Someone keeps complaining I haven’t written anything about it, so a quick recap of a recent short trip north for my birthday!

Spending a birthday on a train isn’t great but had to wait for Heather to finish work on Friday so there we go. The journey up was pretty uneventful, and there was still time for a quick pop into Centurions before heading to the hotel (up the hill this time) and bed.

Saturday saw us out and about. We were meant to be joined by Gemma but she was a bit ill (no hangover involved, she promised) so we had to get on with things ourselves. There was a trip over to The Glamorous Owl before the traditional lunch with the cats. We were sat on, and demanded off, and got lots of tickle time in.

Afterwards we dropped things off at the hotel before a wander through the Grainger Market and a trip to favourite pub The Bridge. We went to find some food in The Five Swans Wetherspoons which was simple and conveniently close to where we were going for the evening. So it was we headed across the road to a venue I’d never actually made it into before, City Hall, there to see long booked Ross Noble in his native land. He was very, very funny.

Then it was off to bed again, via The Three Bulls, which wasn’t open as long as they claimed.

We had to leave the next day, but after brunch in the Tyneside Cafe Bar, there was just time for a couple of rounds of space themed crazy golf, and a walk down to the quayside market, with stop in the Quayside. Then there was a final call into the Bridge on the way back to the station, and CentrAle for supplies for the elongated (thanks engineering works!) journey home.