Newcastle

Hello from Newcastle! I was lucky enough to spend two extremely sunny days in Newcastle a few weeks back. I’ve been to Newcastle a few times, nearly always as a pitstop on my way to somewhere else, and most of my previous memories of Newcastle involve copious amounts of alcohol… it was lovely to spend some time looking round in the day! Newcastle has always seemed to me an engaging mix of strong heritage and contemporary youthfulness; the people, the buildings and even the shops seem to reflect that. The Geordies are also some of the most friendly and welcoming people in the UK: it’s hard not to enjoy being there.

The two places I most wanted to see (and where most of these photos were taken) were the Central Arcade (which is beautiful, as pictured above) and the covered market (below). I was so enamoured with the market: all that retro signage and stall fronts. Once night fell there was still plenty of exploring to be done – Newcastle has some amazing bars! My favourites include Pleased to Meet You, The Botanist, Lady Greys, Madame Koo and The GIN Bar.

Foodwise there are a few vegan haunts in Newcastle – my favourites are conveniently situated next door to one another! Super Natural is a cafe and restaurant where I had a wonderful breakfast (sausage and bacon bap – yes please), and next door is Painted Elephant. I can’t recommend this place highly enough. Apart from the amazing and inexpensive food, the staff are lovely: they kindly allowed me to hog a table for the entire evening after my friend needed to leave early. I’d especially recommend the chocolate and mango brownie with cream. INCREDIBLE.

Have you been to Newcastle? My favourite part of the whole trip coming up in my next post… no prizes for guessing what it was…