a sweet geordie life https://www.asweetgeordielife.com North East Adventures, lifestyle and travel!! Sun, 19 Sep 2021 16:09:25 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.9 https://i0.wp.com/www.asweetgeordielife.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-cropped-asweetgeordielife2.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 a sweet geordie life https://www.asweetgeordielife.com 32 32 172719787 An Inspiring and Arty Day Out in Ouseburn https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/09/19/an-inspiring-and-arty-day-out-in-ouseburn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-inspiring-and-arty-day-out-in-ouseburn https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/09/19/an-inspiring-and-arty-day-out-in-ouseburn/#comments Sun, 19 Sep 2021 16:09:24 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1969 I recently spent an arty day around Ouseburn, including eats and drinks of course! There’s a lot going on down here and it’s getting better all the time. Biscuit Factory I start off at The Biscuit Factory. This contemporary art gallery is housed in a former Victorian biscuit manufacturing warehouse and many of the original […]

The post An Inspiring and Arty Day Out in Ouseburn appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
I recently spent an arty day around Ouseburn, including eats and drinks of course! There’s a lot going on down here and it’s getting better all the time.

Biscuit Factory

I start off at The Biscuit Factory. This contemporary art gallery is housed in a former Victorian biscuit manufacturing warehouse and many of the original and characterful facets of the building such as the beams and brickwork were maintained. It’s absolutely stunning inside. An upper floor was added which provides a wonderful atrium and allows natural daylight to flood through the centre of the gallery.

The gallery showcases local and national artists, able to display the work of over 250 artists at any time. They exhibit and sell original paintings, handmade prints, glass, ceramics, textiles, photography, furniture, design led homewares and jewellery. It’s an Aladdin’s cave of treasures. You can spend hours in here just browsing. They regularly hold events too so make sure to check out their website.

Forum Books

The Corbridge-based Forum Books also has a pop up bookshop on the found floor, featuring more than 200 top reads, collaborating each season on a programme of exclusive author talks and book signings. It’s just as cute as the original book shop in Corbridge so if you love books, you will love this wee popup.

Factory Kitchen

Next I head upstairs to the Factory Kitchen for some food. As it’s a sunny day I choose to sit out on the rooftop terrace which has fantastic views of the Ouseburn Valley from up here. It’s the perfect place to catch a relaxing spot of brunch all year round and the food is delicious too; I always get eggs benedict. I try to order something else for brunch every time but I don’t want to miss out haha!

Jim Edwards Studio

After a scrumptious brunch, I walk down to Lime Street and pop into the Jim Edwards studio. The artist is known for his depictions of iconic buildings and bridges of the North East. His work falls into either contemporary cityscapes or abstract paintings. I absolutely love his work and you can buy cards and postcards here too if you can’t stretch to the purchase of your fave painting. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially if you love the impressive architecture of our city.

Kiln

Perusing art is thirsty work so my next stop is at Kiln. It’s an industrial Mediterranean streetfood cafe with a contemporary pottery studio and is based at Unit 4, Hume Street. It’s a bar and kitchen serving freshly prepared meals, coffees and soft and alcoholic drinks. I order homemade lemonade from the lemonade stand and sit outside to soak up the sun. A perfect drink on a sunny day. Once drinks are finished I head next door to check out the pottery and ceramics workshop. They are still getting up to speed after the lockdown to replenish their stock. All of the ceramics used in the cafe are crafted here and available to purchase. As they say on their website ‘Food, drinks and pottery. What’s not to love?’

Ouseburn Art

There is a lot of cool art and graffiti all around Ouseburn, so I wander for a while so that I can explore some of the creative walled designs. You just never know what you are going to find!

Ernest

Drinks At Ernest

Lastly, I stop by Ernest cafe for a few drinks and a meet up with friends. This is a fabulous independent cafe bar situated at the top end of the Ouseburn. Ernest was set up and run by artists, makers and designers and most of the people working at Ernest also create lots of stuff when not serving coffees and making food! It has a really chilled vibe with indoor and outdoor seating and so it’s become one of my favourite places.

Ernie’s

Ernie's

They also have their little brother around the back (Ernie’s) which is a takeout, shop and deli and much of the stock is local or handmade by small producers. It’s the cutest shop ever! Their aim is to be a cross between a wholefood corners hop, farmers market, deli and bakery and so it’s very unique.

I’m feeling suitably fed, watered and cultured at the end of my arty day out in Ouseburn and this trip only scratches the surface. Ouseburn is growing all the time and it makes a lovely change to visit it’s cool, laid back cafe bars and see some amazing works of art by local people, all on the same day and in the same location. I hope you have fun if you plan an arty day out here too. Let me know in the comments below if you have a favourite cafe bar or art stop you visit all the time, I’d love to hear about it.

The post An Inspiring and Arty Day Out in Ouseburn appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/09/19/an-inspiring-and-arty-day-out-in-ouseburn/feed/ 2 1969
Cafe Hopping #1 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/22/cafe-hopping-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cafe-hopping-1 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/22/cafe-hopping-1/#respond Sun, 22 Aug 2021 21:50:37 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1830 Welcome to the first edition of my Cafe Hopping series! With the cafe culture booming recently I wanted to let you all in on my cafe hopping shenanigans. I find cafes are great places to hangout with friends, catch up on my reading or even work out of them. Visiting more than one in a […]

The post Cafe Hopping #1 appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
Welcome to the first edition of my Cafe Hopping series! With the cafe culture booming recently I wanted to let you all in on my cafe hopping shenanigans. I find cafes are great places to hangout with friends, catch up on my reading or even work out of them. Visiting more than one in a day means you don’t get bored and the vibe of each cafe can even dictate how productive or chilled you are.

