The Viking Coast and Alnwick Castle

Thursday morning we met the "Wee Red Bus" from Heart of Scotland Tours at Waterloo Place, bus stop number ZE.  The weather has been so perfect, but this was the day the rain came.  It was raining when we woke up and was raining when we went to bed.  Alan, our tour guide and bus driver loaded up his 16  passengers and we were off.

The green hillsides, yellow fields of rapeseed and pastures dotted with sheep were beautiful, even in the rain.

The first stop was in Lindisfarne for the first castle.  Lindisfarne ( also known as Holy Island) is the home of this 16th century castle.  We drove across a narrow causeway which is only accessible at low tide.  At high tide the road is under six to eight feet of sea water.  The abandoned castle was built out of stone from an eleventh century Priory.  We hiked up the cobblestone path to the castle.

The views were breathtaking inspite of the rain.

We quickly toured the castle as our time was limited and we had to get back to the bus.

On to the next stop, the very grand Alnwick Castle.  It is pronounced "Ahn-ick", with the l and the w silent.  First a quick lunch then the purchase of tickets for the castle and the gardens.
This is the castle were the Harry Potter films were made and several scenes from Downton Abbey were shot.  It is still a working castle where the Percy family, the Duke and Dutchess of Northumberland has lived for more than 700 years.  The rooms are elegant and historic.  The outside is twelfth century but the inside is spectacularly Italian renaissance. Again no pictures inside, sorry.

The gardens were spectacular with fountains, greenery and flowers.

Back on the Wee Red Bus and back to Edinburgh.  On our way home we passed a freshly mowed field that was full of beautiful pheasant, both the brilliantly colored males and females.  We were past them before we could get a picture.  Upon arrival at bus stop ZE we headed for the apartment to get ready for our trip Friday to the Isle of Skye.