Scotland XIII: Berwick

Ah... we've been without internet access since Monday morning, but much has happened. I'll try to keep it brief. We started Monday with a quick visit to Hexham Old Gaol, which is England's oldest purpose-built prison building. Quite small and a bit hyped if you ask me.

Heidi and some dolls. Heidi on the right.



A common punishment for minor offenses, such as nagging. Yes, Heidi, NAGGING.




Afterwards we drove up to Lindisfarne/Holy Island. For a more thorough description, see my notes on visiting there last year.

Heidi and some ruins from the Lindisfarne monastery. Heidi on the right.




We then drove up to Berwick upon Tweed, a nice little city very close to the Scottish border. Due to the numerous wars between England and Scotland the city changed hands 13 times in 300 years, but has been English since 1482. In the evening we had dinner in the tiny town of Coldstream, where I'd visited last year. The chicken at the Besom was still good, though not as good as last time. The dessert, however, was divine. We got to talking to some very funny and friendly locals (we had a bit of a singalong on Scottish folk songs and Elvis) and Heidi got horribly, horribly drunk (I refuse to see any connection here).

The central parts of Berwick, north of the river Tweed, lie within impressive fortifications from Elizabethean times. The city center has some nice buildings and the seaside part of the wall is just one huge park really - with a golf course between it and the ocean. We walked around quite a bit Tuesday morning.







The beach...



Heidi - surprisingly fresh, despite me having to physically stear her up the stairs at 1:30 am the night before.




There was a signpost declaring the local military museum closed, but inside the courtyard the doors were open, so we went in. We spent twenty minutes happily wandering around empty rooms before the staff finally discovered us and threw us out...

She looks drunk, but it's just Diet Coke...



Heidi at home...