But is cafe hopping not an expensive hobby, having to buy a drink in each one? Well not compared to pubs or bars, in fact it’s money saving, and if you choose a cafe-bar to meet friends you can effortlessly make the move from writing up your blog over an iced Americano to sharing a bottle of wine with a friend once the laptop is packed away.

Cafe hopping is already popular in a lot of Asian countries where it’s not unusual for cafes to stay open till after midnight. Many people choose to work out of them, treating them as their office for several hours at a time. Of course, this may also depend on their WiFi availability and how good their coffee is! But read on, as these questions and many more will be answered as we start our cafe hopping journey.

Flat Caps Coffee

9-11 Carliol Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6UF
Open 8am-4pm weekdays and 9am-4pm weekends

The gorgeous aesthetic of Newcastle’s first speciality coffee shop established in 2010 makes this a must-visit place. They have handy indoor and outdoor dining available serving their menu of breakfast and brunch items, which are not only delicious but also reasonably priced. The coffee is really good, my go-to is usually an Americano, but I have also tried their cold brew, green tea, and peach and green tea.

Wifi is free and pretty good – I was able to google stuff I needed and upload a blog post and photos. They also sell coffee beans, cakes and gifts (some of this is online, for which they have subscription offers AND their very own rewards scheme to collect and spend points).

There isn’t anything I don’t like about Flat Caps. It would be great if it was open a little later, but it’s chilled, leafy vibe means I can relax and catch up with friends or it’s quiet enough for me to work from. I also wasn’t the only one there with a laptop and ordering brunch, so this cute place is obviously pretty popular for working. I did a few hours of work here then I packed up and off I went to Yolo Coffee.

Yolo Coffee

(Unit 18) The STACK, Pilgrim Street, NE1.
Open 8am-7pm every day

Yolo Coffee may be small but it provides an amazing range of items for its size – coffee, frappes, iced teas, instagrammable hot chocolates, tray baked treats, Parisian grilled delights, crepes, sandwiches and toasties. The classic interior is relaxing and dreamy; I can imagine reading a good book here over a simple flat white.

All food and drink items are available to take out or if staying inside, watch the world go by from their small, but sunny seating area. Only a few seats are available so it’s not going to be the best sit down coffee for large groups, but for a catch up with my friend and a spot of work, the window seating can’t be beat. On a sunny day it’s glorious and even though you can see everyone hurrying by it’s remarkably quiet inside.

Oh, and you can also order to a table inside STACK if you wish. There is free Wifi, which again was good enough for uploading/google searching and if it’s a sunny day then selfies at golden hour are the best here. Once I’ve caught up with my friend it’s time for the final stop on my cafe hopping day….off to the Social Cafe Bar.

The Social Cafe Bar

27 Ridley Place, NE1 8JN
Open 11am-10pm Mon-Sat and 12-9pm Sundays

This cafe bar has the cutest outdoor seating and the interior has a fresh, continental vibe. Selling coffee, pizza, paninis, waffles, cocktails, beers and wine it’s definitely an all day cafe. I love that it’s open till late and while the mood shifts a little, I still felt comfortable doing some last minute work over a glass of wine as it moved into the evening crowd. A great place to hang out and eat but also not unusual just to chat with a friend at the window seat until late – no judgements if you’re not taking advantage of their cocktail offers.

No free WiFi close by unfortunately so make sure you have data if you need it, but they sell cupcakes from Pet Lamb Patisserie in the Grainger Market. This more than makes up for using my mobile data! I ate here and the food is wonderful. There is a lovely buzz about the place and it’s super friendly.

Cafe Hopping Series

I hope you’ve enjoyed a day in my life cafe hopping. Look out for #2 in the series, coming soon! Leave a comment below if you’d like to recommend a cafe for me to visit or if you would like your cafe to be featured. See you all at the next one.

The post Cafe Hopping #1 appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/22/cafe-hopping-1/feed/ 0 1830
Thrifting in Newcastle https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/14/thrifting-in-newcastle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thrifting-in-newcastle https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/14/thrifting-in-newcastle/#respond Sat, 14 Aug 2021 18:22:41 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1826 A definition of thrifting – when one visits several different thrift shops, second-hand shops, and vintage clothing stores in the hopes of buying several items of cheap and unusual clothing and other items. One usually does this with friends. This is exactly what we did in Newcastle a few weekends ago, from vintage pop-ups to regular retro shops. We spent a […]

The post Thrifting in Newcastle appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
A definition of thrifting – when one visits several different thrift shops, second-hand shops, and vintage clothing stores in the hopes of buying several items of cheap and unusual clothing and other items. One usually does this with friends.

This is exactly what we did in Newcastle a few weekends ago, from vintage pop-ups to regular retro shops. We spent a whole day thrifting in Newcastle and it was great fun (and not expensive).

Vintage Vera

Vintage Vera

We began our day at Vintage Vera which is one of the UK’s best providers of pre-loved vintage clothing. They host pop-up Vintage kilo sale events in many locations and this weekend it was at the Gate, in Newcastle. They promote conscious consumerism by taking part in the recycled and reused economies, citing that sustainability should be a leading concern for everyone if we are going to look after our planet. The clothes on offer here range from jeans and jackets to shirts and jumpers with mainly an 80s/90s vibe. You pick up a bag on entry and then get to rummage through rails of fantastic vintage stock. Select what you want and then weigh it. At £15 a kilo, it’s really good value.

