12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 5th 2015
We were all packed up and ready to go before we went down for breakfast so all we needed to do after breakfast was settle the bill for the few extras we had added to our room.
On the way home we stopped off at Hexham to see the Abbey as recommended by JD. Hexham Abbey was very interesting and we timed it just right be able to go down the stairs into the ancient crypt. We would have liked a bit more time in the Abbey and in Hexham so we will need to go back to explore more.
It was a bit early for lunch so we continued on our journey, stopping at Tebay Services where I treated myself to of one of my childhood favourites; coconut, cherry and chocolate cake. After lunch we briefly called in on my Aunt, who lives in Manchester, so that Mr C could check that her new porch had been completed to satisfaction. She had been experiencing problems with the company doing the work. I felt a little guilty that the stay was so brief but it wasn’t possibly to stay any longer. With the detour we had spent seven hours in the car leaving us rather tired when we got home for a well earned rest.
12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 4th 2015
I awoke abruptly at 1am in the morning to the sound of what I soon realized was the fire alarm going off. We both leaped out of bed just as the alarm stopped ringing so I returned to bed and when I was satisfied it was a false alarm I went back to sleep. I suspect it was one of the party goers thinking it amusing to set the fire alarm off. A little while later I awoke to the noise of loud voices outside the room; they went on for a long period of time which was most unwelcome. I dropped off to sleep only to be awoken again by more loud voices outside the room. It was one of those nights…
Morning came around all too soon but this didn’t stop us enjoying our breakfast even though we had chosen to meet earlier than on previous days. The service in the breakfast room was rather chaotic and not running quite as smoothly as we had become accustomed to.
After breakfast we strolled into town to show mum the highlights of Newcastle city centre. We walked through the Black Gate and into town, passing through Central Arcade before spending some time in Waterstones. We then made our way across town to St Mary’s Cathedral which I hadn’t visited before. I enjoyed the Cathedral even though it is currently undergoing work around the windows so workmen and scaffolding were present. Next to the Cathedral is an excellent bookshop where I was unable to resist buying a book. I could have spent more time in both the Cathedral and bookshop but my companions seemed in a hurry. After I had purchased the book we enjoyed a cup of tea in the Cathedral tea-shop. They had some rather delicious cakes on the counter but we all resisted temptation.
After our tea break we returned to the hotel to wait for JD whom we had arranged to meet for lunch. He came bearing gifts (two lovely paintings), one for me and one for my mum (thank you JD 
). We went to the nearby St Nicholas’ Cathedral for lunch where the service in the tea-shop was even more chaotic than service we had experienced during breakfast. Sadly there was only one cherry scone which mum insisted that I had. We stayed and chatted for a while but got the impression that they wanted to close the tea-shop so we left and walked along Amen Corner to the back of the Cathedral so that mum could see the Vampire Rabbit. She didn’t immediately notice it but when she did she exclaimed, ‘What’s That’.
We walked back through the town and past the Mog On The Tyne tea-shop, before parting company with JD. He made his way home and we visited The Lit & Phil library before returning to Waterstones pick up a book I had seen there earlier in the day. We intended to have a cup of tea whilst there but unfortunately all the tables were full so we made our way to Costa instead. By this time it was time to return to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. We had a very nice meal in Sabotini’s Italian Restaurant which mum decided was meal of the weekend and I couldn’t disagree. All too soon we returned to the hotel for a last nightcap there and to pack our cases for the return journey home the next day.
22 Comments CherryPie on Nov 3rd 2015
The five of us were able to sit at the same breakfast table that we had the previous morning. I opted for eggs Benedict but found that there was a little too much hollandaise sauce for my taste. One of the lifts was out of order, delaying progress to and from the hotel rooms to the amusement and frustration of the guests due to it stopping randomly at some floors and not at others. This meant that we set off for Tynemouth more than half an hour later than we had intended. The concierge shuffled the cars around on the car park and parked mine next to the Ferrari that is always parked outside the hotel.
On arrival at Tynemouth, we were lucky to find two convenient car parking spaces. Once the cars had been parked we went for a walk past the Spanish Battery and the Life Brigade Watch House before making our way into town to find a tea-shop. Mr C’s first choice of tea-shop, which was the last one we came across, proved to be disappointing. As we arrived, a table became free and we made our way to sit down at it. Whilst we were making ourselves comfortable the waiter told us to go away for five minutes whilst he reset the table. After such a rude reception there was no way I was going back and the others felt the same. We made our way back along the street and entered a small (almost hidden) tea-shop that I had spotted earlier. It was very full and busy but we were squeezed onto a table and made very welcome.
Our next port of call was Tynemouth Castle and Priory which we all enjoyed for different reasons. By the time we had finished exploring the grounds it was time for a late lunch. We chose a cafe near to the seafront and sat in a corner table overlooking the castle remains. We lingered for quite some time, talking about history, philosophy and the current migrant crisis including the view that many migrants probably have no intention of observing the culture of the countries that they are migrating to. Eventually it was time for my brother and his fiancée to return home and for us to make our way back to the Vermont.
