Newcastle Attractions

I spent my last Saturday at Newcastle to visit attractive places. Hisham, Hafiz, Usop and I went out at about 10 a.m and we went back around 7 p.m. The weather was not good as light shower fall. We were fortunate because the weather becomes better in the afternoon. First, we took Metro (underground train) and headed to Tynemouth Priory and Castle. The castle is located near the sea side and the scenery is beautiful. The church was first built in 7th century and then re-founded again in 1090 after it was destructed by the Danish raiders. It was also used by the British armies to defence England coastal area during two world wars. In 1539, the church was converted as a royal castle. The original structure of the castle can barely seen right now because most of structures were already collapsed.

Then, we took a ferry to cross the Tyne river and visit one of Newcastle famous landmarks which is called 'Angle of the North'. It was made from special weather resistant steel which contains copper. The sculpture looks like an angle with wide open arms which symbolizes greeting to visitors who come to Newcastle. After that, we went to MetroCentre. According to Usop, MetroCentre used to be the biggest shopping complex in Europe.

Besides, Newcastle are also known because of its bridge. The bridge is similar to Big Ben for London. They also have new suspended bridge specifically for pedestrians which is called 'Millennium Bridge' (picture not shown). This bridge is very special because it can be tilted to look like V-shape. When it is tilted, it is closed for pedestrians. The bridge is tilted at night and several hours during the day.



I also went to the Baltic centre, a contemporary art exhibition centre which is located near the Millennium Bridge. Even though art is not my interest, but I was quite impressed by some of the art works displayed especially the one which show how human plan to destruct the world. Human already made lots of destructions to the world and human still planning to make further destructions. I think that is a very good message. They used human replica, wearing a lab coat (probably a scientist) and show how human planning to destruct the world by putting a cloud (made from cotton) which looks like a tornado at the human head. The height of the cloud is about the same with the height of two storey building. They also put atomic bomb, animals etc around the cloud to show what kind of destructions human are planning to do. When I want to take picture of the model, one of the staff stopped me and said that taking photo is not permitted. However, i did take photos before that. One of them is a human model made from small metal bars.

Then, we went back by train. I think Newcastle transport system is amazing. We paid GBP 5.20 for the day ticket and we can use all kind of public transports like metro, bus, ferry and train even though they are provided by different companies. Lastly, I would like to thank Hafiz, Hisham and Usop for spending time with me and show me all the attractive places. Thank you.