Worth the Weight

Next we hopped up to the Civic Centre for Worth the Wait Vintage kilo sale. This is very much 60s/70s with a little foray into 80s/90s. They also have bags, hats, scarves and sunglasses. This is priced the same at £15 a kilo with the same picking and weighing method. Worth the Weight was founded in 2018 as a way of fighting fast fashion.

The Vintage Scene

After our purchases at the kilo sales, we hunted out the vintage shops. First stop was The Vintage Scene in Ridley Place. This is a very different experience to the vintage popups. All items individually priced (like regular shops lol!). It has a cool vibe and has the added luxury of changing rooms. Not necessarily what I’d term ‘thrifting’ but definitely vintage 90s/00s.

The Yesterday Society

The Yesterday Society is a vintage boutique in Alley 1 of the Grainger Market. It describes itself as an Aladdin’s cave packed to the rafters with vintage and retro clothing and accessories for men and women, and they’re not wrong.

Retro Newcastle

Retro Sociey

There is also Newcastle’s longest trading vintage boutique, Retro Newcastle, which has been open for over 20 years. This is situated at High Bridge and over 2 floors stocks lots of vintage jackets, dresses, shirts and tops. This is 60s/70s/80s/90s clothing.

Flip

Specialising in genuine, original American menswear, Flip sells brands like Levi’s and Wrangler as well as heavy-weight flannel and US military-style shirts. It’s been around since 1978 and ladies, don’t let the menswear focus put you off. I have found great vintage jackets and hoodies here plus there were a couple of rails of blouses and tops.

Let’s not forget the ultimate thrift shops – charity shops!! Don’t necessarily think they are full of old china and nightdresses! You can grab many a thrifting bargain from a charity shop. Many people donate amazing vintage clothes to charity. All it takes is a good rummage!

Have you ever been thrifting before or do you know of some other great vintage shops? Leave a comment below and let’s share the thrift!

The post Thrifting in Newcastle appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/14/thrifting-in-newcastle/feed/ 0 1826
Summer in the City https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/07/summer-in-the-city/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=summer-in-the-city https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/07/summer-in-the-city/#respond Sat, 07 Aug 2021 17:42:39 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1857 NE1's Summer in the City is much more than a single day out; there are so many other events happening and planned, we only scratched the surface. There is something on offer for little ones, families with teens, friends and date nights. It's brought the city alive in the summer and it could not have come at a more welcome time.

The post Summer in the City appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
AD Had a fantastic day in Newcastle checking out NE1 Summer in the City, in conjunction with @newcastlene1. Their programme landed and promised a jam-packed list of events and impressive artistic installations across the city, including the Quayside, Old Eldon Square, Grey’s Monument, Grey Street and Blackett Street, and they didn’t disappoint! All the stories on the day are still available on my Instagram account if you didn’t get a chance to follow along with Summer in the City fun in real time.

Blooming Gorgeous

We began our fun packed day right in the middle of the city centre, which is literally blooming! Several store fronts have opted to have floral displays, provided by Pretty Picture Company, including Grey St Opticians, Naked Deli, Fat Face, L’occitane, Hotel Chocolat, The White Company, Lloyds Bank, Greggs, Eldon Square Entrance (Nando’s), Collectibles, Nudo, Central Arcade and Scribbler….and they’re gorgeous!!

Outdoor Cinema

Screen on the Green

We headed around to the Screen on the Green next. The open-air cinema is back in Old Eldon Square and showing two free movies a day until 5th September. Our upcoming picks for August are Wonder Woman and Toy Story 4, but you can see the full listings at GetIntoNewcastle. It’s a great outdoor movie day for your whole family or a summer evening trip with your friends, while the socially distanced picnic tables and deck chairs keep things super chilled. Be sure to grab some picnic snacks and drinks from nearby Greggs or Poundland, you can thank me for the tip later!

If you choose to eat later on, Grey Street Gathering is still on and deckchairs and grass for picnics and chilling are available here if you have any takeout or drinks. If you head into town on a weekend you can also join in the fun in Blackett Street, where they are running Family-Fun weekenders, with some great pop-up performances and activities planned, both here and in Grey Street.

Quayside Fun

After our movie we headed down to the Quayside. All along the river, giant concrete planters have been installed – they are between Guildhall/Tyne Bridge and go all the way along past Pitcher & Piano. They are huge and colourful and just add to the buzz on the Quayside. It’s definitely going for the fun element!

There is so much to see and do as you continue walking along the river; first off we had some fun walking on The Floor Vinyl by Mr Penfold , this is between the Slug & Lettuce and Hooch Coffee.

Then we mucked about with photos at the Dichroic Seating, an installation of kaleidoscopic prism seats. They were built by local company raskl. A good opportunity for a ’99 here from the ice cream van.

And no matter your age, make sure you get on the See-Saws next to Pitcher and Piano. Created by CS Design and Lateral Office with soundscape by Mitchell Akiyama, they are hilarious fun and they don’t even hurt your bum when you bump down on the ground! A big plus in my book so no excuse. You can even get your granny on!

The 3D Floor Art by Joe Hill, near ‘The Blacksmith’s Needle’ sculpture, past Pitcher and Piano is amazing!! Definitely stop to make up some dramatic scenes and make sure someone gets photos, they look great!

Urban Garden

But there’s more fun to be had at the wonderful and very welcome Urban Garden, near the Millennium Bridge. You can order soft drinks, coffees or something more daring (provided by Brewdog), plus it’s all socially distanced, clean and chilled. You can grab yourself a burger too (by East Coast Burgers). And guess what? A lot of the plants, herbs and fruits they grow here will be used within their menu! Fantastic that sustainability has been thought about here. Honestly, we sat here in the sunshine for over an hour and it’s just lovely. No masks required as it’s all outdoors and it was, literally, a breath of fresh air.

