This weekend I went on a little road trip up to the North East to see my two very special friends. We always try and get together at Christmas for a festive day out, but it’s usually spent in Leeds – so this year, we decided that I’d travel up to them (it’s only an hour away anyway), to see what delights Newcastle had to offer.
After a little – extremely cold, extremely windy, albeit lovely – stroll up the River Tyne, we ventured off to The Great British Cupcakery for a huge afternoon tea indulgence. The place is a wonderfully girly haven, with cakes and sweet treats galore. The food was lovely, and we also enjoyed gigantic milkshakes – complete with a full sized doughnut each on top! The afternoon tea was the usual mix of sandwiches and cakes, and probably not the most memorably presented afternoon tea I’ve ever had – the surroundings did make up for that. There was way too much food to eat, so lots of it got boxed up to take home – always a bonus; and whilst the service wasn’t bad, again, it wasn’t the most memorable either. That being said, the food was gorgeous, and we had a lovely, cosy few hours in there chatting away.
We then ventured back down the river for a quick nosey in the Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art – mainly, I think, to enjoy the warmth! We went right up to the top to enjoy the viewpoint, then spent a bit of time in their shop… and oh, what a wonderful shop it is. If you ever go to Newcastle, visiting this shop is a must, particularly if you like wonderfully quirky pieces of art and memorabilia. It was right up my street, and as soon as I got home I ordered a piece of artwork from there to put up on our office wall – it was too big for me to buy there and then, with not being local. I could have spent forever in there, and I also picked up my boyfriends Christmas card… and whilst not the most festive card, it was too hilarious – and true – not to take home. Luckily, he saw the funny side too.
After exploring, it was back to the car to warm up, and then for a little jaunt to the seafront – where, to my delight, the Poetic Licence Gin Distillery is. It’s a huge bar / shop / cafe, and was such a treat to visit.
We had a mooch around the shop, and enjoyed cocktails and staring out at the sea. I love love love being anywhere near the sea, so that was a real treat – and it was pretty magnificent to watch, with the weather being so bad this weekend.
The plan originally was to spend the whole day there, but with the weather warnings, we decided it would be best for me to leave at about 5pm – and that turned out to really be one of my better decisions. The drive back was awful, cars were blowing about all over the place, the rain was ridiculously heavy, and the car in-front of me even had its bumper blow off – awful. Needless to say I was super relieved when I pulled up at home, and then spent the evening with a feast of Indian starters from the takeaway, and a couple of gins from the super thoughtful gin selection my friends gifted me with.
I had such a brilliant weekend, lots of fun, lots of laughs and lots of gorgeous food.
