Alnwick Castle (cont'd)

On Sunday, Rita, Kate and I went back to Alnwick Castle (it's pronounced ann-ick) by bus since our tickets were good for two days. After a mild mishap on my part, we got there but missed the first Wizard/Witchcraft tour. We caught one of them midway though. Alnwick was used mainly in the first and second Harry Potter movies - the flying lesson, the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's hut, the train leaving for Hogwarts, Christmas time, Quidditch training, charms lessons and more. ** Caution - Mild spoilers ahead** The scene with a train leaving for Hogwarts was done without a train. They used a green screen for the countryside and the train was part of the set which they had people make it look like it was moving. There was a scene when Harry tests out the invisibility cloak in the off-limits part of the library which was done at Alnwick. It was originially supposed to be done at Oxford but the lighting and number of people in the library was damaging the books. The flying car scene actually left a hole in one of the holly bushes there.

There were a lot of other interesting things about the castle too. The St. Cloud University in Minnesota has a branch there and students can take classes at Alniwck. They even stay in some of the rooms! When we went back on Sunday they were preparing for a wedding. The grounds were really beautiful though, very well maintained - although it certainly seems weird that people live there for part of the year. What do they do with all the stuff from the tours in the mean time?! Alnwick was also used for filming of Elizabeth and Robin Hood. Alnwick is owned by the Percy family, and has been for about 700 years. The other castle we went to on Saturday (Warkworth) is theirs too. Although Warkworth isn't in as good condition.

After we finished the tour we took some more pictures before going back into town towards the bus. We stopped at the food festival they were having this weekend and tried most of the samples they had - everything from cakes to olive oil and cheese. Kate and I both bought cupcakes - these really pretty ones with berry cake and pink frosting. Yum!

Monday was the Clubs and Societies Fair in the Sports Centre. I signed up for a few things, hopefully I'll get to enjoy them this semester. Then a group of us went to the Angel of the North. It's a statue of an angel that's another main symbol of Newcastle although its located in the next town/city over. Today was the first official day of rain. It was cloudy all day and rained a bit too. Hoping the weather holds up for the rest of the week!

Still trying to finalize my classes. They start on Monday, 28 September, and I'm just waiting to hear back about a finance class -if they'll let us take it even though we're only here for the semester. Such issues! I have 2 tentative schedules either way, just in case.

And on with the day...