Tours of the City

Part of the NE1 Summer in the City programme being offered is the opportunity to book different walking tours of Newcastle with Iles Tours. So if you would like to see up close and personal some of the  most iconic sites in the city, gain access to some of the hardest to reach buildings in Newcastle and learn all about its vibrant history on these one-hour tours then book up early. They will run every Friday and Saturday until October. We have booked already for the rare opportunity to climb Grey’s Monument. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now and there is no better time to explore my home city!

Summer in the City

NE1’s Summer in the City is much more than a single day out; there are so many other events happening and planned, we only scratched the surface. There is something on offer for little ones, families with teens, friends and date nights. It’s brought the city alive in the summer and it could not have come at a more welcome time. The opportunity to get into Newcastle once again, with Covid-safety still visible where it’s needed or wanted gave us a fantastic day out. And we didn’t stop there! With so many amazing foodie places to eat, we made the most of our time and headed back up to Wagamamas at Old Eldon Square, for dinner. With the light fading, the Screen on the Green had a real buzz to it so we got ourselves a couple of deck chairs and watched another movie, before we went for dinner. We arrived home very late after a whole day of fun in the city, and I’m so ready to do it all again….and again and again!

The post Summer in the City appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/08/07/summer-in-the-city/feed/ 0 1857
Hard Rock Cafe, Newcastle https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/07/08/hard-rock-cafe-newcastle/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hard-rock-cafe-newcastle https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/07/08/hard-rock-cafe-newcastle/#respond Thu, 08 Jul 2021 08:22:15 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1798 So eventually after a long, bumpy start, the Hard Rock Cafe is finally open. Getting a table reservation is harder than Newcastle winning the Premier league, but hurrah, we got one and it doesn’t disappoint. Situated in Newcastle’s historic Guildhall, the famous restaurant chain landed in the North East to great anticipation. Complete with a […]

The post Hard Rock Cafe, Newcastle appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
So eventually after a long, bumpy start, the Hard Rock Cafe is finally open. Getting a table reservation is harder than Newcastle winning the Premier league, but hurrah, we got one and it doesn’t disappoint.

Situated in Newcastle’s historic Guildhall, the famous restaurant chain landed in the North East to great anticipation. Complete with a competition to name a culinary tribute to its new home city, North East healthcare entrepreneurs David and Penny Tilly totally delivered.

Memorabilia and Banging Tunes

Taylor swift
Taylor swift

Situated across two floors of the Grade I listed building the decor is classic, clean and inviting. In true Hard Rock fashion, diners can view glass cabinets filled with fascinating rock and roll memorabilia. Music is fantastic; the night we dined it was all 80s and 90s rock and pop. It’s all the tunes you forgot about but surprisingly remember all the words to within the first two notes – like a constant game of ‘Name that Tune’. Phrase of the evening turned out to be, ‘Oh I love this song!’ If you’re keen on Hard Rock merch, the shop is filled to the rafters. A lot of it is reasonably priced too.

Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran

The Food

The menu includes the steak burgers for which Hard Rock is famous, as well as salads, grilled chicken and sandwiches.

For starters we opted for the crispy Southwest spring rolls, which come with black beans, roasted corn, Monterey Jack cheese, red peppers and jalapeños. Finished off with a guacamole ranch dipping sauce and priced at £9.75, it’s enough to share between two.

Southwest spring rolls
Southwest spring rolls

The highlight of the menu is the unique addition of the black and white ‘Whey Aye Burger’. It was designed specifically for the first North East restaurant. The burger comes with Northumberland cheese, Newcastle Brown Ale onion compote, horseradish cream with a spring onion, cheddar cheese and pease pudding beignet. This is crammed in a toasted charcoal and sesame seed bun. Who knew pease pudding in anything other than a saveloy dip could be a good thing? But honestly, it’s almost the best thing about this burger and you must try it! The burger is £14.50 and also has optional upgrades of smoked bacon for £1.75, extra cheese £1.50 or extra mushrooms £1.75

Whey aye burger
Whey aye burger

Make sure you share the Hot Fudge Brownie for dessert as it’s huge! It’s a warm chocolate brownie and is topped with vanilla bean ice cream, hot fudge, chopped walnuts, chocolate sprinkles, fresh whipped cream and a cherry. And yes, we did finish it. It was £8.75.

Huge hot fudge brownie
Huge hot fudge brownie

Drinks!! Everything you could imagine and expect. For us, a pineapple lemonade (fresh grilled pineapple, lemon syrup, pineapple juice topped with soda – £6.20) and a Kopperberg Strawberry and Lime for £5.95.

Drinks
Drinks

Not as an expensive night out as I expected and service was top notch. Our server was great, chatty and helpful, a real credit to the Hard Rock fam. Just get your reservation in now so you can at least get there in 2021!

The post Hard Rock Cafe, Newcastle appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/07/08/hard-rock-cafe-newcastle/feed/ 0 1798
Traditional Korean BBQ at Soju & Gogi https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/06/12/traditional-korean-bbq-at-soju-gogi/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=traditional-korean-bbq-at-soju-gogi https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/06/12/traditional-korean-bbq-at-soju-gogi/#respond Sat, 12 Jun 2021 16:09:00 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1743 A warm welcome is guaranteed at Soju & Gogi in Dean Street, Newcastle. A traditional Korean BBQ restaurant situated on the way down to the Quayside and it does not disappoint. Quick decisions are necessary as you arrive, to BBQ or not BBQ, This is because not every table has the traditional BBQ grill and […]

The post Traditional Korean BBQ at Soju & Gogi appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
A warm welcome is guaranteed at Soju & Gogi in Dean Street, Newcastle. A traditional Korean BBQ restaurant situated on the way down to the Quayside and it does not disappoint. Quick decisions are necessary as you arrive, to BBQ or not BBQ, This is because not every table has the traditional BBQ grill and chimney installed, understandably.

