After one last sit on the roof terrace I went down for breakfast where I chose French Toast which I don’t often see on the menu. We checked out of the hotel and put the cases in the boot of the car before having a quick look at the hotel garden. We then caught the Metro into Newcastle centre. First we visited the Cathedral Church of St Mary where I picked up a couple of books from the Cathedral book shop.  I noticed that the nice tea shop we visited last time we were there was shut and I overheard someone being told that it was a family run tea shop and they were currently on holiday. It is a good job we hadn’t arranged to meet JD there!

After the book shop we went to the Laing Art Gallery because Mr C wanted to see the Alice in Wonderland exhibition but he was slightly disappointed by it. Whilst we were there we had a cup of tea and went to have a look at the John Martin son et luminaire entitled The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. When we left the gallery the bright sunshine had turned to rain and as we neared the hotel (and our car) there was a sudden torrential downpour. We sheltered under a tree to see if it would ease up but eventually Mr C left me under the branches of the tree whilst he went to pick up the car. As soon as I got in the car it stopped raining and the sun came out again.

We headed away from the city to a pub where we met JD for lunch; he came bearing mini gifts. The pub had a Tapas menu which we elected to try but the food that arrived I wouldn’t really class as Tapas. We chatted for a while and then JD took us to see his gallery of paintings, which Mr C and I enjoyed seeing. All too soon it was time to head off to the Courtyard Garden in Alnwick so that we could book in for our stay there. We arrived a little too early so we had a cup of tea in Barter Books whilst I looked at a book on Northumbrian prehistoric rock carvings. I decided not to purchase the book and put it back on the shelf as we left.

At the Courtyard Garden our hostess provided us with a cup of tea and some cake. She then proceeded to suggest some places we could visit and said she could help us with suitable places for evening meals. When we told her we were meeting friends in the Alnwick Tree House for dinner, she told us the best route to get there. It was lovely to meet Leona and Toby again and we spent all evening chatting and reminiscing over old times. They used to run the guest house that we have always previously stayed at when we visited Northumberland. All of a sudden it was midnight and they had a forty minute drive to get home after they very kindly dropped us off at our B&B (which was welcome as it was quite a trek and uphill!!)