Mother's Day with Wallace and Gromit

After a delicious Mother's Day breakfast, we took the train into Newcastle. It rained during the night and earlier this morning but by 10am, the skies were blue and the sun was shining brightly! It had turned out to be a gorgeous day!

In front of our house.

Ollie gets so excited when the train pulls up to the platform.

It takes about 20 minutes to get to Newcastle by Metro.
Merrit and I get a quick hug in. He was wishing me Happy Mother's
Day when Mike took this picture. Sweet thing.

The Salvation Army band was playing hymns in the city centre. This spot
is right by Grey's Monument (of Earl Grey Tea fame).

Walking to a restaurant that Mike wanted us to try.

Mike suggested that we eat lunch at this great, authentic Chinese restaurant; he's eaten there twice with folks from work and says it's nothing like the Chinese food we've had before. But...it was closed. Poo. So, we walked up the street a bit to an Italian restaurant instead called Portofino's. According to Mike's friend from work Carlo--who is from Rome, so  he ought to know, right?--Portofino's is the best Italian food in Newcastle. It didn't disappoint; though it was a bit pricey. Mike said, "Hey! It's Mother's Day!" :-)

We all shared an order of insalata caprese (Roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper) as a starter. I had grilled balsamic salmon with roasted vegetables and salad. Oh my goodness, the salmon was so light and the texture so perfect, it almost had the mouth-feel of a dessert. (Do I sound just crazy? I know I'm a bit of a foodie, but it was soooo good.) The boys split an order of lasagna and Mike ordered (I forget what it was called) a pounded chicken filet, breaded and topped with ham, some cheese, and other stuff. I actually didn't really pay attention...I was in salmon heaven.

They all ate creme brulee for dessert, but I was "good" and only had one tiny bite when Mike wasn't looking. 

We really should have inquired about this
building's history. It had such a neat interior.
Hm, I guess we'll just have to go back! :-)

Pictures from our walk to the Centre for Life Museum, our next destination...

The Centre for Life is a museum in the city centre. I'm a big fan of free museums, which seem to be the norm in the US but not here. I have found, though, that you can typically join for a yearly family membership for less than the cost of two visits and they'll let you decide after your first visit if you want to upgrade. I've said no to a museum and an aquarium because I felt like "we'd seen it all" in one visit and the value just didn't seem to be that great for the price. Anyway, what's your point? (as Mike would say). After our Mother's Day visit, we applied the day's admission price towards an annual membership, so we're sure to go back.

There was lots to see at the museum, but we spent all our time at the Wallace and Gromit exhibit, which was partly about the claymation behind the animated duo and partly about fantastic (and forgettable) inventions of our time. If you've seen any of the Wallace and Gromit movies/shorts, you know that they are always coming up with some new invention, some of which go horribly awry! :-)

Mike and I have been fans of W and G since 1997 or so, when our friend Bill Stevens gave Mike a VHS tape and said, "You've got to watch this!" It was really, really cool to see the miniature sets where the movies were filmed. You just really can't imagine the kind of time, patience, attention to detail, creativity, and effort that goes into animation done to this level of perfection. The dollhouse-like sets were unbelievable. Here are some close-ups:

Wallace trying to help Gromit and the runaway vacuum.

"It's okay, Gromit. Everything is under control."

I love this dog's expressiveness. 

"Cracking toast, Gromit."

To give you a sense of scope, here's Ollie looking in at the dining room set.

We have this same refrigerator! (actually called a SMEG)

The little girl in me loved the dollhouse feeling of these sets. The little veggies
on the kitchen cart, the spoons in the ceramic pitcher, all the little details
in miniature! 

The exhibit was very interactive. Here Ollie toyed around with (not really)
making his own music. I gave him a shot because I honestly thought, "Maybe
he is a little Mozart." But, naah, he just got tangled up in the headphone wires.

At this center, you could design your own wallpaper, too.

There's much more to see at the Centre for Life, including a planetarium, so I'm sure we'll be back! Thanks to my three awesome guys for such a grand day out.