I am ashamed to say that I haven’t visited much of my own country; especially anything above London. Back in June, I visited Newcastle Upon Tyne over a weekend; a city about as far north as you can get before you find yourself in Scotland. I packed warm clothes as I presumed it’d be a lot colder up there in the far reaches of the North…

…I was very wrong! It actually turned out to be so hot that weekend, I was sweating buckets in my ‘winter’ clothes! We stayed with my boyfriend’s parents in Jarrow and headed into Newcastle city centre on Sunday for a little tour led by my boyfriend’s mum 🙂

We hopped on the Metro from Jarrow and came out by Grey’s Monument, a huge column statue dedicated to Earl Grey (yes, the tea!).

Wandering down Grey Street, we passed the very grand façade of the Theatre Royal.

I am such a sucker for beautiful old shopping arcades. We came across and had a wander through Central Arcade, a beautiful one built in 1906.

We made a beeline for Tyne Bridge, and wandered across it to Gateshead on the other side. It was interesting to find out that it is a copy of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Looking down from Tyne Bridge, there is a good view of two more of Newcastle’s bridges: the Swing Bridge and the High-Level Bridge.

I was able to get a proper view of Tyne Bridge from afar. The weather was very changeable, so one minute it was super sunny, and the next it was suddenly cloudy (hence the photos!).

There was one more bridge – The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, which to me looks like a giant harp. At intervals throughout the day, it tilts 40° to let boats pass by underneath.

The timing was perfect, as when we arrived on the other side, it was time for the bridge to tilt. Luckily they made sure everyone had gotten off first!

That silver disco ball/bubble-like building building on the other side of the river is a concert venue called Sage Gateshead. You can see the bridges all lined up, too.

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge being all abstract and artsy…

…and viewed from afar. It’s a pretty awesome construction.

Unfortunately we didn’t have any time to see much else in the city, but I was pleasantly surprised at how nice Newcastle Upon Tyne was. I always thought of cities in the North of England to be grey and uninspiring – I was definitely wrong in this case! We need to head there again soon and check out what other cool things it has to offer 🙂