Last night me, Emma and Marc went out for a fancy dinner to a Thai place! It was in a lovely building in the centre of town. Then we had a yummy ice cream on the way home and all watched the movie 'Spy' together.
This morning Emma drove me to Buchanan Bus Station and we said our goodbyes which was sad. I will see her again one day though! That's the tough thing about making friends all over the world - you spend most of your friendship apart! But I had a fantastic time in Glasgow and Emma and Marc are amazing and were so kind to me.
The bus ride took about four hours and I arrived in Newcastle upon Tyne. I arrived here with no expectations knowing virtually nothing except that the TV show 'Geordie Shore' is set here and their football club has the same colours and stripes as Collingwood! The second I got off the bus a Geordie girl came tearing through to grab her case saying (excuse the language but it was hilarious!!!) "fookin ell, where's me case?!" and it took all my will power to not burst out laughing right in front of her. The Geordie accent is HILARIOUS :)
Checked in to my hostel. It's probably one of the dirtier smellier ones I've stayed in, but what did I expect for £16.50 a night? The reception guy is nice and the bed is comfy, so I guess that's all that matters.
I set off walking and was excited to discover that St James' Park, the home of Newcastle's football club, was a 5 minute walk down the street. So I went for a bit of a walk and took some pictures. I then headed down to the main shopping strip, Northumberland Street, and managed to stay out of Primark (yay - triumph!). I did however buy some blueberries, strawberries and grapes from a fruit stand all for a pound each - mmmm. I then began walking down Grey Street, a street lined with lovely buildings. The column at the top of the street is in memory of Earl Grey, a previous British prime minister in the 1800s. It was really cool here, they had an outdoor cinema with deckchairs set up during the school holidays for families. I did wonder though - what happens if (let's be honest - when!) it rains?
Walked down Grey Street and walked past some of the nightclubs featured on 'Geordie Shore'. If you don't know what that is, don't worry, I had never watched it until I went to Jamie's and he and his housemates told me I had to watch it as a "cultural experience". It's basically a lot of really loud, over the top Geordies (people from Newcastle) my age or a bit older who live in a house together, get drunk, fight and do stupid things. The reason it's enjoyable to watch sometimes is that it's so terrible that it's kind of hilarious. Not my favourite show though!! But anyway - walked past Bijoux and Tup Tup Palace.
I continued down to the River Tyne and crossed one of the seven bridges in Newcastle - the Higher Bridge. It was the first bridge in the world built to carry both trains and cars. I crossed to the south side of the river and wandered, and crossed back over on another bridge while admiring the Tyne Bridge, which looked like a mini Sydney Harbour Bridge!
I then headed back to my hostel and saw a few familiar places in street names along the way - Melbourne Street and Collingwood Street!! Had a bit of a chill at the hostel and a shower and then set off to the movies as I had found a cinema in town with £3.75 movie tickets. Bargain! I have really wanted to see the kids' film 'Inside Out' so took the opportunity. The cinema was full and I loved the movie, it was really good! Not ashamed to admit it was happy and sad and it made me cry. I also laughed out loud heaps too! I'm such a teacher though - kept thinking about what a good analogy it would be for psychology classes when we learn about emotions.
Now I'm just hanging about at the hostel. I thought I had lucked out and I was going to be the only one in my eight bed dorm, but a couple just arrived. Hoping I get a good night's sleep and I'll be well rested and ready to go for my train to York in the morning. So it's been a quick stop up in Geordie land, but I had a good afternoon wandering! Really looking forward to York as I've heard lots of good things.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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