Around UK in 7 days: Alnwick Castle

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

After our Eid celebration, my family and I went for a road trip around the UK. We (my mum and I) have been planning this trip for months in advance. A lot of changes were made, in the end, we did manage to plan everything accordingly.

On Friday afternoon, after sending off my uncle and aunt to the airport (they couldn't come along since they can't take a lot of leave from work), my parents, my bestie and I head up north for our trip. Our first stop is Newcastle upon Thyne. Our main goal is actually further up, but it'll take too long of a drive to get there, so we break the trip a bit and rest in Newcastle. 

Our accommodation for the night that my mummy found through Airbnb. 

While we were there, of course, we should go somewhere for a visit, so I suggested Alnwick Castle, which is an hour from our accommodation. The castle was used for the shooting of Downton Abbey and Harry Potter, plus many other movies and dramas. Being a huge fan of the two, naturally, I would arrange for us to go there.

The city of Alnwick. 

It's a very small town.

As you walk following the signs, you'll see the garden on your right.

One of the windows that previews the garden. We didn't enter since going around the castle will take most of our time. 

The entrance tickets only cost £13.45 for adult and £11.25 for students if you buy online. Prices are a bit higher if you buy at the booth.

The castle started to get a lot of attention since Downton Abbey and Harry Potter. It is, until today, remains the house of the Duke of Northumberland and his family. That is why parts of the castle are closed as it is a private property.

Most parts of the castle are open for visitors. There are the state rooms, where they maintained the furnishing, atmosphere as it was centuries ago. This is where the shooting for Downton Abbey are held. They even display the clothing that the actors/actresses wore during filming. However, cameras aren't allowed inside. I would've sneaked in a preview, but I need to behave since I was with my folks. huhu...

This is the coach room, where they used to put their vehicles. 

The main attraction of this castle is this...

Dumbledore...and of course...

Harry!!! I found out about their appearance on their website just a few days before we came here. Their appearance was only held for two days which included the day we arrived. Lucky!!!

These two lot were very entertaining and hilarious. They have what we love to call, the British humor. 

They even stayed to take pictures with everyone there. My phone suddenly died when I wanted to take the picture. I was so flustered, and they were kind enough to wait. 

Actually, before the two wizards appeared, we were entertained with other things such as the broomstick lesson.

We were just in time for this as well. We didn't even know what the schedule was. 

Professor what's her name and what's her face taught us some basic skills in mounting and flying a broomstick. Jolly good! Basically, they were bullying us and we let them. =P

It's all good fun.

On the last session, they thought us a few tricks to capture a good picture like in the movies. Such as these...

Good one mum. You're a genuine witch. woah...did I just call my mum a witch??!! *%£$

Hey..I'm even better. Didn't even manage to finish saying up, the broomstick already went up. Better than Harry I would say. 

err...this girl didn't really know what she's doing. The broom got up, nevertheless. Good Job!

And now the flying part...She made it look so easy

The feminine way of riding a broomstick.

Sorry lads...the broom just got away from me. It got a mind of its own.

Finally got the hang of it.

Victory pose...woohooo...We sure had fun. 

Afterwards, we went in the Knight experience. The most fun part about this is..

Getting to play dress up! We even made the wand inside the circle at the wand making experience. It's very simple, but enough to make kids like us have fun.

There's pillory...the medieval head and hand restraints where they use for their enemies and prisoners. 

Thrones for the king and queen...

This is a medieval loo (toilet). I don't know why they have this though. haha....I guess it's significant.

At first, my parents didn't want to join us in our quest. But after we told them of how fun it was, they want to join as well.

The King helping the damsel...

And made her his queen...All hail the king! =P

 

In the end, they had the most fun.

Beside the Knight's experience, there's the Dragon Quest. It's kind of like a haunted house for kids, but it was loads of fun!

 

After our knightly journey, we went outside for a stroll.

This guy is not actually playing the bagpipe. It's a fake! I'll show you a real one when we get to Scotland later on.

We climbed the walls of the castle.

It was a spectacular view. 

Inside the towers, there are more museums.

These statues actually talked. My bestie jumped when one of them talked while she was holding 'his' hands. hahahaha

oii you..I'm talking to you!

That's the end of our trip at the castle. There were actually more to see such as the dungeon, the world war exhibition, but we were wiped. So we head back. On our way out..we saw these birds. So many of them, walking towards us looking for food.

Do you know what kind of birds are they?

Until next time...

Riang Ria Raya 2016!

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

Due to this being the hottest news, so I'll be holding off my Italy trip saga for a later post and write about this first. It's another Eidulfitri being here in London!!! Three years in a row now, weehuuu!!

