London Calling

Another late post - last Friday we flew down to London, so David could go and see his beloved (and recently relegated) York City play in the FA Trophy final at Wembley. We didn't get back till late last Monday, which only partially excuses the delay in posting this!
Flying always feels slightly extravagent (I say slightly, we did fly Easyjet 😀) but it worked out cheaper than the train, and to be honest if  we'd been able to get cheap train tickets that would have been a better option. By the time we got to Edinburgh airport, left the car in the long stay car park, hung around for the hour or so for the flight, then got a coach from Stanstead to St Pancras I reckon a train would be considerably less hassle!
Next step was getting from St Pancras to the Travelodge in Docklands, which involved the first of what felt like many journeys by Tube and DLR. Technology has advanced since my last trip to the big smoke - the recommended way to pay for your journeys is tapping in and out with your contactless bank card. This took a bit of getting used to, as you don't really know how much it's costing, but the daily price cap meant it actually cost considerably less than I expected in the end.  The payments all came out of the bank on Tuesday so not sure how I'd work out which day was which, but the most expensive day was £12ish which was probably Saturday when we used the Emirates Air Line, the cable car that takes you across the Thames from the O2 at North Greenwich to the Royal Docks on the North of the river. It's an unusal way to see London, and worth doing as long as you're relatively okay with heights!
On Friday night we wandered along East India Dock Road to All Saints to get the DLR up to Stratford. A quick stroll around the massive Westfield centre served as a reminder that shopping is never going to cut it as a hobby for me! I'm not exaggerating when I say I think I understood the term 'Temple of Mammon' by the time we left!
From there, we headed out to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.  It's hard to imagine now how busy this area was back in 2012 for the London Olympics - at 8pm on a summer evening it's a peaceful place for a walk, with several waterways running through it, including the river Lea, and plenty of space for both cyclists and pedestrians.  We could actually see arcelormittal-orbit from our hotel, but you really need to see it close up, and preferably at night, to appreciate it fully.

I'd done some googling, by which I mean I'd typed in 'craft beer, East London', and found a couple of interesting looking places to check out in Hackney Wick, just the other side of the park. Hackney Wick is definitely one of the places that saw some major redevelopment on the back of the Olympics - I hesitate to say 'benefitted' from as I expect that's a controversial point that conjures up words like gentrification, ****ing hipsters, and so forth, but from what we saw it all seemed pretty positive.
Our first stop was crate brewery, a craft brewery and pizzeria housed in the White Building, described on the website as a centre for art, technology, and sustainability.  The place was pretty busy, unsuprisingly on a Friday night, and the dj added to the general buzz about the place. We found a seat out by the canal and ordered pizzas, and beers to drink whilst we waited.

The pizza I had was very tasty - a proper woodfired pizza oven makes all the difference. My first beer of the night was the Crate stout, a light, creamy stout with unusual fruity notes.

Since I'm in a bit of stouts and sours rut I thought I'd try the Crate Pale just for a change. This was a light summery beer - just the thing for a summer evening by the canal!


From there, we headed round the corner in to Queens Yard for a visit to Howling Hops.  I was intrigued by the fact that they're the UK's first bar to serve beer straight from the tank.  This could have been a bit of a gimmick, but actually what's not to love about beer served as fresh as possible?

 As with Crate, the place was packed, but the dj had a much better set list, and the bar staff added to the party atmosphere. No need to decide whether you're going for a pint or a half here - it's a 2/3 pint or a jug to share! Maybe I'm being awkward, but actually 2/3 pint (a schooner if we're going to get technical) is the perfect serving size for a lot of the beers I drink. I couldn't resist this cherry gose - the barman wasn't to know about my love of sour beers, so I was more than happy to try a bit first! I can see why this style of beer isn't to everyone's taste, though conversely I'd not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who claims not to like beer! Tank 10 was a beer style I've never seen before, so obviously I had to try it 😉, though not without quickly googling it just to be on the safe side. So the internet tells me a grisette is a French working-class woman from the late 17th century - not really helping! Further investigation reveals it's an old Belgian style, not unlike a lower alcohol saison. It's a bit niche, so I can't really see it making a massive comeback, but it was nice enough - quite herbal, with a pretty obvious Belgian influence.

