, where there was a German Christmas market (similar to the ones in York and Edinburgh – to be honest by the end of the trip I’d seen just about enough German Christmas Markets) but the chocolate goodies in this one were superb. Of course it was important that I pick up the language, so that I could distinguish between dark chocolate (zarkbitterschokolade) and not so preferred white chocolate (weissschokolade). Zarkbitterschokolade, bitte!!!!

We stayed in a place called Assmanshausen which was delightful.

We toured markets in Rudesheim, Boppard and Kobblenz, but Rudesheim was the best  – and it had the biggest chocolate shop. The return journey went through Belgium, where I thought it was my patriotic duty to sample the chocolate 🙂