Palm trees? In Newcastle?

Keith and I were undecided about what to do today - it really depended on the weather! We awoke to blue skies and sunshine so we decided to head for Newcastle and take a walk along the Quayside. Keith wanted to cross the Millennium Bridge so after a delicious cooked breakfast (I am NOT skimping on my first meal of the day!), we drove to Newcastle along the A167, which was the old A1, running from London to Edinburgh.

We managed to park above the river and we were soon down on the Quayside admiring the views over to the Tyne Bridge and the Swingbridge.

The new bridge with the Sage building in the background

The Tyne Bridge

The building reminds me of a witchety grub!

Luckily, although breezy, the weather was fine and dry so we had an amble over the bridge and watched some foolish people flying through the air from the Baltic building by zipwire over the river...mad!

Once over the river, and into Gateshead, we visited The Baltic which, formerly a flour mill, is now a gallery of contemporary art. Entry was free (Keith did put a donation in the box) and we went up to the 5th floor to see the stunning views over Newcastle and the river Tyne.

Below us, on the fourth floor, was an exhibition by Fabrice Hyber which I just thought was completely bizarre. No doubt some people would be able to see some deep significance to the exhibits but I just thought they were weird. We went downstairs to have a good look and were mystified by the scribblings on the walls, the huge man made out of fruit and vegetables, the arrangement of sponges, coins, salt and chillies and cabins which, when opened, emitted strange noises (thunder, lightening or wind). Hmmm...There was a collection of pristine white fridge freezers with their doors open and lines of white sheets hanging from washing lines...To be honest, the best thing for me was the view of the sky above!

None the wiser we trooped down to the ground floor to an exhibition by Heather Phillipson which consisted of a speedboat surrounded by bottles of mineral water and a yellow Peugeot with a video playing on its windscreen...

Having had enough of culture we wandered back over the Millennium Bridge just before it was tilted so that taller boats could pass through. This happens every few hours and is spectacular to see.

We'd decided to take a boat trip along the river at 1.30pm so we had a walk into the centre, up to the Bigg Market which is a hotspot for bars and clubs. I dread to think what it's like on  Friday and Saturday nights! We popped into a pub Keith used to go to, The Crown Posada, which was wonderful. It's a tiny place (blink and you'd miss it) but it had atmosphere in abundance. It's a very narrow bar with beautiful stained glass windows, old lamps, prints of how Newcastle used to look and lots of dark wood. There was a very old record player playing vinyl (The Rolling Stones, The Beatles) and a sign saying they served Pease Pudding and ham sandwiches! Keith was in heaven!

We had a pint and a half of Black Gate beer from the Hadrian Border brewery and very good it was too! Lovely and dark with a delicious malty flavour. It was great to sit and rest for half an hour as the walk up from the river was very steep and the sun had come out making us feel a bit warm! We saw lots of stag parties roaming the streets...I had no desire to come back in the evening!

We had a fast walk back to the river and took an hour's boat trip, squeezed in opposite a couple who looked like they'd just sucked on a load of lemons. The recorded commentary was interesting, touching upon Newcastle's famous past as the ship-building capital of the world.

Back on dry land we returned to the car and then drove to Durham to visit a pub called The Duke of Wellington to see whether it passed muster for our meal tonight. It was very pleasant, so after a quick drink we went to check into the Ramside Hall Hotel, our home for the next two nights.

The hotel is set in large grounds with a golf course attached. The building looks like an old castle and was once the home of the Pemberton family.

The comfortable lounge

We had a gorgeous room with a huge bed (bigger than our super-king at home) a beautiful bathroom with enormous bath and two chairs to sit in and relax. There were lots of weddings taking place and we could see the guests arriving from our window.

After unpacking we had a snooze and then we both had a deep, hot bath (not together, although it was big enough!) and went off to The Duke Of Wellington. We'd booked a table which was a good thing as the pub was very busy with most tables occupied. I had a glass of very low alcohol Barefoot Moscato and ordered from the specials menu - pea and mint soup followed by chargrilled salmon served with a white wine sauce, potatoes and veggies.Keith chose whitebait and fish and chips but when he returned from the bar to order, he said that they'd run out of salmon... Not wanting the other sinful dishes I reluctantly went for the chicken and mushroom risotto.

The meal was lovely but I didn't really enjoy my main course. I decided that on Sunday evening I would have a meal I fancied as there was no point in eating something I wouldn't really enjoy (my excuse anyway!).

We finished our evening in the lounge bar of the hotel and it was very busy with wedding guests all having a great time. We could hear the disco music faintly from our room but the bed was so comfortable that nothing kept us awake!