From there we wandered back through the park to Stratford and caught a DLR back to the hotel.
Quick hotel review - this is the first Travelodge I've stayed in for a long time, after we had a couple of bad experiences that put us right off.  This was a newer one and went some way to improving my opinion of the chain. The room was clean, the bed comfortable, and the staff helpful, and that's pretty glowing praise compared to previous Travelodge experiences!

So, on to day 2! I'd already picked out Borough Market for a visit, and as it's not open on a Sunday it had to be Saturday really.  We got there reasonably early and quickly found the market 'caff' for breakfast.

Proper builders tea, and actually pretty cheap, but I guess they mostly serve market traders and shoppers, not just the out of towner tourists like us! The market's huge and sells pretty much any food you could possibly want to buy, as well as some you might not....

David spotted Jeremy Clarkson buying leeks, so that was our celeb spot for the trip! From the market it's a short walk to the Shard, which really is massive. It completely dominates the skyline from most angles, and completely dwarfs the nearby Southwark Cathedral, which we hadn't planned to visit, but I'm glad we did - if nothing else, for this incredibly camp Shakespeare Memorial!

Having grabbed a doughnut from the now mobbed market, we headed back east to North Greenwich and got the Air Line over to Royal Docks, and from there made our way to Greenwich to visit the Cutty Sark. This journey was slightly complicated by the fact that one of the DLR Lines was closed for the weekend, meaning we ended up changing trains at Canary Wharf a few times over the weekend! They're so frequent that it wasn't really a problem though.
We only have 45 minutes to get round the Cutty Sark by the time we'd got there and had a coffee break, but that was just the right amount of time to be honest

After a wander around the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College it was time for a drink, so we headed to the Trafalger Tavern, an imposing old pub on the bank of the Thames. It's a huge place, with a few separate areas, including one where they were serving afternoon tea. I went local and had a Youngs London Stout. As you can see, it took a while to settle!

With hindsight we should probably have just stayed out for tea but I really wanted to go back to the hotel and change, having been on our feet all day, and getting caught in the rain a couple of times. 

After a quick shower and change of clothes we headed back to Greenwich for the evening, and had a wander up through Greenwich Park to the Observatory - whenever we've been to London we've given ourselves a reason to return, and visiting the Observatory when it's open is now on that list!

Time was getting on by this stage, and we made it to the Pho Street Vietnamese Kitchen about 30 minutes before closing time. I've never had Vietnamese food before, and went for the classic Bahn Mi Bao Bun, as well as some spring rolls to share.

I'm not sure I'd have the steamed buns again, but the spring rolls were delicous, with a really crispy coating. We also had a bubble tea each - I had  coconut which was refreshing. I'm not entirely sure I get what all the fuss is with bubble tea though!
From there we headed to the Gipsy Moth pub, right next to the Cutty Sark and had one for the road before heading through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel to the Island Gardens DLR station, right at the bottom tip of the Isle of Dogs and caught the DLR back to the hotel. Walking under the Thames is a slightly odd experience, but it's not actually that long a walk. Amazing to think it's been open since 1902 - it's an impressive bit of engineering! This is the entrance next to the Cutty Sark.

So on to Sunday, and of course the priority was heading over to Wembley, but as it was a late ish kick off we decided to explore the area near the hotel in the morning. Docklands and the Isle of Dogs doesn't immediately sound like a tourist destination but with a little bit of research we uncovered some pretty well hidden gems. The first was Trinity Buoy Wharf, a 20 minute walk from our hotel. We'd only really intended to stay for breakfast at the Bow Creek Cafe, which I would definitely recommend.

However, whilst we were waiting for breakfast to arrive I found you could download an audio tour to your phone, so we actually spent a good hour wandering around. It's a fascinating place, from the Experimental Lighthouse where Faraday had a workshop, and which is home to a thousand year musical composition (Longplayer) to the artists workshops made from old shipping containers, and a parkour gym. From there it was a short walk to the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park, a 'biodiverse urban wetland' which is remarkably peaceful despite the DLR line running directly overhead. From there, the nearest tube stop is Canning Town - handy, as this meant we could get the jubilee line all the way to Wembley, which was bathed in glorious sunshine! As with Stratford, and Docklands, the thing that really strikes you walking around the area is the sheer number of cranes about the place - London is definitely expanding skywards at the moment, for better or worse.

