Geneology Part One

Nixons come from a small area in the southwest of Scotland. The family was associated with the powerful Armstrong clan, who were Border Reivers (basically, they were theives). Dad had done some internet searching (what DID we do without it?!) and discovered the existence of an Armstrong Museum in Langholm, southwest Scotland. So off we went!

It was a bit of a journey, although maybe I've been here too long when I think an hour and a half train trip plus a 45minute bus trip is a bit of a journey! It was a lovely trip though. We saw lots of new lambs and loads of rabbits.

We had a picnic in a little park outside Langholm, which we shared with lots of ducks.

The museum was interesting, but didn't have much about the Nixons. It was great to see the countryside the family was from though. And it was a fine adventure.

The Beach

After a week visiting friends in Taunton and Penarth, mum and dad (J&J) came up to Newcastle to visit me. I, of course, cooked up a welcome feast that we ate for days!
I showed them around the 'toon'. It's a very atractive toon, with lovely old buildings. My favourite street is Grey Street, which curves beautifully down to the Quayside from Monument. The monument is a large statue of Earl Grey, who introduced important social reform legislature, raised up on a huge column. My reveretial father nicknamed him 'The Teabag'.
One sunny(!), but cold, afternoon I decided to show J&J my local beach. After meeting at The Teabag we took the Metro (local train system, pronounced Me'ro) to Tyneside, about 25 minutes from the centre of toon. We walked down the Tyne bank towards the sea and around the headland to North Shields. It's very picturesque, but I forgot my camera!
By this stage, we were frozen stiff, so we popped into a local pub to warm up (and continue my whisky education). We set off again, intending to walk to Whitley Bay, the next beach, but found another pub with a very nice menu about halfway there. So we had British fish and chips instead. Lovely. But I am looking forward to unbattered fish!

My Holiday

Too much travel, too little blogging!!! Let's start at the very beginning...

Off to London to meet mum and dad. I met up with them at the hotel. They were somewhat jetlagged, very cold and not impressed with the box-like room, rabbit-warren layout and multiple firedoors! Actually, it was a pretty good hotel by London standards! After lunch and a lot of talk, we set off to explore. We spent the afternoon on the hop on hop off tour bus; despite the snow we bravely sat in the open top deck. (How do you pick an Aussie in London?!)

We also got a trip down the Thames in a glass-topped boat (so we could watch the snow fall).

The next day we got back on the bus to do the rest of the circuit. There is an old Twinings tea shop on Strand which we visited hoping to get a cup. Unfortunately, they don't actually serve tea there!We were directed across the road to 'the old Bank of England'. While dad went off in search of medical museums, mum and I took tea in the beautifully renovated old building. The atmosphere (and the chips) were wonderful.

Due to the excessive cold we didn't do the walking tour we had planned. However, we did explore the delights of English pubs, where I embarked on a new project, under the careful tutorage of the parents - learning to drink whisky :)

I left London feeling I was finally starting to like the town. I think on previous trips I'd found it overwhelming.