The décor is classy but still east Asian inspired. There is a very cosy atmosphere that makes you feel comfortable and relaxed and the staff treat you like their family.

The BBQ Food

Traditional korean bbq

Our first visit so we already knew that we wanted to try the traditional BBQ that you cook yourself. So we ordered the seafood platter plus a lovely plum Soju and a Korean beer. The BBQ is set up nice and hot and a small trolley sits nearby with scissors and tongs at the ready. We also ordered sides of gimbap and kimchi.

The BBQ is a fun way to try a great selection from the set menu and there is plenty of it. Shrimps, mussels, scallops, squid, salmon and crabsticks (who knew you could BBQ crab sticks?) The staff who serve you are so friendly and attentive. They explain everything really well and offer some good advice on what to order. With our first attempt ready to eat, we used the tongs to pick up and wrap in a lettuce leaf. Pour on the chilli oil or sesame oil, and shove it in, Korean style. The side orders also give you something to munch on waiting for the next batch of seafood to cook. All the food tasted amazing, even the salmon we accidentally set on fire!!

Recommended

Traditional korean bbq
Korean beer

The seafood BBQ platter is £38.95 for 2 people, plus 2 sides and 2 drinks, a total of £56.90. It may seem a little on the pricey side at first, but there is a lot of food and it is very high quality. Also, the service and friendly atmosphere more than makes up for any doubts about the price. I completely recommend Soju & Gogi just for the experience alone, but we will definitely be back to try the non-BBQ menu too. Soju means wine and gogi literally means meat in Korean. This is a good description for the wonderful traditional Korean BBQ food that they serve here.

The post Traditional Korean BBQ at Soju & Gogi appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2021/06/12/traditional-korean-bbq-at-soju-gogi/feed/ 0 1743
Wild Camping at Brockwell Woods https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/09/18/wild-camping-at-brockwell-woods/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wild-camping-at-brockwell-woods https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/09/18/wild-camping-at-brockwell-woods/#respond Fri, 18 Sep 2020 13:31:52 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1716 Brockwell Woods is 26 acres of ancient woodland, with large natural pitches hidden amongst the trees and only 7 miles away from Newcastle upon Tyne. Blaydon Burn Farm owns the land and camping here is for those who want a real back-to-nature experience as there are no shops, toilets or showers on site. It’s real […]

The post Wild Camping at Brockwell Woods appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
Brockwell Woods is 26 acres of ancient woodland, with large natural pitches hidden amongst the trees and only 7 miles away from Newcastle upon Tyne. Blaydon Burn Farm owns the land and camping here is for those who want a real back-to-nature experience as there are no shops, toilets or showers on site. It’s real wild camping. You can build a campfire in your readymade fire pit (clearing up afterwards) and experience real nature in a real forest. As it’s an experience pretty close to being in the wilderness it means campers have to drive rough tracks through the trees to get to their pitch and then carry their gear the rest of the way, but man it is SO worth it. 

We’ve Arrived!

On arrival you get a map to find your way and a spade to bury human waste!! Like I say, pretty wild! So if you’ve not camped before it may be something to add to the bucket list when you’ve a little more experience.

After we signed in at the socially distanced registration tent next to the farmhouse we picked up our spade, map and logs. When we camped there wasn’t a lot of fallen or felled dry wood around so we bought a sack of logs for £6 at the farm. We didn’t want to miss toasting our marshmallows over our ‘homemade’ campfire! We also ordered some sausages from the farm which were £5 for a pack of 8. They also sell beef, chops and burgers so you definitely won’t go hungry – as long as you can cook them!! Steph, the owner, brought them out to us when we arrived and gave us a little rundown of the map.

Map of Brockwell Woods
Map of Brockwell Woods

Getting to your pitch

We drove across 2 fields opening and closing the gates as we did so. It hadn’t rained for ages so we found the drive in my Mini Cooper absolutely fine along the tracks. If it’s rained hard it could get pretty muddy and a bit tricky. There are a few places you can park up on the way if the field doesn’t look like a good idea, but it does involve carrying your gear a little further. We parked pointing down the hill in the closest field to the wooded area, to make sure we would be able to pull away okay the following day if it rained overnight.

We were in pitch 9A, if you can call it a pitch. It’s more a clearing that has been made available and as such is gorgeous and unspoilt. It took 2 trips to get all our gear from the car to the ‘pitch’, around 20 minutes altogether. We put the tent up under a canopy of trees. With no tent carpet we used picnic blanket inside the main area of the tent, as the ground was quite stony with lots of twigs.

Having wild camping fun

Our cooking facilities were our camping stove and BBQ, so next on our to-do list was food! With the BBQ going and cooking our sausages it was tine to build the fire. We had some kindling and matches with us and it was easy enough to get the logs burning. We were actually excited for it getting dark at this point!

It was a beautiful warm day and as the sun lowered in the sky, it shone quietly through the trees. I am really glad we made the decision to wild camp. It’s such a different experience to a campsite. It was so quiet with just the rustling of the trees and the occasional bird tweet. But as the sun went down, the noise went up – goodness, nature is sooo loud! And dark! Even though you are prepared for the darkness it really is still a shock when it gets that dark. You literally can’t see anything but the campfire and shadows. Wild camping is exciting and a bit spooky!!

