Birthday treats

A few days ago I clocked up another year on this planet — an event that did not go unnoticed by a few companies that have my email address. Yves Rocher offered me a free bottle of perfume, a dainty wrist watch and a make-up  bag (if I placed a big enough order) but, best of all, Beefeater and Las Iguanas tempted me with a free main course at any of their restaurants. Las Iguanas won, as they were thoughtful enough to include a rather fetching image of me on my last Mexican holiday — instantly recognizable, as I'm sure you'll agree.

This coincided nicely with my short break in Newcastle, and the opportunity for Aunt Sarah to lavish some affection on her niece, so off we set by Metro, in the direction of Las Iguanas in the city centre.

Benton Metro Station

Arriving at 6pm, the place was already packed, but thankfully there was just room for two more. I waved a copy of my Birthday Treat email and was given a complimentary cocktail - a nice start!  We chose a couple of tapas dishes for starters, then both went for a Brazilian dish that sounded too good to miss. If Pele loves it, why not us?.

THE EXTRAORDINARY XINXIM 

Exotic, creamy, satisfying. Lime chicken in a crayfish & peanut sauce with spring onion & garlic rice & fine green beans. Toasted coconut farofa to sprinkle, sweet plantains for fun. Pele loves it.

Ben, our waiter (who took this photo) informed us that it's pronounced something like zin-zim. Here it is, about to be devoured by a hungry aunt and niece.

We left Las Iguanas, full of praise for our meal and our waiter, and feeling nicely full... but the evening was far from over. A short walk down Grey Street, then over the Tyne, brought us to The Sage concert hall in Gateshead.

This view has featured in Angie's Aspirations before, but this time I had
a decent camera to record the scene.  The famous Tyne Bridge is in the
foreground, the Millennium Bridge beyond it, and The Sage concert hall
between the two, on the right.

Here I was in for a real musical feast — Beethoven's 7th Symphony, performed by the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Before the performance began, we were treated to the news (a day before the press release) that Julian Rachlin had been appointed their Principal Guest Conductor.  JR then led his sinfonia in a stirring performance of Beethoven's masterpiece – a little too fast in the 2nd and 4th movements, according to Auntie, but I was in raptures. The 2nd movement (in particular) is so memorable that I found myself humming it for days afterwards.