Newcastle is definitely a good place to be if you want to go out on the town (or toon, if you like doing what American tourists do) but, being as tired as I was and as alone as I was, I really didn't fancy it. Instead I went to eat at Coast 2 Coast, which I would call an American-themed chain bar and restaurant if I'd ever actually seen one before. I know, not exactly experiencing the traditions of the city in an American theme bar, but the alternative was either fried chicken or strippers. I'd planned to only stay for one drink anyway while I worked out what I could do for food, but I got inexplicably hooked on baseball, which they were showing on TV, for the first time in my life. The Cubs vs the Pirates, in case you were wondering (Pittsburgh won 2-4).
I
had made up my mind what I wanted to eat, but Paul behind the bar recommended the philly cheese burger and went about describing it with such passion that I thought he was going to start either weeping or touching himself, so went for that instead. It was pretty good. If you're in Newcastle, go to Coast 2 Coast and chat to him; he's a nice lad and a good laugh, as well as being incredibly enthusiastic and helpful. You may have some trouble if you did want to do that though, as I have no idea what he was called and Paul's just a name I made up.
I headed back to the hostel absolutely shattered and ready for bed. I was woken up at half 3 in the morning by a German dancing down the corridor, playing music on his phone and shrieking like he'd gotten something trapped somewhere. Then more started to join him. My German friends are some of the kindest, most courteous people I know, but not these dickheads. After a little while of continued music, shouting, talking and running between rooms, I put my best Slough rudeboy act on and went out to confront whoever was in the corridor at that moment. I bumped into a young guy with his arm in a cast, drenched from head to toe; I don't know if they were pouring beer over each other or what, but there were empty beer cans in the shower room. He swore all the noise wasn't coming from his room, so I told him that when I banged on the door in 5 minutes time I'd best not see him in there. I went back to bed and didn't hear another sound from them all night. HOO-AH!
This morning I checked out and went for an explore of the city. Having 8 hours until my train, I was really hoping I would be able to find more to do than I did in Kendal or Penrith. I started by going round the castle keep which, I just realised, I didn't take a picture of, so will have to go back and take care of that. Then I walked along the quayside, across the Millennium Bridge and to the Baltic Centre to see the exhibitions they had on. After that I headed up to walk around the The Sage building, then back across the river to Big Mussel for lunch. It's £6.50 for a bowl of mussels in a choice of seven sauces with chips before 7pm, and I'm very glad I didn't go for large as the medium size was huge. I definitely recommend that place to anyone in Newcastle. Unless you don't like seafood, in which case I suggest you get your life sorted out first.
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| From the top of the Keep |
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| Rushed afterthought pic of the keep |
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| Tyne Bridge |
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| Millennium Bridge |
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| From the top of the Baltic Centre. Some sun! |
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| Some stairs. Probably historic. |
After that, I walked up to St James' Park. It's true what they say; in any other city in the world they'd build a cathedral on a hill like that...in Newcastle they built a football stadium. That suits me down to the ground cos I've seen more than enough churches in the last few weeks. I had a walk along the city's old west wall and really tried to show enthusiasm for the history, but the incessant drizzle was just dragging me down, so I trudged into a pub for a drink. 55 minutes til my train...
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| Part of the west wall. How they breached walls this thick, I'll never know |
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| Legend. |
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