Berwick-upon-Tweed, England

This past Friday my office in America was closed for July 4th, so in celebratory fashion I took the day off as well and headed south into England. Berwick-upon-Tweed is the northernmost city in England and has switched hands from Scotland and England over twelve times. A city filled with history, this charming little English town is also a city filled with the most friendly folks I've encountered in all of Great Britain! In the queue to get off the train, a local gentlemen was giving my friend and I a bit of advice about what to see while visiting Berwick-upon-Tweed. Kind indeed! Upon exiting the train station, this same gentlemen pulled up (in his very nice, light blue Jaguar, which seemed so fitting for this seaside town) to offer us a ride into town since it was a half mile away. He dropped us right off at the Elizabethan town wall and our adventure began!

Berwick-upon-Tweed boasts the only intact and remaining Elizabethan town walls in all of England

These walls were designed to keep the out the Scots to the north. Allegedly, the town walls were the most expensive undertaking during England's golden age.

Next we headed over to an English Heritage site to see the Berwick-upon-Tweed Barracks & Main Guard and accompanying museums. Here are the Barracks:

After perusing the museums, all of which pertained to the British military from the 13th century to the 1960's, we walked the walls and saw some great sites!

A little gardening going on in the coastal town

It was a gorgeous day seaside

We then headed beyond the walls and into the town:

I really appreciate all the lovely and bright colors of Berick-upon-Tweed. So cheerful!

The town is filled with charming, locally-owned shops.

Above is a picture of the Town Hall, which gives tours at 2:30 only. So if you don't want to miss out, make sure to be there by 2:30! (We missed out on the tour!!!)

We then winded our way down this street to the best treat in all: Cafe Curio -- a precious little French bistro with fare that could compete on the streets of Sainte Germain!

Cafe Curio not only has the best French food, it also sells gorgeous antiques. Can one establishment get any better???

Katy and our yummy food!

So happy to be there!

What's a proper blog post without a food picture? We split my plate of brie, ham, & chutney and Katy's plate of smoked salmon, prawn salad, smoked herring, and crab salad. Delish! 

And of course Cafe Curio is on the cutest street in all of Berwick-upon-Tweed, complete with tons of flowers:

Next thing up, we headed to the pier to soak in the gorgeous views and sun. Yes - I said 'sun'!

First we had to stop by and see Berwick-upon-Tweed's famous bridge.

This isn't the famous one, but it's still a cool looking bridge.

 The Royal Border Bridge

Pretty sure this blog post could be an ad for Berwick-upon-Tweed. Isn't it pretty???

Berwick-upon-Tweed is also known as a site L.S. Lowry loved to visit and paint. Above is one of the scenes he once painted. I believe the painting now resides in Manchester at the Salford Quays.

Here's another one of the scenes Lowry painted. And could you ask for more perfect and puffy clouds?

Now to head to the pier and the beach!

River Tweed entering the North Sea:

Who would have ever imagined England looking so tropical?

Check out the hues of the water! Amazing!

Here's where it doesn't look so tropic:

There's nothing balmy and tropic about the winds on the northeast coast of England!

Even though the winds were whipping at a minimum of 40 miles an hour, the views were stunning!

All in all - an absolutely fabulous day at the seaside town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. I am smitten with this town and completely enjoyed my day out here!