spryng | Hadrian's Wall, Day One

I don't remember exactly when or how we decided to go to England and hike Hadrian's Wall for our honeymoon, but I know it was originally my idea and that I wanted to show Lady some of England and make up for our 4-hour layover in London where all she saw was the underground. I'd been to the Wall once waay back when, so I knew it was a Thing that Existed, and somehow I heard about there being a walk as well.

Research happened and a plan was put together and a feasible schedule assembled and before we knew it, we were on the plane at the start of a seven-hour flight. Even though I had read the entire guidebook cover to cover, I still wasn't fully sure what to expect. I'd never walked that far before. It could rain the entire time. And maybe we hadn't brought enough shirts after all.

I worried about all of this and more while trying to get some sleep on the plane, then navigating the London trains and underground while hungry, sleep-deprived, and dehydrated. We finally got to Newcastle upon Tyne at two or so in the afternoon and still had to navigate our way to the Wall's beginning, then walk seven miles to our lodgings. We fortified ourselves at Starbucks because it was the first coffee place we saw, thoroughly rocked by culture shock already what with the trains and the money and the wrong-way driving and the incomprehensible northern accents and the filter-not-drip coffee. All the little things that being a little loopy amplified to confusion.

Somehow, though, we found the metro and we rode our way to the appropriately named Wallsend stop. From there we wandered down to Segedunum.

Segedunum is the site of a Roman fort, the footprint of which has been preserved and museum'ed. If you pay some pounds, you can have a look around and even go up in this observatory thing and see the whole layout. We decided to use their bathrooms and peer through the fence instead, since we didn't quite have the time to spend on a museum. Then we set off to find the actual start of the walk.

We found it in a clump of overgrown trees and a graffiti'ed outline of Hadrian's head (first photo).

I was not quite certain until I spotted the sign with "Hadrian's Way" and the little National Heritage acorn that our guidebook had instructed us to look out for. Little did either of us realize how much of a trusted friend that acorn would soon become for us, popping up along the path and in the middle of fields just when we were feeling lost.

We set out, past queen anne's lace and trash and houses and people out for an early afternoon stroll. The weather was lovely, the sun shining, and we - despite the above-mentioned loopiness - were pretty excited to have not only navigated our way to Newcastle, but found the path and finally be on our way. We meandered our way along what was clearly a suburban trail until it brought us down to the waterfront.

I can't get over how amazing the weather was, especially after AZ and expecting cold and rain. It was just gorgeous and lush and there were gulls overhead and a gentle breeze and swans drifting by on the river. We might have been starting in the city, but it wasn't very city-like. Well. At first.

We closed in on the city fairly quickly, though.

Then we came upon what Newcastle appeared to be famous for. Namely, bridges.

Lots and lots of bridges. All in a row - at least six or seven of them. The one in the foreground is a footbridge that swings up twice a day to let boats through.

So. Many. Bridges.

This was apparently the city center, too, for there were a ton of places to eat and have a glass of wine on the river front and people milling about, getting off work and soaking up the sun. Instead of fooding, we decided to press on in favor or possibly cheaper fare, but upon leaving this main area behind it quickly became sparse. The walk became woody and shaded again and we had clearly left the main part of the city. So we pressed on and on and on until we found the suburb in which our hostel was located, then on and on and on again, up a big hill that never seemed to end, past a small grocery store, and upwards and onwards until we thought we were lost and then lo - we spotted the sign for the hostel.

As would soon become routine for me, I was so tired by the end of the day that I didn't brother dragging out my camera. We were checked in to the hostel by the most unimpressed receptionist ever, but were surprised to find we had not only a room to ourselves, but also a bathroom! Anyone who's ever been in a hostel before knows this is a rare, beautiful thing.

Not a very representative photo of the room, but it was pretty small. And absolutely wonderful after so many hours of traveling. Even though it was still fully light out (sun didn't go down until 9.30), we easily slept like rocks. Inasmuch as rocks can sleep.