Sunday 13th October

We were up at 8am and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before deciding what to do today.  The weather forecast had it overcast in the morning and raining in the afternoon.  Stepping outside, it was fresh!!  We made our way to Craster where we walked to Dunstanburgh Castle along the coast.  It was cold and windy but it was actually quite nice as the sky was rather dramatic and the sea was really choppy.  So much so in fact we saw lots of sea foam and were entertained by the way it wibbled when a wave crashed in!  It was so windy, some of it was blown free and tumbled onto the grass.

Once at Dunstanburgh Castle it was drizzling in the air on and off but we still explored the Castle ruins.  We decided to have lunch here too, I'm sure we looked very British sitting on a bench outside in the drizzle eating our sandwiches...!  We made our way back to Craster using the same route we had arrived by, and popped into the information office where I bought some interesting chocolate - Geranium and Orange.  Then we stopped by the van outside to have a hot drink - I had a hot chocolate whilst Mathew had a tea.  We sat in the car to drink it as the seats outside were wet through.  Finished, we went on to Warkworth Castle which we had been to before for our Birthdays but I couldn't remember it until we were inside.  We decided to go with an audio guide which we don't usually do, but it was free so we thought 'why not?'.  Turns out that the narrator sounded just like Michael Palin - I'm convinced it was!  Eric Idle may have been in there too maybe but Michael Palin was an almost definite.

We enjoyed exploring the keep with its many passages, although I remember last time I went in and out of every doorway and stair case without really thinking about it - our route was much more structured this time!  Still fun!

At the end of the audio guide we stepped out into the sunlight - we couldn't believe how sunny it was now, there must have been so much wind it blew the rain away and left us with a clear sky.  This wasn't forecast...!  Still a cold breeze though.  We returned the audio guides asking if it was Michael Palin and she didn't know - although apparently they get asked this question rather a lot.....so it must be! :)

I bought a pair of gloves as I had decided, foolishly, to bring a white pair with me on holiday (they matched my hat and scarf, okay?).  Back at the cottage, I washed my white gloves and kept the black ones in the car.  We walked around to investigate the menus again before Mathew decided that we would eat in tonight - he would have a belated Birthday meal next week.  It was still useful to have another look to refresh our memories.

We returns to the cottage to chill out and have tea and cake :)