Off Up North!

December started off really well with me and Mum flying up to Newcastle with use of the tickets I won on Gemini last year. I was really excited about going especially since John had said it was a really nice city when he went up and even more so since I found out that the Metro Centre in Gateshead is the biggest shopping centre in the whole of Europe - Woo!



We had a slight issue at check-in in Exeter as we weren't intending to check any bags but we ended up having to as although you are now OK to take liquids in hand luggage they have to be in containers of less than 100ml which many of ours weren't. Soon rectified though and even better was the fact that the dim boy on the counter didn't charge us (it's supposed to be £6 per bag) Anyway we landed in Newcastle at about 11.30 and caught the Metro to Jesmond to find the B&B we had booked. After collecting our key & dumping our bags we caught the bus into the city centre then caught a second bus out to the Metro Centre, my number 1 priority!

The place really is HUGE! God, I could've spent a whole week there never mind an afternoon! We went to Nando's for lunch where I had a really nice Mediterranean Chicken Salad (lemon & herb chicken) and Mum had a Chicken Breast in Pitta with fries (medium peri-peri chicken) All was fine until Mum poured Garlic Peri-Peri sauce over all her chips with out trying some first! It was really nice but a little hot, especially when it was on EVERY chip; pouring some on the side of the plate and dipping would have been more advisable me thinks! The bottomless drinks (unlimited refils) came in very handy. We then shopped, shopped, shopped! The stores are A-Maze-Ing. Even though a lot of them are just regular highstreet stores the selection in them is so much better than what we have at home. Take Primark as an example:- there is all the stuff you see in the magazines the supossedly comes from Primark but you never see yet there it all was! I got an amazing pair of tartan heels in there, another pair of shoes that I obviously need! After hours of shopping we had to give in to the sore feet and headed back into the city centre. We watched the ice skating at the outdoor rink near the life centre then had a couple drinks at a bar called Twist before going back to the B&B for an early-ish night. I had had plans for getting changed and going out to experience the Newcastle nightlife but unfortunately Mum had been on a breakdown with Dad the Friday night and then we had been up early Saturday morning so we opted for an early night instead.

Sunday started with a great breakfast in the B&B; cereal, fruit juice, toast and cooked breakfast. Feeling totally stuffed we made our way into the city centre and waited around for everything to open at 10.30. We did some serious browsing in BHS then had a Christmas coffee in Starbucks then shopped some more. We had to buy a new pair of trainers each since I had blisters & Mums feet were aching so much in her boots. We also had to buy a big holdall for all the stuff we had bought - no way was it all going to fit in our little bags!

In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Happy Feet, the animated film about a dancing penguin called Mumble. Now anyone who knows me will know how much I love animated films so this one was a big hit with me. It has a great cast list with names like Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams and obviously Elijah Wood as Mumble. The story follows Mumble who hasn't got a heartsong, something that is held special by all Emperor Penguins, because he can't sing but man, can he dance! I think Mum was suprised by the depth of the story - the discrimination, the famine, the global warming. When we talked about it afterwards was when she realised that all Disney films contain quite deep messages.

Sunday evening we went down to the Quayside to see the bridges lit up and take some photo's. We then had a drink in the Pitcher & Piano before moving on to the Slug & Lettuce for a meal. We shared a platter which was made up of a selection on wings & ribs, garlic bread, jalipino (sp?) poppers (jalipino peppers stuffed with a spicy cheese filling, coated in breadcrumbs) potato wedges and chips - God, we felt SO fat when we left!

We flew home on Monday morning after a really great weekend. I would really love to go up again, the city is great and the shopping is a dream. I could quite happily live in a place like that, I hadnt realised how much I missed being in a big city. So here's hoping....