Surprises

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

One of my favorite things about traveling to a new place is that you never know what you are going to see. You are walking through a town or hiking in nature, and then it just comes up on you. To me, that’s where the fun happens. It is when you see something you didn’t expect to see. Or, you see something you expected to see, and when you finally get there it surprises you. When I get to these moments, I typically just stop and stare for a while. After I take it all in, I grab my camera and start capturing photos of everything that I see.

I had this surprise when I visited Newcastle, England. My wife and I took the train to the heart of the city. Then we just started walking towards the waterfront. On the way there we found the castle that is called the Castle Keep. The Newcastle Keep is a remarkably preserved 12th-century Norman fortress located in the city center of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and is the very origin of the city’s name. Commissioned by King Henry II and built between 1172 and 1177, this Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument stands alongside its 13th-century fortified gatehouse, the Black Gate. Together, they form what is known today as Newcastle Castle.