Yesterday evening we took an Uber to The Crows Nest …a Greene King Pub, with good old fashioned ‘pub grub’. We didn’t want a posh restaurant just some decent food….thats what we got…Dad had hunters chicken, John had gammon steak, pineapple & egg & chips. I had 3 Cumberland sausages, mash, peas, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding …we each had a soft drink and the bill was less than £35…. Half the price of the night before and more tasty….a great choice.

Day 3 – time to leave Newcastle and head for Scotland

John walked up to the station and brought back 3 bacon butties which we had in our room with coffee. Heading down to reception to book out we meet a delightful receptionist. When he heard how old my Dad was he rushed across to shake his hand and chatted to him while John and I went to fetch the car. The Leonardo Hotel discounts your car parking which was a very pleasant surprise…if you stay longer than 2 nights it would be cheaper to buy a week’s parking.

Returning to the hotel the lovely receptionist assisted us with our bags and then gifted us some wonderful fruit jelly pastilles, which he said he and his wife enjoyed on their trips to Scotland….he was right we did enjoy his kindness and the jelly pastilles……what a kind gentleman….I must say we would definitely stay there again….we were made to feel very welcome and the Northern Kindness shone through.

We had a good steady trip up the A1… until we saw……

We crossed into Scotland and headed for South Queenferry a favourite haunt of ours. Filling with petrol at a garage with a Marks & Spencer’s we picked up sandwiches and sausage rolls for the boys and a wrap with yoghurt for myself. …we sat in the carpark almost beneath The Forth Bridge eating our lunch. I fetched a couple of coffees from the Forth Bridge cafe & Bistro….we spent an enjoyable hour watching the world go by…trains, boats, ferry’s etc…

We headed on to our hotel in Falkirk. It’s not the Premier Lodge’s fault that their lodge is in the middle of massive roadworks at the moment. We are here for 4 nights so that John can go to Edinburgh and Glasgow stations, while Dad and I see the tourist sights….so we wanted somewhere cheap and cheerful….. that is exactly what we got …we were greeted by two delightful receptionist who went beyond the norm to give us information and to make us welcome. A lift deposited us on the 2nd floor. The rooms have double beds ( we’re used to kingsize so we will be very snug!), a kettle and coffee and a hanging area, a tv, desk and en-suite. Everything we need…there are 2 communal microwaves and fridges near the reception…..so all good…basic but clean and ok for what we need.

We’ll need to negotiate the road works again tonight to find somewhere to eat….more about that tomorrow.