Newcastle-Amsterdam

The sun was shining, temperature was around 14, and all the Geordies were in the shirts and shorts when we woke up this morning. Sunshine certainly makes a place look better, and we went for a walk down past the eponymous castle - it was new once - and over a bridge to admire the Tyne and its many bridges, and the unique graffiti. We liked this one - how cutting can you get?

But for all the sunshine, Newcastle still feels like a tough place. The pubs were all full of blokes out downing an early morning pint. God knows what they are like by the end of the day. Seem to be lots of hens party groups, each wearing some particular costume, like sports teams. Pink bunny ears, sloganed t-shirts, L plates... Maybe it is so they can remember who else is in the group when they get blotto, a state towards which they seemed well advanced when we saw them.

We retreated back to the hotel and had a long slow lunch before lumping our stuff up the road to the bus to the ferry. The bus route took us past lots of open air bars with lots of colourful Newcastle residents well on the way to being totally pickled. Big hairy blokes in bizarre drag seemed to be a feature. We were glad to get onto the ferry.

The trip over was better than we anticipated. The sender was calm, the ship seemed to have plenty of capacity, lots of places to sit and watch the English coastline​ slip away, and the colours change as the sun set. We even saw a pod of three dolphins. Dinner at the pop up restaurant wasn't too bad, and we got in for breakfast early and that was fine too.

Getting through immigration, the officer took a long time looking at Anne's passport. He couldn't find the stamp for her entry into the EU. Anne told him she had come in through Portugal, and eventually he let her past. My turn, I said "I am the same as her". The chap replied "No, you are not the same as her, you just have the same story", and he let me pass too.

The bus deposited us next to Central Station, and while Anne got a coffee, I unboxed and unfolded bike, and managed to balance all our luggage on it. It made negotiating the walk to the hotel, about 2 k away, easy.

The hotel is lovely, and we have a canal view, which is great fun on a sunny Sunday, as an endless procession of boats large and small, with an endless variety of people in them, cruise along the waterway, some lounging artfully on cushions, some with elaborate picnics and wine glasses, most drinking beer.

We were pretty tired though, and I am afraid we missed a good bit of the afternoon having a siesta. After dinner we went for a long walk along our canal along with lots of people enjoying the evening sun. It really is a relaxed, interesting place, easy to navigate and get around, and anywhere that seems to have fewer cars and more bicycles, boats and people walking gets my vote. It will be nice to spend a few days here.