Alnwick Gardens and York

Well, I must admit to being thrilled to leave The Guards' Hotel. I slept very badly there and was awake long before the alarm.It definitely goes down as the worst hotel in decades. 
This photo gives an idea of the bed! I din't think even a museum woukd take it. The floor was also squeaky and uneven with a number of substantial cracks! 45 pounds got me a very nice large single room with a breakfast feast. This was with no breakfast and a bathroom up the hallway. It will be interesting to compare this with my final night in Edinburgh.
Anyway, I left early, opting to spend extra time at a spacious, clean bus station!
The tour to the Dales, York, and the Lakes was about to start. Just as we boarded I spotted Michael, our driver around The Orkneys. Really nice to see him. Good guy but not a patch on Alan and our driver now, Andy.
Andy used to be in the theatre and now does both theatre and driving. He has a quick wit and drives wonderfully. He also is an expert in history, so I think with so many history buffs in the bus, we will learn a lot.
Our big stop was for nearly 3 hours at Alnwick  Castle and Gardens. I opted for the gardens and a visit to the little medieval town, which was not too exciting, but still a pleasant stop for part of my picnic. The other I ate with this fabulous view.

The daffodils were more or less over, but the blossom was magnificent. Once again bluebells of many colours carpeted the ground

It was sensational and so calm. Temperature perfect too.
The ornamental gardens were out of this world. I have never ever seen such beautiful tulips.

And in the midst of an orchard were these beauties

One of the most fascinating areas was The Poison Garden, an educational garden where entry was only allowed with a guide, probably because there was cannabis there! The gates were locked behind us and a guard needed to let us out.

Apart from these plants, we were told about many common garden plants which are also toxic, some extremely so. I think I will visit the website to read further. We only had twenty minutes there and so it was hard to take it all in.
The gardens seem to offer some wonderful things to all ages. I loved the names of the programmes. One I particularly liked is not on the list - Elderberries, a course for over 55s interested in gardening.


All in all it was a fantastic visit and I am so pleased I did not go into the castle. Just before leaving I ventured into the bamboo maze hoping madly that I would find the way in and out in 20 minutes, or I would miss the bus . It was a lovely experience.

The actual road trip was not very special, as we simply took the A1 to get to York about 6 p.m. However, the rather dull road was truly brightened by fields of dazzling yellow rape. It was stunning.

We also stopped at a pretty unusual and special monument with no particular meaning behind it, The Angel of the North. Stuck on a hill overlooking the A1,  one can only question how sensible it is to put something as distracting as this above a very busy motorway!


You can get an idea of the size from the person standing by the feet!
So, now I am in The Hole in the Wall pub in York enjoying a large glass of NZ wine after a most delicious goat's cheese and spinache lasagne( not really a local dish, but sooooo good).
It is wonderful here in Britain. Nearly all the pubs serve NZ Marlborough white wine,and all the tea everywhere is drinkeable and very good! Bliss.
First glimpses of York were very favourable, especially in the evening light. The Cathedral is stunning.

The B and B is very comfortable. I had to laugh as I handed over the money. What a miserable looking chap there is on the Scottish  twenty pound Note!

The lady in the B and B agreed and had a hood laugh with me.




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