I'm no football pundit so I won't comment on th match other than to say, our seats were so close to the pitch you could smell the turf, and being behind the goal meant we popped up on the tv coverage once or twice. The atmosphere was great, and (spoiler alert!) a 3-2 win definitely helped 😊

We ended up hanging around a bit after the match, so the tube back wasn't too busy for the journey back. We had intended to get food back at Howling Hops, but unfortunately we got there just as the kitchen was closing, so we had a drink in there, and wandered around to the canal where we found a bar/restaurant called number 90 that was still serving food. I think David was too late clocking the fact there was a (not very good) comedy night on, but thankfully it was just about over by the time we arrived! I'm all for a bit of stand up. but not when you're trying to eat your tea!

In weird ingredient news, the burger came in an activated charcoal bun. Nope, I don't get it either, but the burger was pretty good, and the tzatziki and pomegranate seeds on the sweet potato fries were a nice choice.  The beer selection wasn't great, but I suspect the focus was more on cocktails and food. It's a big old barn of a place- as much an arts venue as a restaurant I think.

On Monday we had a teatime flight booked meaning we had a bit of time to play around with in the morning, though carting our luggage around with us wasn't something we'd planned particularily well for - if we'd booked a more central hotel we probably could have left our bags there, but that wasn't hugely practical being out at Docklands. We did manage to fit in a wander back around to Trinity Buoy Wharf for breakfast before checking out though. This time we went to the other cafe on site, the Fat Boy Diner. An authentic 1940's Dining Car, with a menu and soundtrack to match, I went for a pancake stack with bacon and David had the pancakes with sausage - both a good choice!

 Slightly odd having the maple syrup served in a little pot on the side, but the pancakes were pretty good. I'd guess they serve the coffees in takeaway cups because a lot of customers would like to finish their coffee on the way to work (or if they get called out on a shout - two policemen came in for coffee whilst we were there, and apparently they serve a lot of ambulance crews too) but we finished ours with breakfast and ordered milkshakes for the walk back to the hotel.  I went for a maltesers one and it has to be the thickest milkshake I've ever had!

From there we headed in to the City of London, trying to avoid hitting too many bankers with our bags (!) as we wandered about.

The final item on our to do list was a visit to St Pauls Cathedral. Unfortunately they don't have anywhere to put your bags - it is a church, not a visitor centre after all, so we paid our £18 each and had a good old look around with luggage in tow.  It truly is an awe inspiring building - the sheer scale takes your breath away! They don't allow photography, but I doubt I was the only one to sneak a stealth photo from the Whispering Gallery...

We left in enough time to get an earlier than planned coach back to the airport - it was nice to put my bag down, but it was a slow going journey through London traffic, and the temperature was really rising by this stage so I was pretty glad to get off the coach at Stanstead!

All in all a great weekend, but next time we plan a city break I'm going to have to make a conscious effort not to try and fit so much stuff in!

The Newport

Slightly later than intended, my review of Jamie's Scott's restaurant, The Newport.
First of all the location - the restaurant is situated on the Tay, with a great view up river to the rail bridge and beyond. The huge patio windows certainly allow you to enjoy the view, and I'd assume they're open in summer, as there is some outside seating.

Not the best picture but I think you can see that the dining room is a light airy space. The subtle nautical theme is a nice touch. There is a bar next door as well, which was busy when we arrived.

On a Saturday night there's no A La Carte menu, with a choice of either an eight or five course tasting menu. We opted for the five courses, though we did also add in the cheese board as it was just too hard to resist.
Before the meal 'proper' we were brought out 4 snacks - I guess in a more old fashioned restaurant they'd be called Amuse Bouche, but this is definitely a very modern take on fine dining! No photos of the snacks as we ate them too quickly! The buckwheat, tomato and skyr was a tasty little blini with diced tomato and skyr in place of the more usual creme fraiche. Skyr is basically Icelandic yoghurt, though with a very mild flavour and thick texture - the high protein content seems like a big selling point.
The pigs head and langoustine dumpling was delicious - a Chinese style dumpling filled with shredded pork and langoustine.  The purple broccoli was the one part of the menu that wasn't really to my taste - I'm sure the scorching was intentional but it just tasted burnt to me I'm afraid. The potato and smokie was definitely a hit though!
With hindsight we should probably have gone with the matching drinks flight - by the time we worked our way through two bottles of wine the cost wouldn't have been much different - oops!

