Newcastle

I was down in NEwcastle this weekend visiting old friends and crackin' wise. I hadn't been back in a little while, and so thought I'd offer some thoughts. First up, Newcastel doesn't have the feel of an English city. The closest thing I know to the feel of the city in the U.K. is Glasgow. Both are cities which are at once friendly, violent and only a generation ago were industrial powerhouses. It's an interesting, fun-loving vibe, and the cold weather (it's supposedly the coldest English city, but also the sunniest) brings out the best in people.

Now it's a city which has reasonable amenities (a few good galleries and libraries, some surprisingly good shops and restaurants, a solid Chinatown, and the best movie house in the U.K.) a cheaper standard of life than almost anywhere else, and still remains small enough to walk around comfortably. However, you are just as likely to get meals interrupted by crazies and drunks arguing and fighting as most other cities I've been to, and that's just a U.K. problem- you have to take the rough with the smooth. The same goes for the students, it's the no. 1 destination for public school kids to go to university, and it's nearly impossible to stroll the city without hearing someone called Flossie talking loudly on her fifth Blackberry of the year. Still, without them, the city would be less prosperous - rough with the smooth again.

Certainly it is more friendly than southern English cities, and while there is the hint of violence, it doesn't spill out into active intimidation as some cities do (I'm looking at you Leeds and Liverpool). I think it's a shame it will never be able to be a real cultural capital as long as there is such a wild, hedonistic party vibe to the whole city. There are too many stag and hen dos (presumably bringing money into the town) and with that unplesantness comes at least three strip joints on Grey Street, which was once voted the nicest street in the U.K. Still, this, and the universities, bring money and makes the town prosperous in a way that Middlesbourgh, say, doesn't.

It's also the biggest drinking city I can imagine, quite a common thing is to serve trebles of alcohol, and 9 shots of alcohol (of dubious quality) for £5 is not unheard of. The result is a city filled with vomit most mornings, and some of the easiest one nights stands in Christendom. I went clubbing on Friday, and I'm genuinely too old for it. It's generally a terrible way to meet people, but in Newcastle, with stag and hen party people (in costumes), alongside students blitzed out of their heads, you can go a whole night without seeing a single interesting person. Also, if I see another guy in his mid-twenties in a night club, wearing a backwards cap, and with jeans down low, being fawned over by objectively attractive ladies, then I am going to kill someone. Give me a cool bar anyday. Still, a great city.