Just after Christmas, my parents visited for a couple of weeks, but I have thus far been slow in posting any pictures from their time with us. One of the days they were here we hired (= rented) a car and drove up to Alnwick Castle (pronounced “annik”), about an hour and a half drive north of us in Northumberland County. I was recently told by a local that Northumberland has more castles than any other part of England, partly because the kings in this region had to defend themselves against both the Vikings and the Scots. I’m not sure if that is true or not, but Alnwick Castle looks impressive! Unfortunately, the castle is actually closed this time of year, so we weren’t able to go inside of it. But we enjoyed walking around the little town of Alnwich and we got some pictures of the exterior of the castle. One of the interesting things about this castle is that it is inhabited. In fact, it is the second largest inhabited castle in England and has been continuously occupied by the same family for the last 700 years.
One of the most exciting things about the town aside from the castle (perhaps more than the castle?) was the bookshop there. Barter Books is said to be one of the largest second-hand bookshops in the UK, and the setting couldn’t be more inviting or English – roaring fire, hot tea, plush couches and chairs. We were only able to look around the shop for a few minutes, but we’re hoping to go back sometime without the kids so that we can have a good look around.
And this is an interesting poster that was available for purchase at the bookshop. Apparently this poster was designed during WWII to be used in case of an invasion of the home country by the Germans. The invasion never came and the poster was forgotten until it was discovered a few years ago. The slogan sums up well the British attitude during the war (and perhaps still today?).















