Fishy Business

I'd like to introduce you to the residents of Tynemouth Blue Reef Aquarium. We start with fairly standard aquarium stock. Piranhas. Fairly innocent looking fish that have a voracious appetite for meat. Starfish, with cute little tube feet that they use to source food, by smelling it!

  

Flounder, which look a little different from the familiar Disney fish, but put on a good show for us against the side of the glass, and beautiful candy floss pink anemones that will give you a nasty sting as soon as you touch them - so remember, anemones are enemies. Can you say that three times quickly? Anemones are enemies, anemones are enemies, anemones are enemies...

Check out that pout!

We found nemo!

 
Anemones may be enemies, but Ben made a friend in this pufferfish, who had such a lovely little face, as did the ray, and the axolotl. I've always wanted an axolotl as a pet, they're adorable, low maintenance and forever young! However, I'm trying to wait until I have a more permanent home before I make a commitment with any kind of pet. Other than goldfish. I can commit to goldfish.

With the terrapins, seals, sealions and otters the aquarium is branching out a bit, but they are water based. 

The same cannot be said for degus, monkeys and chickens! There wasn't any sort of explanation on display, but my old flatmate used to work here, and she said they quite often found animals just abandoned outside the aquarium, and the aquarium just does the best it can to look after them. This made me feel quite warm towards the aquarium, they clearly care about their animals and do the very best for them. I was also really impressed with the information available, it was a high standard (as a zoologist I found it interesting) but completely accessible for children and adults alike. Full marks, Tynemouth Blue Reef Aquarium, and thank you for a lovely day!

Travelling in Tynemouth

It's been pretty busy for travel recently, even if the travel has been limited to the UK. The start of the month was Derbyshire, last week London and this week Newcastle, Liverpool then back to base on Sunday. Busy busy busy, but enjoyable. On a free day in Newcastle we took a trip to Tynemouth to see the sea, which was pretty angry with the world, lots of tall foaming waves crashing into the beach. After nearly freezing to death in the sea winds to take some photos, we took shelter in a fish and chip shop to re-fuel. The shop was "proper old school", to quote a friend, but don't shops like that always produce the best food?

After devouring the most delicious fish and chips I've had in a long time, we wandered just around the corner to a café that couldn't have been more different from the fish and chip shop if it had tried. Brand new with a super cute interior, it looked like it had just fallen off a pinterest board. But one can't quibble when the cake is as good as the stuff they were serving.

 

Ben went for the "supreme chocolate cake" which was a dense sponge with layers of chocolate buttercream and white chocolate icing in the middle, decorated with sweets and glitter. His words - "delicious, rich and the perfect size". Recently we were at another café where the portions were overwhelming, but this place had it spot on. I was super indulgent and went for a hot chocolate and a chunk of rocky road, stuffed with marshmallows, biscuits and cherries. 

The rocky road was fantastic, one of the best I've had. It wasn't, however, something that could be eaten elegantly. I ended up with chocolate all over me!

 

I really loved this café, it was a change from places I frequent at home, but I think my figure and bank balance are pleased I won't be able to pay it regular visits! The little hearts on top of Ben's cake got me thinking about Valentines day, so look forward to some baking inspiration posts and a recipe or two. But before that, we've got more Newcastle adventures, Liverpool adventures and birthday fun! Being busy is good for blogging. What's been keeping you busy recently?

Escape to the Country

In my head I had made this post weeks ago. I think I got so wrapped up in my dissertation that I just thought about doing a lot of things, instead of actually doing them.

So. What did I think I'd told you? Just after New Year Ben and I headed off to his families cottage, an tiny old miners cottage in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside. It's the second time I've visited, in 2012 I went just before Christmas, and I can honestly say it's one of my favourite places in the world. Jane Austen said there was “no finer county in England than Derbyshire”, and I'm inclined to agree. At the cottage there is no phone signal, no internet and no TV. When we come into signal at the supermarket or the pub we tend to leave our phones in the car, just to keep the peace and quiet going. WW3 could break out while we're there and we wouldn't know. It's glorious.

 
The area is perfect for walking. There's so many routes, and they're not too challenging. Just a few hours wandering.

With all the rain we've had recently though, they tracks are muddy. I nearly fell over soooo many times.

Sometimes you need a little sit, especially when you get to the top of a hill, and you're a bit puffed out, and there's a glorious view to admire.

You can make some great friends on walks like this... baaaa...

 
When the sun starts to go down, it's time to head to the local town to pick up some supplies, and then home to hunker down with the best of local produce.

Chicken, pork and stuffing pie served with salad, followed by an extra long coffee Viennese and a millionaires shortbread. All handmade in the local bakery, all absolutely delicious. Download some TV before you go, and you can have wonderful, cosy evenings in front of a roaring fire.

A roaring fire. There's only one thing you can do for a midnight snack. And after all that walking we definitely deserved it. Shmores. Utterly decadent, terribly naughty, but so so delicious. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Do you have somewhere you love to escape to for a few days?