It's in no way grim, it's all a lie.

So my favourite picture from my recent tour of the North East is this one:


I really liked the Angel of the North, it is epic in size and makes an impressive impact on the landscape. As you walk away from the body towards the tip of the wing, the span is really quite surprising! It looms over you far longer than you would expect. I like this picture best because I noticed something about the Angel that I didn't notice when I was there - if you look at his/her feet, they are a completely different colour to the rest of the body and wings. It's obviously due to human contact, I had a little stroke of that area too, but I like that the feet have become polished over time, or the rust has been kept at bay over time.

I loved the sweeping Northumberland beaches and farmland, I drove over every bridge in Newcastle as well as under the Tyne Tunnel, I squished a penny at the National Railway Museum (where I also enjoyed a cream tea and looked at some very pretty and interesting trains), I admired York Minster, Durham Cathedral, Holy Island and Alnwick Castle, ate fish and chips on the beach, petted a donkey and was generally impressed by the number of wind farms (why do people protest these? I've seen power stations, they're ugly as hell, wind turbines are graceful and lovely, I wouldn't mind seeing one on the horizon...). I am looking forward to heading back to Northumberland again, it's thoroughly pleasant.