I'm here!

After a modest odyssey, I am finally here. I'm happy to say the journey was uneventful and almost seamless. Both planes were on time and my bag was successfully transferred from one flight to the other at Heathrow. I confess to feeling anxious about whether my bag would be there to greet me in Newcastle, but it was one of the first onto the carousel with a Geordie welcome! My only other anxious moment was when I realized one of my seat mates on the longest flight was a two year old, but he was positively adorable and slept almost the entire way. He was switching in London for a flight to India, and I'm glad to not be joining him. Not sure how long his adorableness would last on that lengthy flight, nor mine, for that matter. South Shields is a bustling seaside community, with lots of holiday makers, as they call them. I've never been to the Jersey Shore, but from what I've seen in pictures, it's a bit similar, with a constant carnival-like atmosphere. The main street, or "High Street," as they refer to it, runs from the city center right down to the amusement park and the beach. Ocean Road is store after store for several blocks and then switches to Victorian townhouses which are all guest houses on one side of the street with Indian restaurants, Fish and Chips shops, and pubs on the other side. The fort where I am digging is a short, but vigorous calf and hamstring-stretching walk up the hill. I have settled into my guesthouse, Seaways, and I'll report on the cast of characters next. I'm having a bit of difficulty inserting images into posts at the moment, but hopefully I'll work that out sooner rather than later.