For breakfast I chose the continental option which was delicious. Afterwards, we returned to the Cathedral to appreciate some of the things that I had learned about in the guidebook I purchased the previous day. Some of the Cathedral’s features were now temporarily covered over for a student graduation event. It was lucky that we had visited the day before because I would have missed out on the new guidebook and getting my pilgrim passport stamped.

We drove to Alnwick. Mr C wanted to visit the castle because of current interest in the Wars of the Roses. Despite having to book a time slot, the castle seemed a lot busier that I remembered it on previous visits. Visitors were asked to keep a respectable distance from others but many people ignored this. One woman was herding me along, almost in my pocket. I stepped to one side to let her go in front. She muttered an apology and someone else got herded along.

Mr C visited the military museum in one of the castle’s turrets. I chose to wait outside soaking up the rays. The castle shop turned out to be disappointing and Mr C didn’t find any books on his subject. We had hoped to have lunch in the café but it was shut due to staff shortages. The only food outlet at the castle was a concession that sold Greek kebabs. The teashop next to Alnwick Garden was limited to mostly cake, the main café being inside the garden which we had decided not to visit. We had a quick look around the shop before heading into town for lunch. We found a takeaway sandwich bar where I chose a chicken and stuffing roll, which when it arrived was enormous. I enjoyed the delicious sandwich sitting on a bench next to the market square.

By the time we had finished our lunch it was too late to visit Cragside (as I had hoped) for its formal garden and pleasure drive. Instead we headed off along the ‘coastal route’, eventually stopping at Warkworth where we found a teashop that had a piece of raspberry Bakewell tart with my name on it. Before leaving Warkworth, we visited St Lawrence Church and explored its treasures.

The carparking area around the hotel was in utter chaos when we arrived. Mr C grabbed the last pay and display space rather than struggle to see if a space could be found on the hotel carpark. After we had parked we learned that the reason for the chaos was due to some students having their graduation celebration in one of the hotel’s function rooms.

Safely back in the room, we freshened up before dining in The French Quarter, Arch 6, the arch being one of the arches under the railway viaduct. We found that the French cuisine was served in a Spanish Tapas style and whilst we perused the menu we enjoyed a glass of bubbly Prosecco.

The Vermont breakfast was up to its usual standard.  We had become accustomed during our recent hotel stays to table service being the only option due to Covid safety issues but unexpectedly the usual buffet service was on offer.   However, a time slot needed to be booked in advance to restrict the flow of people in the breakfast room. My choice of breakfast was scrambled eggs on toast which was one of the items that is cooked to order.

After breakfast we visited St Nicholas Cathedral and were surprised to see it had changed a lot since our previous visits. The space had been opened up to let in more light. Later, I found out from the latest guidebook that this was due to a project to make the Cathedral more open and accessible. Part of the project involved removing the Victorian pews and tiles which revealed secrets beneath.  The transformation is amazing. Whilst in the Cathedral I got my Pilgrimage Passport stamped with both a stamp and sticker, the latter being placed carefully to cover the bleed from a stamp on the reverse page. We had hoped to visit the Catholic Cathedral and bookshop but on arrival we found that it was closed on Wednesdays. So we returned to St Nicholas Cathedral tea shop for elevenses before driving to Jesmond Dene.

We had lovely walk around the parkland at Jesmond Dene taking in some of the historical features along the way. After our walk we shared a tuna baguette from the cafe, sitting outside in the sunshine until it was time to meet JD. On our way to his house we had a mini adventure. All the local carparks required coins to pay rather than a card payment so Mr C stopped off to visit a bank which he found was closed on Wednesdays. He found a nearby bank that was open. The cashier was bemused by his request for coins; “We don’t hold coins,”

After this diversion we  continued on our journey. We had a lovely afternoon chatting with JD and came away with a generous gift of paintings including one that Mr C had liked on two of our previous visits (the photo does not do the painting justice).

Back at the hotel, with the help of the concierge, we were able to get a space on the hotel carpark. When we entered our room, we were pleased to find that it had been serviced despite being told that it would not be when we checked in.

Dinner was in Restaurant 21. The food was a little slow to arrive due to the restaurant being unexpectedly (for them) busy. The service and food were excellent.

We walked back to the hotel along the quayside. I was amused to find that the Sage Gateshead building that appears as a giant slug by day had resembed a sailing ship at night, the structure almost invisible with the insides glowing.

When I was in St Nicholas Cathedral, Ljubljana I looked at the literature (a habit of mine) that is always available near to the entrance of a church. Whilst I was doing this one of the church members/officials came to tidy up the table. As I put the card you see in the picture above back down on the table, he said ‘You can take it’. I said thank you and picked it up again even though I hadn’t intended on taking it away with me.
When I got home I was able to translate the Slovenian words on the back of the card into English. The photo on the front of the card speaks for itself.

When translated into English the reverse side of the card reads:

See the dwelling place of God among men!
And he will dwell with them,
they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them
Revelation 21.3

300 years of the cathedral
St. Nicholas
in Ljubljana

In remembrance and thanksgiving
the pilgrimage to the cathedral ! Ljubljana !
Ljubljana, 2007