I can't say I've had an Austrian red wine before but this one was very good - and organic as far as I recall!
So on to the meal itself.  The asparagus was cooked to perfection, and the accompaniments were just the right side of not messing about with the asparagus itself.
One of the themes running through the menu was I guess foraged herbs, particularly ones reflecting the location of the restaurant, close to the coast. This really started with the fish course - the hake was served with pepper dulse, an edible seaweed, and alexander, which has a celery flavour, a little like lovage.

The meat course was a beautifully moist Mutton loin served with cabbage and wild garlic, to continue the wild vegetable theme. The cabbage was barbecued but was much more to my taste than the broccoli earlier in the meal.
Next up was a well balanced selection of cheese, served with a fruit bread and chutney which really enhanced the cheese. The oatcakes were also lovely - quite sweet, almost like a hobnob!

The rhubarb and custard doughnuts were a real treat - I could have probably eaten more of them!

The meal was rounded off with a cheesecake.  Pear is one of the few foods I don't really like, but there were enough other flavours going on to get away with it - a lovely light, fresh way to end the meal, and as you can see, another opportunity to showcase an unusual herb - in this case meadowsweet.

Service throughout the evening was spot on, and our server was quick to bring the bill when we mentioned we had a bus to catch. Waiting ages for the bill is a bugbear of mine, so I was very happy we didn't have this issue! Actually, the bus stop's just around the corner, which is a bonus, and there's a frequent enough service back to Dundee - always a factor when planning a meal out!
I would definitely recommend the Newport to anyone with a reasonably adventurous palate. The only thing I would change might be not ordering that second bottle of wine!

Pottering

As promised, I've had a week of doing mostly fun stuff, helped by some half decent, though not particularly warm, weather.  I managed three bike rides, got taken out to a very nice restaurant for my birthday, and even managed to fit in an unplanned gig.  I'll see how this goes, but I may well post my restaurant review as a separate 'bonus episode'!
My first ride of the week was the shortest, though definitely not the easiest. I headed across the Tay road bridge in to Fife, riding through Newport, Woodhaven and Wormit. On previous rides I've gone on to Balmerino from here but this time I took the climb up to Gauldry. I certainly wasn't breaking any records (well, maybe for the slowest time up the hill!) but I eventually made it, to be rewarded by a steep, twisty descent and this view:

The descent wasn't really a reward as it's a bit too much of a white knuckle ride for my liking, but I'll definitely do the route again - to build my confidence on the downhill as well as building up my strength on the climb.  I think most cyclists have a bit of a love/hate relationship with hills, but the more you tackle them the better you get, and the sense of achievement when you get to the top of a hill you never thought you'd manage is pretty much unbeatable so I guess I have to learn to love them! As you can see from the picture it was a beautiful spring day. what you can't see in the picture is the hedges alive with the sound of birds singing away, or the biscuity smell of gorse. I also saw quite a few pheasants , including two pairs in a field on some kind of pheasant double date!

On Wednesday I did what's probably become my most frequent long (for me!) ride - Arbroath via The Corn Kist

I'm usually ready for a cold drink by the time I've done all the climbing in the first half of this ride but it was into an icy east wind on Wednesday so ended up with a coffee.  I have to say I was slightly disappointed by the quiche - it was a bit eggy for my taste and I couldn't detect any of the smoked cheddar in there.  Think it'll be back to the house special black pudding toastie next time! I took a slightly different route back through Arbroath, which avoided the big roundabout in town, and is slightly more scenic, as it passes a nice park at Keptie Pond. You also get a good view West across the high common, though the lighting's a bit rubbish in this picture!

I had to stop in Easthaven, just to take a picture of one of the several bike themed floral displays that have been appearing recently. It's only a tiny village but seems like a place with real community spirit - I can't imagine you get to live in Easthaven and not feel a bit proud of the place!

My final ride of the week on Friday was to Arbroath again, but as the weather wasn't so good I decided to take the A92 cycle path. Possibly not the best plan ever as some of it's pretty exposed to the elements, and the wind had really got up by the time I got past Carnoustie. So not the most pleasant ride, but the prospect of a tail wind on the way home kept me going. That, and the lunch I had at The Old Boatyard.  It's a funny, multi purpose kind of place - part cafe part nice restaurant, and being on the fish quay the menu is definitely big on fish. Very good service though - they didn't seem to object to me rocking up in cycling gear and choosing a table in amongst more smartly dressed diners, and the food was good too. I had a smoked haddock fishcake on a bed of noodles with sweet chilli sauce, which left me just enough room for a muffin and chai latte. Serving the muffins warm is a nice touch.

