A Weekend of Eating in Newcastle, England
My month full of nonstop travel is in full swing and I am somehow getting downtime to catch up on blog stuff in between staying on top of school, sleep, and being a functioning human being. Traveling every weekend is exhausting but man, is it incredible so experience so many different places. My soul has always yearned for exploration and here I am in the midst of it feeling so aligned with myself. As I am writing this, I'm back in Belgium after an incredible weekend in Barcelona (more on that coming!!) before that I visited my best friend in Newcastle upon Tyne with a day trip to Tynemouth. Amsterdam is this weekend. Then Copenhagen. And then a few weeks after that I will be going to Lisbon, Portugal. So YEAH my schedule is packed but I am loving every second of it.My first time in England did not disappoint. I knew I have always love a good British accent but I really love the country and people as well. I think I brought the sunshine with me as I unusually hardly encountered any dreary weather in the few days that I was in the United Kingdom. Newcastle upon Tyne is a sweet little college city with pretty much everything you could ever need: delicious food, great shopping, a beautiful riverside, and good nightlife.
Restaurants:
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Quilliam Brothers - an EXTENSIVE selection of delicious tea, really good scones and baked goods, breakfast, and lunch (so it's all amazing you can't skip this place)Stack – think outdoor food hall. There are all different stalls with different types of food, drinks, etc. really fantastic atmosphere.Super Natural Cafe – all vegan cafe! really good breakfast. i had a vegan full english breakfast with homemade vegan sausage, tofu scramble, potato hash, toast, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, and beansOlive and Bean – another really good breakfast spot. a large selection of homemade cakes (need i say more?) – i got the toast with pesto, parma ham, and poached eggsBackyard Bike Club – this spot is right on the Tyne River next to a few others restaurants. really good coffee and sweet treats. if you need to get your bike fixed while you're in Newcastle, this is the spot!Bryon Burger – i'll be honest, I didn't try Bryon Burger while I was in Newcastle but my best friend who lives there goes at least once a week. she didn't stop talking about this place so I had to include it.
TYNEMOUTH
Longsands Fish Kitchen – my first fish+chip+mushy peas experience was everything and more than i expected it to be. those peas are GOOD and i usually hate peas.Rene's Coffee House – we stopped by this cute little cafe on the way back to the train station for some tea and a shortbread with caramel and chocolate...so good but go early in the day as they were sold out of most of their goodies by late afternoon.Sunday Market in the train station – every Sunday there's a huge market in the Tynemouth train station with everything from antiques to homemade pottery to the most delicious homemade macarons.
MANCHESTER
Australasia – one of the best meals I've ever had. also probably the fanciest meal I've ever had and it made it even better that I was dining solo. i ordered: elderflower & chamomile soda, yellowfin nigiri, roasted baby aubergine with miso mustard and bonito flakes, silken tofu with pickled carrots and pressed watermelon, prawn bulgogi, tenderstem broccoli with peanuts and chile, and finished the meal with a dessert of a chocolate dome with peanut butter ice cream, salted caramel, and blackberries.A little reason why this meal is so special to me – when I was planning my trip and realized I had a night to spend in Manchester, I did some research on different restaurants and Australasia was one of the first to come up. I put it off to the side because it was too fancy and looked to nice for me to go to alone. Fast forward to when I am actually in Manchester, I found a couple other places for dinner and had one of them in my Google Maps...for some reason, I kept making wrong turns and ended up right in front of this beautiful patio bar with fairy lights and a neon pink sign that said 'Sunset.' Any basic girls dream, I naturally walked towards it to check it out. Turns out it is Australasia's sister bar. I walked in only to find out they stopped serving dinner but I could go downstairs to eat...at Australasia. So I was there and decided to step into my self worth and decide that I am worthy of this delicious food. This meal sort of found me and reminded me of the importance of remembering your worth while you are alone. I did not feel any sense of lack during the meal, only abundance and full content. I enjoyed every last bite and savored the time to myself. I'd go back again in a heart beat.
England was great and I am already planning a trip back. All of this traveling is making me realize how important the people around you are. The people you travel with or even meet while traveling can make or break your experience. This time, I visited my best friend. It was so refreshing and comforting to spend time exploring a new city with her (and ok, yeah, binge watching an entire series on Netflix). Traveling is more about taking pictures, going to certain restaurants, and trying to do everything you can. It's about the people, the little experiences you didn't plan for, and stepping back and just breathing into the culture of the place you are traveling. Man, I am so grateful for this life.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht5X8sDj_1A&t=27s[/embed]