Despite being abroad, celebrating Eid here is as good as being at home, minus the loved ones of course. But as long as you have great friends and company, your Eid will never be lonely nor sad. =D

This year is the best one yet...because my parents are here along with my uncle and aunt!!! Triple woohoo OOO!!

They arrived just two days before Eid, enough to experience the long days of fasting. I was a bit sad because I couldn't really take them anywhere myself because I'm so slumped with my labwork. Luckily, my parents have been here enough times to know their way around. Plus, because of the long hours of fasting, they didn't really have the energy to go to a lot of places. Mostly shopping.

So on the day of Eid, we woke up bright and early, get ready and head off for the Eid prayer. 

As the previous years, we went to Malaysian High Commission at Belgrave Square, near Hyde Park Corner. Cutting it close again this time (we blame the tube =P), but luckily we managed to pray along. 

So many people as usual, but loving the atmosphere. This year, they hand out packed Nasi Lemak to the congregation because the commissioner's open house will be held on Saturday. 

I just love meeting all my friends and acquaintances. This was last few years' celebrations: 2014 and 2015.

We took as much as photos as we could before beginning our journey.

Since this is my uncle and aunt's first time in London, of course, I had to bring them to the most important and iconic sights. 

The first place that we went to is Hyde Park since it's the nearest. 

Then we took the tube to go to the Buckingham Palace. 

At first I though we had missed the change of guards since we arrived around 10am. It turned out the change of guards starts at 11.30am. Lucky!!! So we decided to stay and wait since it's not a common thing to see.

Since we arrived early, we managed to get a good spot in front to have a great view when the guards marched. 

There were so many people here as we waited.

We ate the Nasi Lemak that they gave us while waiting. It was quite hot that day. Now they know how it really feels like being hot in London. It's no joke, man!

These are the few videos I managed to get during the change of guards. It was mine and my bestie's first time too!!

We even managed to catch them when they made their turn back to the palace. =D

Then we head off to Westminster. We walked across St. James Park. 

The lovely couple

Tadaa....the iconic Big Ben and Houses of Parliament.

They weren't really that interested in the Westminster Abbey...huhu...and of course the London Eye!!!

While we were walking here, I suddenly felt someone touched the zipper of my bag pack. Luckily I quickly turned. Didn't see the perp, but I asked my bestie to check. They managed to open almost half of the zipper, but didn't get to take anything, probably because I noticed before they get the chance to. My uncle's zipper was also open, but he didn't put any valuables in his bag. So be extra careful when you are at the tourists attractions. There are so many pickpockets at work there. 

Since we arrived at Westminster around noon (perfectly calculated...huhu), we stopped at St. Thomas hospital for prayer. 

My sis said when my dad wore his jacket, he looked like a doctor on duty. So I took this picture to make it look more legit. hahaha...even those Baju Melayu of his kind of looked like scrubs that surgeons wear. LOL

After freshening up, we went to visit my aunt (previously she had a cafe at Chinatown, now moved to Waterloo) at her cafe which located at a bar called Lounge 34, near Lower Marsh Market Street. Very near the hospital and Waterloo station. 

After that, we walked to Trafalgar Square. After taking some brief pictures, we took the old number 15 bus to go to the Tower Bridge. It's a whole London experience. This bus is the old bus, still in good condition and fully used. There's no announcer like the other London buses and there's a conductor that will check your tickets when you board, rather than having to touch at the reader as you get in. 

We made a stop at St. Paul's Cathedral, went to the rooftop of One New Change and see the rooftop view of London. I first found out about this place from K. As, my friend who has been working here for more than 5 years. She was the one that took me and K. Zada (her school friend that introduced us) around London on foot!!

Then, we took the tube to go to Tower Hill, and see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We didn't stay very long since everyone is very tired already. 

The day is not over yet since we need to visit a friend of mine. She invited all of us to her house for some makan2. Of course, previous years, that's exactly what my bestie and I would do. We even would hunt for places where we can visit and eat! But because I'm with my family and I'm taking them sightseeing around London, there's only room for one house to visit. 

My friend's house is at Wimbledon. Since it was during the Wimbledon match, I decided to take my family there, to at least get to see the festivities even though we didn't get a chance to see the match.

It has been such an eventful day. Thank you to K. Sara and her family for inviting us. I had such a fun day taking my family around London. 

The itinerary that we used is the one I usually give to those that want to make a day trip to London. Just email me if you want the details (such as which public transport to take, the best places to eat etc).

Until next time...