Trip to the East Coast of Scotland and England

Sorry for this very long delay but having moved to a new flat roughly three weeks ago, I've been deprived of the internet for quite some time and then there is my dissertation proposal to be crafted out. Well, this morning, I am taking a short break from it to recount some of the adventures I've had.

Saturday, 16th May, was a good day. We were finally free of all the exams, and were on our way to enjoy the east coast of Scotland and England. Our first stop was Holy Isle...as you can see, the ten of us were bundled up nicely for the day was quite cold. From the right (back): Chen Jia, Shuyuan, Yi Xing, William, Rocio, Mauricio. From the left (front): Amy, me, Alexi, Nicole, Etienne.



The isle was a religious centre of the kingdom of Northumberia once upon a time and the celtic influence is visible as seen by the Celtic cross below.

Next stop was Bamburgh castle, which is now situated in England. In the early days, it was the centre of Northumbria.

This was the first sight of the castle which is situated along the coast. The beautiful golden carpet seemed to beckon us towards the castle, a welcoming sign.

In the old days, the coast along Bamburgh saw many shipwrecks and so a tradition of knights on horses patrolling the shore in storms were born. While there are no knights today, the tradition of riding/galloping horses along the shore still continues.

Bamburgh castle as seen from the moorland bordering the castle and the shore. I like the silhoutte of the castle against the sky.

Fresh from our adventure in Northern England, we went back into Scotland and ventured to a remarkable landscape where a bird colony awaits. St. Abbs Head, Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. Below is just one of its many cliffs, a dramatic coastline so different from the gentle beaches of Bamburgh, only an hour or so away.

There we were, after braving the rain and the winds, walking along the edge of the cliffs at some point along the trail. We finally reached the bird colony behind us where hundreds, if not thousands of sea birds were nesting and breeding.

Fiona, our guide, told us that some of these species might be in danger as their food source near these traditional breeding grounds are running scarce.

On our way back, we took a different route and saw this lochen within this valley that I found charming.

All in all, it was a lovely trip where we could decompress and refresh ourselves.