{"id":9603,"date":"2019-10-08T06:44:51","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=9603"},"modified":"2021-10-06T06:14:25","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T13:14:25","slug":"tynemouth-no-61","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=9603","title":{"rendered":"Tynemouth & No. 61"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I don’t sleep well on my first night<\/strong> in Edinburgh. The prior long travel day combined with my apprehension of my upcoming walk make for a restless night. Today I need to catch the train south for a couple of hours, exit and try and find the right metro to the town of Tynemouth<\/a> and the No. 61<\/a> guest house, the starting point of my Hadrians Wall<\/a> walk the following day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To try and make travel in a foreign country a tad easier, I book my train tickets through a booking agent beforehand. She let’s me know that I just need to be at the Edinburgh EDI gateway train station to pick up my ticket and I’ll be good to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I get a taxi from my Edinburgh hotel and tell him my destination. I should have realized there was a problem when the driver had to google the location, which is never a good sign. Thirty minutes later we arrive to a desolate and eerily quiet train station. The taxi leaves me to my lonesome. I get my ticket and sit in the station watching the board showing arrivals and departures. I still have a couple of hours yet but I’m not seeing my train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

I get up the courage to ask the man behind the glass if I am in the right spot to catch the train I need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No mate, you need to catch this train at Waverly, but you can get on the next train that arrives here and it will take you where you need to be.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily I have the two hours to spare. Waverly train station was only a couple of blocks from the hotel I was staying in. The booking agent thought I needed to catch a train directly from the airport, not realizing I was already in downtown Edinburgh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn’t take me long to get back on track though, and I find myself at the Waverly Station. Now I just need to find my platform. I have about an hour before my departure time. The lack of sleep is really starting to affect me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The hustle and bustle keeps me entertained as I watch the arrivals and departures, yet my train never appears. I have thirty minutes before the train departs. I grab my luggage and decide to wander around to the other side of the train platform to see if perhaps my train is over here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dumb luck lets me stumble onto my train platform with twenty minutes to spare before we leave. I sit down and let out some huge sighs of relief. The joys of solo travel. I have two hours to enjoy the countryside from the fast moving train before I arrive to my connection, then get to try and find the metro that will take me to the town of Tynemouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A nice enough gent with a thick accent takes his time to repeat the instructions to me on how to get to onto the right metro. Eventually I figure out where I need to go, board the metro in the dark underbelly of the city, and intently listen to the announcements overhead for the correct departure station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have an application on my phone from the company that booked my accommodations for me that gives me helpful directions to each guest house I will be staying in. I read the directions repeatedly on my journey down here to Tynemouth, but once I exit the station, I’m still lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stress is high as my phone battery gets lower and lower. I take a chance and cross the bridge over the train tracks to see if the other side of the station has the familiar street signs and markings I need that will take me to the No. 61 guesthouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incredulously, my intuition serves me well, and with relief visible on my face, I walk towards the No.61 guesthouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I check in easily enough, then head back out to wander around this lovely seaside town. At the water’s edge I find the Tynemouth Castle and Priory. A path along the ocean shows me the beauty of this lovely little town. This marks my final evening before I start walking in the morning. By this time tomorrow, all questions about whether I have the physical and mental strength to walk Hadrian’s Wall will start to have answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the ocean waves blanket the sands in white foam, I smile at the beach goers and tourists enjoying the late afternoon. The quaint buildings and cobblestone streets of Tynemouth put me in a serene mood of serious contentment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I find a little Indian restaurant to get dinner. Two ales later and a belly full of vegetable korma have me feeling satisfied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I double check my backpack and suitcase one final time before calling it a day. I hope to sleep better tonight than the night before, as the walk starts tomorrow…..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n