Wading Through Treacle

I've been back almost a week,

and I've had a cold

most of that time.

Which is really strange for me

as I haven't had a cold in years.

I haven't been outside the house for almost a week,

in an effort to stay out of the wet blustery weather we've been having.

Poor Mike has been walking the hounds on his own.

I think I got it from travelling on

planes, buses and trains,

while I was away.

Hopefully it will be gone soon,

but today,

I've felt as though I'm wading through treacle.

Being full of cold,

I haven't felt like taking any photos.

So here are the last few from my UK visit.

The day before I left to come back to Germany,

I met my daughter in Newcastle

and we went down to the quayside.

Unfortunately,

in an effort to be a bit smarter,

I wore my boots instead of my usual trainers.

By the time we got down to the river

I was footsore.

It wasn't so much like wading through treacle,

more like stepping on marbles.

But we continued over the bridge to The Baltic.

Where we visited the Turner Prize exhibition.

Although I enjoyed the visit,

I can't say I understand modern art.

But it was nice to spend more time with my daughter.

I wrote this yesterday

but didn't get round to posting it-

blame it on the cold.

We had snow overnight.

Anticipate Precipitate

Tomorrow,

I fly to Edinburgh

to see this young man,

my grandson,

and his mother.

Here she is

taking a photo of

me taking a photo of her,

on my last visit to the UK.

I also hope to see my son.

But I don't seem to have a photo of him from my last visit.

Well I do,

it's just that my daughter is on them all,

and she won't like me posting them.

I will be going to the quayside

in Newcastle upon Tyne,

and crossing this bridge

to visit

The Baltic.

That's the building on the left of those over the river.

The Turner Prize is being exhibited there.

The prize was awarded today to Martin Boyce.

It will be interesting to view the exhibits.

I haven't been to the Turner Prize exhibition before.

But I have heard quite a lot about previous

Turner Prize exhibitions.

On my last visit to the quayside,

two men stopped to ask me what this building is.

I told them that it is called the Sage

and is a music venue.

They were very impressed by it.

Well, it was May when I last visited the UK.

and the bluebells were flowering.

If I remember correctly,

the weather was pretty poor

the whole time I was there.

I think my flight got delayed on the way back

and I had to spend a few extra days there.

But the weather didn't improve.

This year seems to have flown by.

But some things don't change.

The UK had some of it's first snow of the season,

and it's turned very cold.

I had better pack some warm clothes.

Maybe I'll get some snow pics while I'm there.

Just as long as I manage to get back home

to Mike and the hounds.

 

UK Trip

                                   

I'm due to visit the UK soon tommorrow, and I haven't even posted the photos from my last visit.

So here they are.

I spent some of the time in the north east in Newcastle upon Tyne.

These are all taken on the same afternoon and evening.

After meeting up with the family for lunch,

I had a wander off on my own,

down to the quayside.

Past the cathedral.

It was a lovely evening,

in early December!

After taking photos on the quayside

of some of the bridges,

I crossed over the Tyne,

and visited this building,

The Baltic.

It's an old flour mill,

turned art gallery.

     

As you can see,

there are a number of bridges that cross the Tyne.

And one of the photos below was taken from The Baltic

high up on the viewing platform.

       

I took this last photo

on my way back to my friends house.

I got caught up amongst the football crowds

coming out of the match.

The local team are The Magpies,

so called because of their black and white football strips.

Not sure where I'll get to on this visit.

I have only just finalised some of the people who I will be seeing!

But I will get back to you just as soon as I can.