I don't mind dining alone, but having something to read does help sometimes!

Who'd like to see some swans having a lovely time at the seaside.....?

So to the random gig....I definitely spend far too much time on facebook/twitter, just mindlessly scrolling. However sometimes it has it's advantages. Dundee can come in for a bit of stick when it comes to the live music scene, either from people complaining that decent bands don't come to Dundee, or conversely that no matter how good a band is, people don't go out to support live music. To be honest I've been to gigs where the lack of crowd has been a bit cringe inducing, so I have tried to make a bit more of an effort looking out for interesting gigs, and social media definitely makes that easier. I've been to a few 'Pre-production Presents' gigs at Clarks now, with varying crowds it has to be said, and they've all been good nights. This Thursday's caught my eye - a band that describe themselves as 'a past post-modern bug-eyed beatnik group from Glasgow who are just as confused as anyone else' had to at least be interesting, and Pronto Mama were certainly that, and tremendously good fun. A 6 piece Indie band is pretty unusual anyway but when three of them play keyboard, two of the three play brass instruments, and one of them has a cowbell...well it put a smile on my face anyway! Ending the set on an a capella number with even the drummer taking a part was a brave move, and worked brilliantly. If you like your music a bit quirkly look them up in any of the usual places.  The support act was also very good - a 19 year old local girl, who goes by the name Be Charlotte - I'd looked her up on YouTube and didn't really think it'd be my thing, but actually because it was an acoustic set it really allowed her voice and guitar playing to shine. So two really good acts for £6 - less than the price of a cinema ticket, but because it was a Thursday night there were only maybe 50 people there at most. 

We went to Brewdog on Friday, for birthday drinks, but also because David wanted to check out the Clouidwater showcase. All IPAs so not my thing but I did have three really good beers. Citrus Tart by Fierce (the other Aberdeenshire craft brewers), a really good lemony sour beer, but with enough sweetness to make it lemon puddingy.  I was hoping to get my hands on a Yellow Belly by Omnipollo, and was in luck as they still had a few bottles left.

If that looks a bit KKKish it's supposed to - calling out the ultimate cowardice of institutional racism via the medium of beer. Not entirely sure how that works to be honest, though calling the KKK cowards is fair enoough. It's actually another of Omnipollo's collabs with Buxton and is an 11% peanut butter and biscuit imperial stout, containing neither peanuts nor biscuits. It does taste like Reeces Peanut Butter Cups, and doesn't taste like 11%! My final beer of the night was another imperial stout, Strikes and Gutters, from a Danish brewery, Dry and Bitter Brewing Co. It was very smoky, and pretty heady. I've just looked it up and discovered the name comes from The Big Lebowski so maybe should have given it an extra point on untappd just for that!

Well, I'm all blogged out for now, so I will leave the review of The Newport for another day - all I'll say for now is 'loved it'!

 

You might be a hipster if....

....your favourite brunch spot is in an old flour mill and can only be accessed via a metal staircase. In fact scrub that, even just having a 'favourite brunch spot' probably qualifies! No matter, The Bach has one of the most interesting brunch menus I've seen, as well as doing great coffee, so I'm prepared to overlook the industrial chic, odd lighting and too high tables - either I'm shrinking or this is becoming a bit of a trend as it's not the only place where I feel like a kid sitting at the grown ups table. The owners are from New Zealand, and I'm not sure if some of the menu options are genuine Kiwi classics or if they're having a bit of a laugh at our expense, but I'm also a sucker for something different so today I went for the mince on toast - mince in a spicy tomato sauce topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce, served on a thick slice of toast.  It was a lot nicer than that sounds to be honest!

See also Dave's aeropress coffee. Apparently 'soft brew' coffee is going to be the next big thing in coffee, and includes anything not brewed in a high powered espresso machine, so I suppose like you would have got in most cafes or restaurants 20 years ago, or like you'd brew at home. We'll see 😏

Monday was a Bank Holiday, so despite the not great weather we decided to go for a walk at Crombie Country Park. It's a good spot for a walk, through the woods around Crombie Reservoir, but I bet it get's really busy in the summer.  We didn't spot much in the way of wildlife, but it's always good to get out in the fresh air, even if it did feel more like March than May.