Luckily we had cooked our next meal on the camping stove before it was too dark and we could just about see it to eat it. We definitely would have struggled if we’d left it much later. Dinner that evening was Meatballs and Pasta we purchased from the Wayfarer camping foods range. They only take a few minutes to warmed through in the pan on the stove. Following this, hot water from our kettle to make hot chocolate.

It’s night time

It was pretty dark at this point so out came the camping lanterns, which we hung up in the trees. Then the marshmallows! There is nothing better than toasted marshmallows around a real campfire. By now we were used to the rustling and squawking and general weird noises coming out from behind the trees. There were actually no other campers in the woods on this night as we went right at the end of the school holidays, but if there were, the closest pitches aren’t actually that close. They position each clearing in such a way you can’t see the other tents from your own pitch.

We sat up for ages around the campfire until we couldn’t keep our eyes open any longer. I didn’t want to go to sleep as I didn’t want the night to end. But eventually it was time for bed. So with all the food packed away and the campfire dwindling we turned in for the night.

Next morning

Considering how active the nocturnal animals are in the forest, I slept really well. The next morning we were greeted with an early dawn chorus and a lovely sunrise.

We were only camping for the one night and changeover time is roughly midday. That left us with time for some toast on the camping stove and a quick cup of tea. After that we made the journey back to the car with our first load and packed it in the boot.

Packing up

On our second trip to the car we were greeted by a large number of cows and calves surrounding our car. They found our lonely mini sitting in the field very interesting. We waited behind the gate for a while as we couldn’t even get to the car. The cows approached a bit closer to check us out too. We clearly weren’t interesting and they quickly moved off. Just the, with the tent packed in the car a little calf ran towards us. He was kicking his heels up and mooing, with mummy cow not far behind! I must admit, we did do a dash into the car and shut the doors quickly behind us!

You have to leave your pitch as you found it, including bagging up any rubbish or toilet paper to take away. I haven’t gone into too much detail about using the spade for you-know-what. I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself!

We avoided the herd as we drove back over the farmers’ fields. Feeling tired, a bit achy and a little bit muddy but had a terrific time wild camping. It was such an experience, wild camping is something I’ll never forget.

And as Steph put it, ‘Take only memories, leave only footprints’.

Extra Bits

If you liked this post and enjoyed reading it, here are a few ways you can support A Sweet Geordie Life: 

Share this post with your friends or leave a comment

Click here to buy me a coffee 

Follow A Sweet Geordie Life on your fave social media:

Facebook , Twitter , Instagram

Thank you for your support me lovelies! 

Love, the Sweet Geordie Family xxx

The post Wild Camping at Brockwell Woods appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]> https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/09/18/wild-camping-at-brockwell-woods/feed/ 0 1716 Glamping in Northumberland https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/09/04/glamping-in-northumberland/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=glamping-in-northumberland https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/09/04/glamping-in-northumberland/#respond Fri, 04 Sep 2020 13:00:05 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1689 As a lot of the UK did this year, we opted for a staycation (which is just what regular holidays used to be when I was little). Knowing the British weather can be unpredictable during the school summer holidays we decided on glamping in Northumberland. After some research we found some cute wigwams at Herding […]

The post Glamping in Northumberland appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
As a lot of the UK did this year, we opted for a staycation (which is just what regular holidays used to be when I was little). Knowing the British weather can be unpredictable during the school summer holidays we decided on glamping in Northumberland. After some research we found some cute wigwams at Herding Hill Farm, which is situated in Haltwhistle. It’s a family-run 5 star Wigwam, touring caravan and camping site and is only a 10-minute walk from Hadrian’s Wall and close to Northumberland National Park.

As with a lot of places in the summer of 2020, not all facilities are open and there are strict measures in place for social distancing. That didn’t stop this from being an amazing getaway for a few days under the beautiful dark skies of Northumberland.

The Wigwams

We stayed in a ‘Wee Brave’ Wigwam Cabin, which can sleep up to 3 people and had a microwave, kettle, fridge, heating and electrical sockets. It felt like luxury compared to camping and being able to hire a fire pit to toast our marshmallows each evening was great fun.

Wee Brave Wigwam Cabin

This is the smallest Wigwam available. There are also 10 large ‘Running Water’ en-suite Wigwams, which sleep up to 5 people each. Seven of these have their own private outdoor hot tubs which you can book for an additional charge. Then there are 3 ‘Big Chief‘ Wigwams, which sleep up to 5 people.

The Site

The amenity block was open and had underfloor heating. Amazing!! There is a drying room, laundry facilities, a pot washing-up area, a disabled/family bathroom, shower facilities and toilets. The ladies’ have two private bathrooms that had baths inside. This was beginning to feel more and more like a 5 Star hotel stay!

Sue and Phil who own the site were friendly and helpful from the outset. Nothing was too much trouble and they sent all the instructions and directions out beforehand. I emailed them to confirm a few things and they replied really quickly. Great customer service and a lovely couple.

There is a wee shop on site too with some essentials for food, cleaning, bbq etc. and it was open until the early evening for any bits you have forgotten to pack or little extras. We bought more firelighters to keep our camp fire burning all evening, and of course, some Kendal Mint Cake for our hikes through the day.

Surrounding Area

You can either head out straight from the site and explore the countryside for a good 4 or 5 mile hike or drive to the nearby Sill – the National Landscape Discovery Centre. It’s only a short distance along the Military road. It usually runs exhibitions about the area, but these are temporarily not available at the moment due to the pandemic. But the shop, kiosk, toilets and Grassland Rooftop Walk are all open and you will find a lot of information about nearby walks and attractions. There is plenty of parking, no need to pre-book and best of all, it’s free!

