Friday morning’s train ride was sunny and scenic and four hours passed speedily in the company of a good book. Alighting at the platform, I was greeted by one of my favourite people, already bearing a mischievous grin. The evening was spent in relative harmlessness, eating dinner with an international crew from Mercy Ships (2 Canadians, 2 Brits, 1 American and 3 South Africans) and visiting a local pub.
Saturday was Newcastle day. Brunch was followed by exploration of the city's fabulous bridges (the peculiar one below is, in fact a drawbridge), ancient castles, forward-looking galleries, and state of the art music halls. We didn’t pop into a single shop (my wallet breathed a little sigh of relief) and lo, it was dinner time.
We had reservations at Lor’s fave Italian spot, and between a bottle of wine and constant interruptions by Lorah’s fan club of Italian waiters we enjoyed spirited conversation and professions of our mutual admiration ;)
I’ve promised not to release certain photos of our post-dinner activities, but I don’t think my hostess will mind if I treat you all to a glimpse of the Newcastle nightlife. No, we weren’t participants, just the giddiest of observers from the safety of a park bench.
Sunday we slept in and had church at home. The evening brought us to the beach town of South Shields before supper with more Africa Mercy crew members, Carrie and Russ Holmes.
Finally on Monday I got to see where all the action happens. We spent the day in the shipyard and explored the massive floating hospital that will soon be home to 400 people (Lorah included) as it travels through Africa bringing hope and life-changing surgeries to thousands of people.
4 comments:
Nice account of our incredibly FUN weekend!! Thanks for coming down to see me! Hope you got home on time to have late night Thanksgiving festivities with Dean... and stuffed chicken is better than tukey anyway.
looks like a lovely weekend. i really must plan a trip to scotland.
fun pix, looks like a good time!
Nice pics A
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