I enjoyed a couple of treat beers this week - both sharers.  We started off with one of the Wicked Weed beers we ordered at the Brewdog AGM. Wicked Weed have been in the news this week after signing a deal with AB InBev - or selling their soul to the devil as far as a lot of craft beer fans are concerned.  Interesting that their Head of Production for sour beers has recently moved over here to oversee Brewdog's new sour beer facility - wonder if he knew this was coming? Anyway, the beers we tried at the AGM were really interesting so despite the slightly jawdropping price tag we bought four bottles, three of which would have been £20 before the 30% AGM discount. Friday's was Brettaberry, a farmhouse style saison with honey and berries.  I've had a few fruit sours over the past year or so, and this was a good one. The berry flavour took a while to come through, but the honey gave a nice rounded finish to what would otherwise be a pretty tart beer.   I'm no expert but I believe the brettanomyces yeast that gives the beer it's name is also what gives it a slightly wine like taste. Their label art is almost as interesting as their beers!

My second beer of the night was a variation on a favourite - Mexicake by Tempest. The original is a beautiful imperial stout, flavoured with chocolate, vanilla, cinamon and chilli - actually I bet you could make great chocolate brownies with it.....
The bottle we had on Friday had been aged in Bourbon Barrels, adding smoky whisky tones to the mix.  I actually think the barrel ageing masked some of the more subtle vanilla and chocolate of the original version, so it was a very different beer - just not necessarily better. I'd rather have a glass of this than a JD and Coke though, which is probably the drink it's closest to. As it's a limited edition and currently sold out I might not get to drink it again though!

 I'm having a week off work for pottering this week, so hopefully I'll be reporting back on some more cycling adventures next week.....

Just Say Yes

Just a little Snow Patrol earworm to start with this week 😊 And I'm trying something a little different this week. I was in two minds about it, but going with the post title I decided to just say yes and see what happens. There is also the fact that I'm beginning to see the downside of blogging about beer and cake, in the form of my ever expanding waistline, so it's probably a wise move to lay off both a little, even temporarily. So this week instead of reviews, I'm reflecting on the joy of saying yes.
The received wisdom is that it's important to learn how to say no sometimes, which is probably good advice, but when I think about all the times I've said yes, either to other people, or to myself - especially when I'm in two minds about something, it's pretty much always turned out well. I'ts a cliche, but I do think you're more likely to regret the things you didn't do than the things you did.
Of course, it's partly down to the kind of person you are. I don't like putting people in boxes as a rule, but I do think you can pretty much divide people into those who like to join in and those who don't. I've pretty much always been in the 'join in' camp, which is a bit of a contradiction for an introvert, but (cliche no 2) the more you put into something the more you get out of it, and I suppose I try to apply that to life in general!
Some examples: I imagine most people who get an allotment are happy to get on with growing some veg, and maybe having a chat with their neighbour. Not me, I had to join the committee, and had I not given up my plot last year I would have ended up secretary too (and potentially lost the plot as a result....).
Church - better people than me go to Mass every week, sit quietly in their pew for an hour, go home with not more than a polite word spoken to the priest on the way out. I think it took less than a month for me to end up on the 'teas' rota in my current church, and not much longer than that to end up a Reader. Incidentally, both these things put me quite a long way out of my comfort zone, but that in itself is probably a reason to do something.
Generally speaking, I can't say joining in has more merit than not - it's just a compulsion really, and I imagine life would be less interesting if I didn't, but presumably most people who don't join in are happy enough not to.  So, now to the point, and the 'thing that happened' that prompted me to want to write this post. I've mentioned Tom from Lux Lisbon and his brilliant Song a Week podcasts/blogs previously.  Here's the link again in case you missed it last time. I'm not sure if the start of this story is even a normal experience, but as I was stood at the bus stop on the way to work recently, a thought popped into my head which seemed like it could be an idea for a song. Under normal circumstances it would have just been a passing fancy, but my next thought was 'I know someone who writes songs, I should send Tom an email and see if he can use it'. Of course my next thought after that was, no that's nuts, what kind of weirdo would do something like that? So of course the should I/shouldn't I continued for most of the day until I came back to the point about regretting things you didn't do and I sent the email. Or in other words, just said yes!
I'm sure you've worked out exactly where this is going by now - Tom wrote the song, and I love it 😊
If you'd like to read how the conversation went, you can on Tom's blog here, or, probably the sensible option, just listen to the song here.
Since Lindisfarne was the original inspiration, here's some pics from the last time I was there - if you've never been it's definitely worth a visit.