Views over Northumberland

How We Spent Our Days

After we arrived and parked up next to our home for the weekend, we unpacked all our picnic items out onto our private picnic table at the front of our wigwam. After eating it was time to check out the facilities and then we had a 20 minute stroll down Shield Hill into Haltwhistle, which is always pretty.

Full of little shops and cafes we meandered around for an hour or so and then took the walk back up the hill to the site. It’s a good 30 minute walk back up Shield Hill as it’s pretty steep, but we were hungry by then so out came our travel bbq and we settled in for a few hours in the evening sun.

Fire pit lit and marshmallows at the ready, we had a glorious view over the fields of Northumberland as the sun set. When it eventually got dark, it was really dark and a torch is necessary if you visit the amenity block. We stayed out till around 1am and watched the wonderful Milky Way light up above us. The site owners ask for quiet from around 10pm onwards which is good news as younger children are tucked up in bed and not racing around the site in the dark. This means the older generation can have their conversation and star gazing time.

Fire Pit

The following day we did a 5 mile hike across the public footpaths in the adjacent fields to the site and took a picnic with us to enjoy the views and the sun. Unfortunately the nearby Milecastle Pub was closed due to the pandemic which is a shame as I’ve heard great things about it. Initially that was the plan for evening dinner. So we opted to heat up some camping food on our stove back at the wigwam, that we brought with us. The Pasta & Meatballs from Wayfarer was absolutely delicious.

I wasn’t expecting it to be so nice. It’s actually pre-cooked so if the camping stove is a fail you won’t go hungry, as long as you don’t mind it cold, but it was pretty great grub after the hike and followed by, you’ve guessed it, more toasted marshmallows around the fire pit. It was a fitting end to another great day. We even saw a few shooting stars that evening and although it was a little chilly, the wigwam kept us toasty warm all night and we still didn’t need to test out its heating.

The Yearly Getaway

Packing up the following day we decided there and then to make this a yearly trip as it had been so chilled and easy and a great way to spend family time together. I can totally recommend Herding Hill Farm for Glamping in Northumberland and although we didn’t camp there, the tent and caravan areas looked great too. Of course, they also have access to the same wonderfully clean and bright amenity block and are looked after by the lovely Sue and Phil.

Be sure to check out my other North East Adventures and if you enjoy my content you may wish to ‘Buy Me a Coffee’!

Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee

The post Glamping in Northumberland appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]> https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/09/04/glamping-in-northumberland/feed/ 0 1689 Lockdown Survival Guide https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/04/17/lockdown-survival-guide/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lockdown-survival-guide https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/04/17/lockdown-survival-guide/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1652 So we’re several weeks into lockdown and working from home each day can be mostly confusing! I’ve found it’s really important to have boundaries between work and home life to make sure I switch between the two and ensure I have evenings and weekends with my daughter and feel ready and motivated to work each […]

The post Lockdown Survival Guide appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
So we’re several weeks into lockdown and working from home each day can be mostly confusing! I’ve found it’s really important to have boundaries between work and home life to make sure I switch between the two and ensure I have evenings and weekends with my daughter and feel ready and motivated to work each day. I’ve found that keeping busy and having some leisure activities planned has been vital for us both, so here is my Lockdown Survival Guide to what is keeping us on our toes as we go into week 5 of lockdown.

Exercise

Yoga Set up
Yoga

So not just my 10 minutes walk outside, although it is important to get fresh air, I’ve found it’s been good to focus on a workout at the beginning of each day. I start my day with a short yoga session. I’ve found a 30-day yoga programme called Yoga with Cassandra. It’s only 10 minutes and suitable for all levels but I feel like I really rely on this now and feel so good afterwards – I’m totally keeping this as part of my routine when I eventually get back to work…good intentions to anyhow!

Following on from that, even though I try to keep my day flexible so that I can help my daughter with her school work, after breakfast I select 2 or 3 of the HIIT, strengthening or cardio workouts from the Madfit channel. There are so many to choose from of various lengths and it’s the variety that keeps me interested, so depending on what I did the day before or what part of my body is aching the most, I select a few workouts that add up to around 30 minutes. There are quite a few that don’t require equipment, they have a great soundtrack and are easy to follow – but not necessarily to do! But by Week 4 I am improving and I can see a difference in my strength and my overall fitness. If you want to try any with weights and don’t have any, just use some cans from the kitchen cupboard or fill some water bottles up.

Dance

Bollywood Dancing with Farrah
Bollywood Dancing with Farrah

There are some days though that I just can’t face a HIIT workout or something strenuous, so rather than sacking the whole exercise thing off I choose something light and fun, and follow a dance class by Oti Mabuse. She does dance sessions live each day and they are all available on her YouTube channel to follow along to in your own time. She does family and older sessions, so I select the one which appeals to me the most and give it a shot.

Another dance session like I like to do is Bollywood Fit at Home with Farrah’s Dance Workouts. Easy to follow and good fun, they run every Monday evening. Even if you’re a little tired, a few minutes into this perks you up and is suitable for the whole family. Get a Facebook watch party going with relatives and all do it together.

Quizzes

quiz
quiz

There are loads of online virtual quizzes on YouTube and Facebook, and you can either do them as a family or WhatsApp your friends to join in at the same time. We’ve done general knowledge pub quizzes, Disney, Harry Potter and Friends and find them good fun and they pass an hour on an evening. We usually get a few drinks and snacks at the ready for when they start! Any excuse!! Search Facebook for any others that take your fancy.

