I decided to head down to the Quayside and discover what it had to offer for an individual such as myself who likes the water, architecture, shops and art galleries. I am happy to report that the Quayside satisfied these desires of the day.
Sometimes when you get so used to a place, you often miss the beauty of it. A way to see different things in a familiar place is to adjust ones eyes to a different level for awhile. I spent most of my walk down, looking up at the old buildings of Newcastle's Quayside pleasantly surprised to discover some neat little architectural wonders right at my doorstep...
Down by the water, I walked for the first time, across the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian and cycle bridge built in 2000 and opened in 2001.
Pivots (where the white arms of the bridge are anchored) allow the bridge to tilt, much like a big blinking eye. The bridge does a single tilt on Sundays at 12.30pm and I happened to be right on time to see it from the other side.
Right next to the bridge stands the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
I had heard rumours that the architecture of the building outdoes the art inside. Let's just say that I was really impressed by the archiectural remodelling of what used to be an old flour mill on the river banks of the Tyne River.
I had a quick peek at the contemporary art exhibits, such as an Andy Warhol's Dazed and Confused, displaying a mix of Warhol's dynamic print, video, photography and installation work. The glass lifts zoomed me up to the posh rooftop restaurant (sorry, bookings only!), Level 5 viewing deck to see a friend, the steel twig man, and finally down to the art gallery shop for a bit of design book thumbing and quirky things browsing (tip: students should always ask if they offer student discounts. This fabulous shop gives me 10% off everything!).
Making my way back home, I walked along Quayside dotted with half a dozen Sunday market stalls, admiring more architecture and two of Newcastle's seven bridges. The furtherest one I have been over a couple of times already on the train to London.
A big day out sight-seeing the city's Quayside deserves a hot chocolate and Sunday newspaper in the afternoon. Till the next adventure...
