Newcastle

So on Wednesday morning Grandpa came at 9.30 to collect Tom for a 2 night stay.

As has now become the norm, we took advantage of child free time for a city break and this time we had decided on Newcastle.  Matt’s been before, as have I - but only for work and work was always in an industrial estate on the outskirts so I never got to go in the city and explore it.

We got the morning train from Ribblehead to Carlisle had an hours wait in Carlisle station craft beer bar where we had lunch and then headed off on the Carlisle to Newcastle train - all very scenic: Yorkshire Dales, Eden Valley and Northumberland National Park - not bad for one train journey.  I believe you are supposed to be able to see Hadrian’s Wall from the train over but we missed it somehow. 

Our hotel next to The Bridge

We arrived in Newcastle on time and found our hotel with no problem. we weren’t able to check in so found ourselves a craft beer bar to have a quick drink before trying again.  We were in, not only were we in, but they upgraded us to one of the Penthouse Suites - so we had 2 double bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen with breakfast bar and a lounge / diner.  Not bad for £70 a night!!!!!  Of course we didn’t use most of it - we were only here for one night and half the fun of a break away is the food.

After a shower etc we headed out to explore.  First stop was a Brew Dog bar - for research purposes, no more.  Think Matt found himself one he hadn’t had before and I had an Elvis Juice.  WE then went out again for a stroll, but it was raining - bugger!  I didn’t have a coat on me and Matt had his photography equipment, not great!  We crossed the road and I saw a mention of Rum on a window, we peered in and saw what looked like an interesting bar so we headed in.  

Interior of Colonel Porter's Emporium

Wow!  It was the most amazing bar I’ve been to in a long time, Colonel Porter's Emporium.  It was full of stuff - sort of vintage stuff - lots of stuffed animal heads, prints and posters, fixtures and fittings from days gone by and the place was stuffed with them.  Everywhere you looked there was something interesting to see, and we even found a secret room behind a bookcase of books - how cool is that.  It specialised in rum - it had 128 different varieties (none from Grenada I’m afraid) but also plenty of gin and some beer and it was happy hour, so I got to spin a wheel to see what price we had to pay - we had to pay full price, but we got a free shot each, so we were happy.

Once we had consumed our drinks we were beginning to feel hungry so decided to head to a Tapas restaurant we saw on the walk to the hotel - we both went for 3 tapas each thinking that would be fine.  Oh dear, the tapas portions were huge, we had over ordered.  However, we had both ordered healthily: 2 different chick pea dishes, a broad bean dish (Matt) another veggie dish and some paella and potatoes, so it wasn’t bad food just too much of it!  We didn’t finish it and both of us left with aching full tummies, however the bill was only £35 and it was good food, so we can’t complain.  It was time for a walk, just as well the rain had stopped.

First we went to an old looking tower we could see from the restaurant window - it was the Castle - built by the son of William the Conqueror and still very much in evidence - so well done him.  We had a clamber around what we could and then headed down to the waterfront.  We crossed the swing bridge to the Gateshead side and tried to walk along the river.  We couldn’t!  The Royal Navy have a building right on the front and therefore no-one may pass! So we walked along the road.  We ended up at The Baltic (I know this building well from a tender I worked on at Compass - I never got to visit it but was expected to write lyrically about it, my b******t must have worked because we won the tender!) It was closed but it was 8.30!

The Millennium Bridge

We walked across the Millennium Bridge and walked back along the riverside on the Newcastle side (no buildings in the way here).  We passed a beach which had obviously been put in place for the summer and get this, there were buckets and spades left in it for the next children to use, and they hadn’t been stolen - how amazing is that?!  Then we saw a nice looking bar, Charts, and decided we were thirsty enough for another drink so we headed in.  We got a window seat which was good because at 9pm on the dot a fountain and light display started from the river.  Very nice to watch - was part of ‘The Great Exhibition of the North’ which is being held in lots of venues around the city displaying mainly arty things about The North.  Whilst Matt tucked into his beer, he came over all tired, he couldn’t shake it off, so we headed back to the hotel so he could have his cup of tea.  We were in bed for 9.30, but stayed up and watched some telly - we are so rock and roll aren’t we?!!!!!  Maybe we started too early?

We had a comfortable night in the hotel.  In the morning we headed across the road to a nice looking cafe for breakfast, although the service initially was slow, the food came quickly after ordering and was good.  We then packed up at the hotel, and then went for a wonder.  First job was to walk across the Tyne Bridge (you sort of have to when in Newcastle don’t you?) and then we headed up to the shopping district mainly to find a post office so Matt could get an International Driving Licence for Japan (likelihood is that we will need to hire a car from time to time as Hokkaido is far more rural than the other islands) after a little look around (all the usual shops, nothing inspiring) we decided to go back down to explore The Baltic.

The Baltic

We are so glad we did!  First stop was a lift to the viewing platform on the 5th floor, on the way a lady in the lift told us to check out the restaurant on the top floor because they do really good lunchtime offers.  We didn’t even know there was a restaurant on the top floor (It was a good 12 years since I wrote the tender).  We took in the view and then decided to look at the restaurant.  She was right they were doing good offers: 2 courses for £15 and 3 courses for £20.  The menu looked posh, could this be fine dining?  It was.  A main course was £20 so it really was a very good deal.  We settled in and ordered our posh nosh.  

Posh nosh!

Not 100% sure what we ordered as we didn’t know key items on the menu (always the sign of posh nosh) but I had ricotta cheese covered in beetroot and peaches for starter whilst Matt had chicken parfait with a brioche bun.  Then mains was salmon for me and chicken breast for Matt and pudding was a very intense chocolate mousse for Matt and cheese for me.  It was all utterly delicious, it’s been a while since we’ve had proper fine dining and we enjoyed it.  I had the most beautiful mocktail as well - blackberry and cranberry with rosemary.  I could have drunk a gallon of it (but that would be uncouth!)

Think we spent a good hour and a half enjoying lunch before we decided we should really go and see a gallery in the building as we were there, so we headed to one about ‘The North’ and actually managed to take in and understand some of the exhibits (neither of us are natural art connoisseurs).  We then headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags and caught our trains back to Ribblehead.  A lovely mini break made wonderful by the lady in the lift and lunch.