As we arrived back in Newcastle the traffic was queued up for a long way past St Nicholas’ Cathedral and we could see lots of policeman, police cars and an ambulance directly opposite the Cathedral. We struggled to find a restaurant that was open on a Sunday evening, but eventually settled on Cafe Rouge where we had an enjoyable meal. Whilst walking back to the hotel after dinner, we noticed another police car and ambulance in the same spot as we had seen the earlier incident.
Back at the Vermont, we noticed a lot of security guards outside its Livello Cocktail bar area. One of the security guards got into the hotel lift with us and we got chatting to him. He told as that the security guards had been drafted in because there was a private function taking place in the Cocktail bar. We had a nightcap in the hotel lounge area and arranged to have breakfast at an earlier time the next morning.
12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 2nd 2015
If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!
St. Catherine of Sienna
12 Comments CherryPie on Nov 1st 2015
Breakfast in the Vermont was as excellent as usual, although the arrangements had changed since our previous visits. There is still the buffet arrangement for cold breakfast items but all cooked food is prepared fresh to order. We were pleased to find there was the perfect table with five chairs so we were all able to sit together.
After breakfast we set off for Cragside in light drizzle, which wasn’t too worrying because I knew it would be sunny in the afternoon. My companions, however were not convinced and there were a few grumbles about the rain. On arrival at the Cragside Estate we headed to the cafe for a cup of tea before taking a tour of the house. Whilst we made our way around the house the rain stopped and the sun came out. When we finished the house tour, it was time for lunch where the five of us discussed what we would do next.
The sun was shining brightly as we followed the leisure drive, stopping off at Nelly’s Moss and The Labyrinth along the way before finishing up at the formal garden. My brother and his fiancée were impressed with Cragside; they had never been before and the leisure drive had won them over. The formal garden looks different again at this time of year. Both the leisure drive and the garden visit made my mum’s day, she had not been able to do either of these before because her previous visits had all been coach trips. We drove back to Newcastle via Alnwick taking in a view of the castle and The Percy Lion (who’s tail is still broken) to be able to fill up the car up with petrol.
That evening we dined in a Peruvian restaurant which was a first for me. My brother’s lady is Peruvian and she had spotted the restaurant as they arrived in Newcastle the previous evening and was excited about trying it out. I was quite adventurous and chose fish with sweet potato which is raw marinaded fish. It was light and refreshing and also delicious. To follow, I chose sliced pineapple soaked in rum. The restaurant is called Solano’s after the Newcastle footballer. Interestingly there were three other English and Peruvian couples dining in the bar that evening (which the proprietress told us was unusual). The Peruvian cook came out to chat to my brother’s lady and later in the evening, Solano’s brother came into the restaurant and she also had a chat with him. There is a connection with the restaurant although I couldn’t quite follow what it was because part of the conversation was in Spanish
We returned to the hotel for a nightcap before retiring to our rooms for a well earned rest.
8 Comments CherryPie on Oct 31st 2015
We had set the radio alarm to wake us in plenty of time for a 10 am departure. I awoke to hear the breaking news that ‘Talk Talk’ (our email/web provider) had experienced a cyber attack and that users details had been downloaded. I lay in bed considering logging on to change the passwords to the accounts as advised. There was an additional problem in that all the account details and passwords were in an encrypted file on Mr C’s computer which had experienced a fatal disc crash a few days previously. Between us we remembered a few of the passwords and then I had a brainwave and remembered that I had a printed copy somewhere and quite surprisingly (to me) I remembered exactly where it was.
I logged onto the Talk Talk website and found that the members accounts page had been taken off line which meant it was impossible to change the passwords as advised. We could have done without the hassle but as there was nothing more to be done I filed it away as, there is nothing I can do to change what will happen, so whatever will be ‘will be’.
Despite the unexpected hassle we managed to set off on time, picking Mum up before we set off on our long journey to Newcastle. We broke our journey for a drink in the motorway services. Then later we had intended to stop in Kirkby Lonsdale for lunch but there was not a parking space to be had so we carried on driving to Brough where we knew there was a nice tea shop next to the ruined castle. After lunch we continued on our journey to Newcastle, arriving mid afternoon. On arrival at the Vermont we checked in and dropped our bags off in our rooms before taking a stroll along the quayside.
After the walk we returned to the hotel to unpack our bags and freshen up before dinner in the hotel restaurant. After dinner we retired to the hotel reception/bar to wait for my brother and his lady to arrive. As we were sitting enjoying a glass of wine we overheard an American asking at reception, if he needed a passport to travel from the UK to Scotland…
My brother got a little lost in Newcastle, but he eventually turned up and we sat chatting until well after midnight.
20 Comments CherryPie on Oct 30th 2015
