Northumberland Day 2 - Alnwick Garden & Castle & Howick Hall

The first adventure of Day 2 was to visit Alnwick Garden. We walked around the town of Alnwick until 10 am, which was our pre-booked entrance time to the Garden. Rain has stopped and we didn't have to hold an umbrella anymore! 

Bondgate Tower, also known as the Hotspur Tower is a 15th century stone three story gatehouse and still welcoming pedestrians and cars passing thought to the center of the town.

We walked up a little hill to see a lion on the Tenantry Column, a symbol of the Duke of Northumberland (the historic Percy family)! 

There was a war memorial near the column, which we often passed by during our stay in the town.

At 10:00 am, we were the first guest to Alnwick Garden of the day!

A friendly staff at the garden recommended us to see the walled garden on the top of the grand cascade. It was absolutely beautiful! 

We happened to run into a duck family near the Poison Garden and guess what? We had a chance to feed baby duckies!! They were so cute!

The Poison Garden was the main reason to make J want to visit the Alnwick Garden. The garden keeper greeted and told us not to smell or touch any plants. He was a very nice guy by the way.

It was a unique place that you can study around 100 toxic, intoxicating, and narcotic plants. Now dozens of QR code plates were installed; you could scan one and access to a Youtube video about a particular plant. When we tried one, we immediately thought the voice in the video was somehow familiar... Ah-ha! The garden keeper!

After then we walked into Bamboo Labyrinth. which was pretty neat! 

The Labyrinth brought us to Rose Garden. The air was full with sweet scent.

We found a large space with long grown grasses, trees and many swings. It looked strange at first and then we found out that those trees were cherry! In Spring, when cherry blossoms were blooming, you can enjoy watching them, perhaps do a picnic, sitting on one of the swings. It must be a very beautiful view. 

Our next adventure was to visit Alnwick Castle, which was able to access by a short walk from the garden. The second largest inhabited castle in the UK has over 950 years of history since Norman times. The castle has also featured in some movies and TV shows, including Downton Abbey, Harry Potter and Blackadder. We attended a filming location guided tour and learned many interesting stories! 

It was a part of Hogwarts!

The castle was holding "Broomstick Training" on the grass field that Harry and his classmates had their first flying lesson. I thought it was a brilliant entertainment for kids.

After the castle visit, we drove to Howick Hall for lunch. It was one of places on my "must go" list. I have learned that Howick Hall was the home of Earl Grey tea while I was researching what to do and see in Northumberland before the trip. 

According to Howick Hall website, "Howick was the home of the Grey family from 1319 until the death of the 5th Earl Grey in 1963." "Charles 2nd Earl Grey is the most distinguished member. As leader of the Whig party he was Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834." "The tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Charles, 2nd Earl Grey. It was created to suit the water from the well at Howick. Using bergamot in particular to offset the taste of the lime in it. Lady Grey used it in London when entertaining as a political hostess. As a result it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others. Consequently this is how Twinings came to market it and it is now sold worldwide.  Sadly the Greys, being unbusinesslike, failed to register the trade mark. As a result they have never received a penny in royalties." 

Earl Grey seated in Northumberland? became Prime Minister? and originated Earl Grey Tea? How fascinating! In addition to such information, I found that there was a tea room in the house of the Hall where you can taste Earl Gray tea. How could I skip the tea room experience during the trip?

We ordered two pots of Earl Grey tea, of course, and two soup and sandwich combo. Mine was roast beef and horseradish sandwiches and sweet potato pepper soup. J's was ham and cheese and a kind of veggie soup (I forgot). In short, the meals weren't so good. So wasn't tea. Perhaps my expectation was too high. When I saw their cake collection at the corner of the dining area, I was suspicious. When we saw the shredded cheese in J's sandwich, we knew that we were in trouble. 

Oh well, now we have got a story to tell. We walked the Hall's Garden and Arboretum for a while. The arboretum was like a jungle, which I didn't find much scenery to take a photo.    

It was a hot summer day. When we came back to the town of Alnwick, we tried to find a place to get ice cream. It was Sunday and many shops were closed. After walking around the town, we finally found an ice cream shop at the corner of the town! 

My strawberry ice cream was fine although J said his Rum Raisin wasn't good. Another oh-oh!

To be continued...