Obviously, it's beyond amazing that my little thought is now a song, but what's almost more exciting is that other people have heard it and interpreted completely differently to how I originally imagined it, so it's like that seed of an idea has gone off on an exciting journey into the world, just because 1) I said yes to myself and sent the email, and 2) Tom said yes and turned it into a song.
This feels like the end of an episode of Mork and Mindy now, but I guess my conclusion is, if you're ever in any doubt about whether to take a certain path, just say yes, and you never know where it might take you!
I suspect normal service will resume next week, as I've been out on a very windy bike ride today and have a bank holiday beer chilling in the fridge as a reward, but I have to confess, I'm glad I've gone down a different route this week - I'd be interested to hear what you think about it!

What we did on our holidays

Just for the record, I'm referencing the classic Fairport Convention album rather than the recent film in this week's title! I finished last week's post worried that the weather might interfere with our plans for our week in Newcastle, and to be honest it was a bit chilly but for the most part turned out dry and sunny, so yay! Of course that does mean I've got loads to write about this week, and I'm spoiled for choice with photos too, so I'll try not to ramble on too much.....
Bank Holiday Monday was the only day my cycling brother, Jonathan, was free so we planned a ride that we could start together then split up, allowing the boys to go and play in the hills whilst I cycled the 'easy' way home. For any Strava nerds, this was my route so you can have a look at the profile from my half way point and decide how easy it looks 😉

Where the road divides

Nice day for a ride

Next up was a short drive up to Hedley on the Hill for the beer and food festival at The Feathers. We arrived just in time to watch the annual Barrel Race, where teams of 3 run up a hill to the pub, carrying an empty 9 gallon beer keg, with the winners of the race earning themselves a full 9 gallon keg of ale. I like my beer, but I'd definitely rather just pay for my pint thanks! I believe fancy dress is optional, and didn't appear to help much....

Last week I said I couldn't do single handed burger photos, but I like a challenge and just look at this beauty...

On Tuesday we finally cycled a route I've been promising David for a while - up to Rowlands Gill, then down the Derwent Walk to Swalwell for lunch at Pedalling Squares cycle cafe.  I was a bit nervous about the first half of the ride as I remembered it being a fair old climb, and it is a drag, but actually no worse than the previous week's rides.  We were rewarded by the sight of a Red Kite flying overhead on our descent through Highfield which made all the climbing worthwhile! These magnificent birds were reintroduced to the Derwent Valley just over 10 years ago, and there's lots of useful information here if you're interesting in seeing them.
This is David enjoying the view from the Derwent Walk, and some of the sights along the cycle path home. This is one of the things I love about cycling - all this stuff is in a pretty built up area, so countless thousands of people must drive maybe 100 yards from them in some cases, never knowing what they're missing!

On Wednesday we met up with the inlaws for a trip to Beamish.  I'm sure anyone who went to school in the North East over the past 30ish years will have (fond?) memories of school trips here - mine involves losing a tooth, which earned me an ice cream so I'd say I have mixed feelings about that one 😏 It must be over 10 years since we were last there and it's expanded significantly in that time - so much so that we only saw about half of it.  New parts we managed to see included the Masonic Lodge, bakers, and this fish and chip shop where we had lunch.

One of the older exhibits

If you've never been to Beamish, I'd recommend it, but be sure to wear comfy shoes and give yourself a full day as you'll definitely need it.
On Thursday we cycled along the banks of the Tyne to Corbridge - the longest ride of the week, and a bit breezy but not too many hill climbs so can't complain. Lunch at Activ Cycles once we got there helped.  I had a tasty home roast chicken bagel followed with a slice of Earl Grey and lemon cake.  I heartily approve of cafes that put a bit of effort into the side salad, and this was exceptional.

