Vertigo

A rather dreich day so I'll save photos of bridges and the Angel of the North for another trip. It was this or the roof of the Lit and Phil and I'm still undecided. The roof looks like it should be a Lady Buttons Monday post though so instead you have the vertigo inducing stairwell of the Baltic Art Gallery. The things they can do with mirrors. Nauseating.

Undeterred by a bit of drizzle or faint whiffs of hangovers, we jumped on the bus for a quick trip to the Lit and Phil, the largest independent library in the UK according to Pointless. Having grown up not that far from Newcastle, I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of it until then. It ended up being a bit of a rush job as we were meeting a friend but they've a great collection of old theatre books which will definitely justify a longer visit. A quick glance at Stage Lighting for Amateurs by Peter Goffin revealed details of liquid dimmers and their potential perils. It's a lot easier today!

Quick bus trip back to the Baltic to meet a pregnant friend who's walking is worse than mine and several hours passed happily nattering, waddling and eating. First in the Baltic cafe and then in Pan Haggerty. Brilliant food and company before heading back to the Baltic for a look around. I love the Baltic. In my teens I wanted to buy the building when it was empty and unused and turn it into something amazing. I may even have planned to live in it although I'm not sure I ever worked out how to finance it. They've done a great job on the building but the art on this occasion was well, disappointing. A cynic on one side and a modern art buff on my other did make for a highly amusing commentary though. It's probably not a good thing though when the highlight artistically was the stairwell. And the shop.

And then all that was left was for a compulsory stop at the Angel of the North (love) and back to Co Durham for a proper evening with the parentals this time.

Vx