Day 4 to 6, Newcastle, Wark, and Hadrian's Wall

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Newcastle is quite nice.  Not a city many tourists go to but we have friends there. Thanks Stephen for putting us up a couple of nights and so happy to reconnect with our friends Caroline and Richard.  

Wark-on-Tyne

I always considered my heritage to be mostly German with some Dutch and possibly Swiss thrown in.  We took the 23andMe DNA test and was very surprised to find a significant amount of British (along with lesser amounts of Scandinavian, Ukrainian, and a smidge of Iberian).  

I did a bit more research and discovered my last name, Warkentin, originated in Northern England in a town called Wark.  This is a picturesque little town on the River Tyne.  I’ve since learned that the full name of the town is Wark on Tyne.  I imagine an old relative headed across the North Sea and landed in Germany or Netherlands and his home town became his last name.  All in all it’s rather cool.

To celebrate my namesake town, we explored Wark and had steak and ale pie with a beer at the local pub.  Nice experience.

Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian’s Wall goes back almost 2000 years.  Here’s a few pics of the ruins.  Quite amazing.  My pretty sure that this is the inspiration behind the wall in Game of Thrones. 

Durham Cathedral

Durham is a University city and has one of the most stunning cathedrals.