The route is a nice mix of countryside and pretty towns and villages:

Corbridge

Ovingham

Friday took some careful planning - how best to make use of the last day of our trip without ending up knackered for the Lux Lisbon gig we'd both been looking forward to since the tour was announced. For reasons too complicated to go into here (but it's a story I tell often so if you know me you've heard it before anyway, and possibly more than once!) we had to start the day at Long Play Cafe, on the Quayside. We had the heart attack inducing Lumberjack pancakes, because what a stack of pancakes with maple syrup and bacon really needs is the addition of sausage and scrambled egg.....
it was a good job the girl serving us took 3 attempts to bring our coffees over as I doubt I'd have been able to move straight after finishing that lot! Newcastle has a few treasures that, like most locals, I'd never got around to visiting, and we started pretty much next door to the cafe at Bessy Surtees House. This is one, or techincally two, of the oldest buildings in Newcastle and is partly Historic England offices, but the rooms on the lower floors are free to visit. The building itself is pretty interesting if you're an architecture buff, but if you like a good story, Bessie Surtees' is the main draw here.

The blue pane of glass marks the spot where in 1772 Bessie is said to have eloped with a coal merchant's son, who went on to become Lord Eldon, Lord Chancellor of England - so I'd say she was right to follow her heart! 

Next was a walk up the fabulously named Dog Leap Stairs. Apparently Bessie and the future Lord Eldon escaped up these steps on horseback, which seems fairly unlikely to be honest - I struggled on foot! If you've never been to the Lit and Phil (and I confess I hadn't) and you like a good library, you really should pay this place a visit. It's the largest independent library in the UK outside of London and is a stunning building. This picture doesn't really do it justice - you have to go there to feel what it's like being surrounded by over 160,000 books!

Next up was a quick stop for 'refreshments' at the Centurion pub in Central Station. We included this in our 'culture trail' because, well, look at it.....

Let's just say the Victorians knew a thing or two about designing waiting rooms, and loved a bit of tiling!

After a couple of hours pottering around the Hancock museum, or Great North Museum:Hancock to give it it's official title, it was almost time to meet fellow Lux Lisbon fan (and aforementioned cycling brother) Jonathan and his mates for a pre gig refuel - not before a sly half in the excellent Split Chimp micropub mind you! As the gig was in Think Tank? next to the Centre for Life we chose The Bottle Shop for tea, 5 minutes walk from the venue and with a great beer list. I don't really have time for beer reviews this week (you'll be glad to hear) but the NxSE raspberry sour I had in here deserves a mention. Like a boozy pink lemonade in both taste and colour - awesome!

And so to the highlight of the week, and although we're only up to April, a contender for highlight of the year! It's almost exactly a year since we first saw Lux Lisbon at Stereo in Glasgow - it was a great show and thinking about it was probably the point I went from liking their songs to being a 'proper' fan. In the intervening year I've 'chatted' with Stu via his Monday emails (this kind of thing) and as mentioned before I've been following Tom's Song a Week project here. I'd recommend both if you're interested in song writing at all. Oh, and subscribing on bandcamp means I've been able to hear some of their new songs early doors too, so all in all I'd have to say I guess I'm more invested in the band this time around. Last year we were lucky to catch Charlie opening the show with her solo acoustic set, so we made sure we were at the venue earlyish this time around. It might be my imagination, but it felt like a more confident performance this time, and she certainly had the audience in the palm of her hand! 

Next up was local duo Prince and Pearl who play a mix of original material and covers. Let's just say, from their on stage chemistry I'm guessing this isn't just a professional partnership, but regardless of back story their voices do blend really well. 

By the time Lux Lisbon came on stage the venue had filled up, so I should probably apologize to anyone standing behind me for subjecting them to the kind of dancing that should really be reserved for Catherine's Kitchen Disco tm. Also to the band for nearly blinding them in an attempt to get some decent photos - sorry lads, but at least this one came out pretty well:

Great songs, phenomenal musicianship, and a band thoroughly enjoying themselves- that's the recipe for a great gig right there. In fact during new song Change (to stay the same) Charlie and Tom looked like they were having such a blast I was kind of willing Stu to turn around! I'm not sure if it was intentional. but the lighting created a brilliant silhouette effect  for much of the night:

Stu's acoustic number before the rest of the band came back on stage for an encore was a nice change of mood:

This is a band that deserves to be playing a much larger venue than Think Tank?, but selfishly, it did mean I got to catch up with Stu, and meet Charlie and Tom, so I can confirm that not only are they a great band, they're a lovely, friendly bunch of humans too! 

If you've made it this far, you'll be glad to know I'm back at work tomorrow and planning a quiet week. In fact, I'm hoping to have so little to report next week that I can write about what happens when you're not sure whether you should hit send on an email but you do it anyway......