I Take Back Everything I Said About Newcastle. It's Ace.

The urge to have a long weekend break from work, combined with the opportunity to meet up with some school friends I hadn't seen in a looong while, resulted in my recent trip up north to the drizzly city of Newcastle. The first and last time I'd previously visited was 3 years ago for a friend's 21st birthday, and despite having a great time at the hotel venue hired for that night, the following night out on the toon left me with an overwhelming impression of an agro' and pretentious atmosphere wherever we went. In fact, it turned out that I had experienced a rather unfortunate Dr. Rick Dagless-style visit to a foreign place which, for whatever reason, had turned out poo and inflicted a distorted view upon me, and thankfully the last few days have set the record straight...

The journey started proper last Thursday at London Gatwick airport. Having flown several times before with EasyJet, it was great to find out that BA flight prices were far less than I imagined they would be, and all without the hassle of travelling through London to get to Stansted. Check-in was very quiet just after 7 pm and I had plenty of time to get some food, have a snoop around, and take advantage of the post-security shop prices, and sneak in a quick game of Zelda before my flight.

Friday started off with a trip up to the town centre for a bit of CD / DVD shopping, but it wasn't long before we stopped for some liquid refreshment and so began the night out, in the afternoon. A few venues, several drinks, 2 delivery pizzas, and a taxi ride later we arrived at WHQ (World Headquarters). Admitedly we got there just before open time, and there was a brief moment of panic as we tried to work out why the club was closed and where the hell were we going to go. Fear not though, for minutes later the doors opened up and in we went.

What a fantastic club. Don't just take my word for it. I can honestly say I've never been to a place like it. The atmosphere, the drinks prices, the decor, the music: all great. My music highlight of the night was hearing Kelis' song "Milkshake" mixed in with an instrumental version of David Bowie's "Let's Dance". Great, because I normally hate hearing the first song, but add a little mixing magic, and voila! Other tunes played that night ranged from Daft Punk, to Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" (known to some as the theme music from the BBC "Film 'xy" TV shows, now adapted and used as an advert for Coca Cola, much to some peoples' digust, let alone another baaad advert from them).

Close to 3am I managed to tear myself away from the dancefloor, although the ringing in my ears stayed with me for a long time which had something to do with how LOUD it is on the top floor. Quote from their literature:

"In terms of Sound System, no question, we so, so rule"

and it did rule my head for the best part of the next day. Usefully, we were straight into a cab outside, and back to a friend of a friend's flat. Things were just getting boring when another flatmate arrive home with two friends from work. Interesting night.

Walking back to where I was supposed be be staying the following morning was beautiful. It was approaching 7am, and I was in a very relaxed state of mind due to no sleep so far and the after-effects of several drinks. The route was pretty straightforward on a map, but I didn't realise before I was walking it the kind of environment I'd be in. It's all slightly hazy but I remember crossing a big bridge of woodland and passing a sign for Jesmond Dene along the way. It was so quiet and peaceful, and continuously reminded me of walking back from house parties years ago where I'd lasted the night with those who liked to stay up chatting and drinking, and decided I'd rather get back to my own bed than find a bit of carpet to curl up on.

After a day of recovery, I was initiated to the infamous Baja's. I'd heard mixed opinions of the place, but after I finally got to the front of the 45 minute queue I found myself growing to like it fairly quickly. Although it was rammed with people, I never really had to queue at the bars, and it was surprisingly easy to get from one end of the venue to the other. There must have been about 6 hen nights there that night, and we invariably got roped into a bit of banter with those that snaked past the group of us stood mid-way between the food area and the nearest bar. Closing time was a nightmare compared to the previous night, but it was quite good to wander through the crowds of people outside, in search of a cab and/or hot food. For the whole time in the club and outside, I didn't see one bit of trouble. I'm not saying that it wasn't happening at all, just that it was in complete contrast to when I was at the very same club some 3 years earlier.

The following (Sunday) night was supposed to be much lower key than the previous 2, and it would have been if we hadn't ended up playing drinking games. Things started in Osbourne's (as they generally do round there) for a roast lunch, the match and, eventually, happy hour drinks. Then, it was time for me to experience The Gate. After a bit of discussion, we settled on ASK for dinner.

/aside:

When I mentioned the next day to other friends that we'd gone to "ay-ess-kay", I got the piss taken out of me because they insisted it was pronounced "ask", and that spelling out the letters was stupid. So, instead of saying I was right there and then, I backed down, let it go (for a while), did my research, and smiled a wry smile to myself.

/back on track:

The food was pretty good, and despite the (surprise surprise) hen party on a nearby table, or the waiter trying to evercharge us £2 each through a bad case of mental arithmetic, it left us in the mood to carry the night on. Downstairs it was then, to Lloyds No 1 (unfortunately a Wetherspoon, and therefore sadly lacking in JD, ironically). Beyond Bar was closing, and we didn't fancy a club (although I must go in London some time) so we settled on a quick Taxi ride to Revolution, where I learned for sure that chilli vodka is not good. But then neither was staying up until 6am playing Touch The Cup.

Even a long walk and a Full Monty breakfast from Willi's Coffee House did little to stop me feeling rough the next afternoon. Not surprisingly then that the evening consisted of little more than a take-away curry in front of the Baftas on TV, especially with an early-ish flight the next morning. By the time I was eating my little BA hot breakfast with little plastic BA cutlery, I was feeling well rested, much better, and thinking back fondly on the last few days.