A loo with a view

Because I can’t walk far, (hence no bus/metro option that I’d normally use) nor am I allowed to drive while taking the oral morphine, Mr C very kindly drove me to town and dropped me and my stick at the back of the Malmaison. This meant I just needed to walk over the millennium bridge to the Baltic where I met an old uni friend for lunch.

We try to catch up once a year and tie it in with her visit to her son and family who live in town. Her granddaughter is in Nathaniel’s class at school. (She thinks he is annoying - in fact all boys are). He says she’s brainy.

We had a lovely view from the sixth floor across the Tyne. The lunch was delicious and beautifully presented. We both had the same from the £40 3 course menu. Jerusalem artichokes on a a bed of something tasty, leaves, seeds and a honey glaze. Main was cod on haricot beans in a tomato and chilli (and something more) sauce with broccoli flowers and a bit of kale. To finish we had an elderflower panacotta with slivers of lime jelly and a base of amaretti biscuit. The portion sizes were just right. Wilma had white wine but I had to stick to tap water (which was a shame). We have very little in common (politics can’t be mentioned!) but enjoy each other’s company. We drove her back to her son’s. (Mr C had been successful in his hunt for all the paint we need to get the bathroom done. He had a less expensive lunch, treating himself to a burger from a van outside B&Q).

I just had time to turn round before Vivienne picked me up to go to Alnwick Castle for a talk “The Invention of British Art” by Bendor Grosvenor. (Yes one of THE Grosvenors). We learned a lot about British artists Pre-Reformation and a tiny amount of what happened subsequently. He stopped there and said the rest was in his book, £40 a pop.