Musicals and Plays

Treasure Island
Treasure Island

Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals are streamed every Friday evening and available for 48 hours. I’ve watched Joseph and Jesus Christ Superstar so far! Again, we made an evening of it and even dressed up as if were having a night at the theatre! With theatre snacks and drinks too of course.

The National Theatre is also streaming a selection of fantastic plays for free, currently they are showing Jane Eyre and next week is Treasure Island. A great opportunity to see all those plays you’ve always wanted to but never had the time to before, or even the ones you never planned to see. Try broadening your horizons a little and it may just surprise you.

Courses

Imagineering in a Box
Imagineering in a Box

If you want to learn all about how to become a Disney Imagineer and how to design theme parks this is for you! Imagineering in a Box takes you from story development and conceptual design to characters and ride development, all as you design a theme park of your very own. We put 2 hours aside every Sunday to work through the lessons. We have done the first lesson and created a mood board and are absolutely loving it. Great for young and old alike.

I know there are lots of courses online for free at the moment, like learning Spanish or teaching yourself digital photography, but for me, this was the one we could do as a family that everybody loved.

Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse

Staying with the Disney theme we’ve also enjoyed the online art classes with a Disney Parks Artist. Similar to what we did in Animal Kingdom last year at their Animation Station, it breaks down the character to draw it in stages and the end result is often surprising! We started with Mickey Mouse but there is also Tinkerbell, Olaf, Genie, the list goes on. Just grab some A4 paper and a pencil.

Recreating Holidays

American Natural History Museum
American Natural History Museum

While there are more important things to consider in the world today, we can all still be allowed to be disappointed if we’ve had holidays or trips cancelled that we were looking forward to. It’s still unclear when travel will be available and even safe to do in the future so the pleasure of planning a replacement trip is still not yet viable. So in the meantime, why not recreate it at home!! Get out your holiday outfit, cook up some food you would eat when on holiday and watch programmes related to the place. For us, we designed a New York City night, huge slices of pizza and bagels with pastrami, then watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s. We also did a little research and found loads of sites that do virtual tours, and the same can be done for specific tourist areas of interest in countries and cities all over the world, like the National History Museum and the British Museum in London.

I think we all have our variations of a Lockdown Survival Guide, whether we are working from home, not working or still going to work as a key worker. If you have your own imaginative ways of living the lockdown in style share them in the comments below. We’ve a few more weeks of this yet!

The post Lockdown Survival Guide appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/04/17/lockdown-survival-guide/feed/ 0 1652
Put Yourself First https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/03/30/put-yourself-first/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=put-yourself-first https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/03/30/put-yourself-first/#respond Mon, 30 Mar 2020 16:33:09 +0000 https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/?p=1638 AD Book Printing UK sent me a wonderful book to review, ‘Put Yourself First’, by Marianne Killick. I was only too happy to read and review something that was marketed as ‘my own personal health coach in a book’. Prioritising our own health and well-being is really difficult for a lot of us and sometimes […]

The post Put Yourself First appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
AD Book Printing UK sent me a wonderful book to review, ‘Put Yourself First’, by Marianne Killick. I was only too happy to read and review something that was marketed as ‘my own personal health coach in a book’.

Prioritising our own health and well-being is really difficult for a lot of us and sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. How many times have we justified exhausting ourselves to keep other people happy, because we believe it’s our role as a mother, or a wife to give over all our time to help another. We need to give permission to ourselves to be a priority and this book explains how. Fantastically sensible and yet thought provoking snippets like ‘you cannot pour from an empty cup’ and ‘it’s ok to do nothing’ are just some of the words of wisdom we can start to incorporate into our lives without feeling guilty. Ironically, it took a COVID-19 lockdown to give me the time to read this book – just about says it all really about how to ‘put yourself first’. But to see in black and white how being a woman in this day and age means having multiple roles to fulfill reminded me that it’s okay to not be all things to all people all the time and that boundaries can be a good thing. One thing my mam taught me when I had my daughter was ‘happy mam, happy baby’ and the thought-proving inspiration behind this book is essentially that.

Put Yourself First book back cover
Put Yourself First book

But it’s not just lots of phrases to movitate you and make you feel good, to spur you on your way to a better you with advice on planning real ‘me’ time. There’s also the science bit and that is where this book comes into it’s own. I now understand how stress and anxiety and pushing myself past normal tiredness and exhaustion limits, actually affects my body, like my liver and my pituitary gland, and how those can diminish my health or any of my good planning. We all know not enough sleep is not good for you but knowing how low-quality sleep can create hormonal imbalance and the effect that can have on a woman is truly fascinating.

The final chapter of the book ‘Project Self’ gives you a clear guide to follow to really look at every aspect of your self-care and how to create a plan going forward in the areas you need to change and indeed, just start! I’d recommend really taking some time with this bit and thinking about what and why you do what you do, what, who or how can you make even the smallest of changes to your routine to incorporate something in there for yourself. But most of all, as Marianne points out, enjoy the whole process of change and it could be very exciting. I loved this book and have started to celebrate my small successes of including some time each day to either do a quick workout or have that 15 minute cup of coffee gazing out of the window, allowing my mind to run free and unrestricted. No, it’s not wasting time, it’s the time I have put aside for me, and if I think I’m worth it then undoubtedly others will too. The goal of the book is to thrive, and not just survive and is definitely gives you all the tools you need to do just that.

The book is available to buy on Amazon if you would like to purchase your own copy or leave a review. This book was gifted to me but the review is my own opinon.

The post Put Yourself First appeared first on a sweet geordie life.

]]>
https://www.asweetgeordielife.com/index.php/2020/03/30/put-yourself-first/feed/ 0 1638