I am back in the states and rather jet lagged but I felt I would report on my second trip to England while it was still fresh in my head.
We arrived in Manchester to a dreadfully dreary drizzle that would accompany us the remainder of the trip. We decided to grab lunch before settling into our hostel. The hostel itself was nice and located in the Northern Quarter of the city but the showers proved to be tricky. It had only two temperatures: Norwegian frost and Tears of the Devil which meant that the act of bathing became a real fire and ice dance.
Donning our rain jackets, we headed out to explore the town. Manchester is a little rough around the edges with an even rougher core. Large numbers of homeless sit outside of shops and restaurants asking for money. The town had an extra energy because it was a long weekend in Britain so many people had come up to experience the Manchester nightlife. Our hostel had a pub crawl organized for the night so we decided to attend.
The following day we set out to explore some of the museums Manchester had to offer only to find out that most of them were closed for the holiday. We did go in the National Football Museum as well as the Museum of Science and Industry. The museums are free but do ask for donations. When I was there in July I didn't donate anything and just walked in. Seeing in as this was probably bad karma and shortly after returning home from that trip my life got flipped turned upside-down (fresh prince reference) I was out to reset any balance I may have disrupted in Manchester, thus made somewhat generous donations. The museums were just as they were a few months before so no excitement to report there.
We decided to take the train to Liverpool the next day. Apart from the massive cathedral which is the largest of it's design in the world, the main attraction of Liverpool is Albert Docks. Lined with shops, restaurants, and museums the docks have a deep historical impact on the world. Most of the slave trade with the United States was tied to these docks as slaves were shipped to America, which then shipped raw material (cotton) to England which was turned into finished goods. Maybe not the glorious part of human history but a main chapter in our story.
Of course Liverpool is very proud of it's 4 most famous residents: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Beatles lyrics, album art, and references are everywhere in town. There is even a Beatles museum which we were unable to go to due to lack of timing.
The next two nights we really got into that Manchester night life with very amusing results. We witnessed a bouncer chase down and tackle an unruly patron, girls shout insults at men on the street, and the cobblestone streets claim victim to a few high-heeled women.
The real reason for our trip to Manchester, however was to experience first-hand what the city is best known for:
Chelsea happened to be in town and seeing Manchester United play at Old Trafford was a bucket list item for me. We purchased the cheapest tickets we could find online, bundled up, and set out for the stadium a few hours before kickoff. After sharing a few pints with locals and walking around the stadium listening to chants of fired up fans, it was time to enter. We lucked out with our seats! I was seated 12 rows back and Branden scored seats near the corner flag just 2 rows back. The game seemed to fly by and was everything we could have hoped for and more. To top it all off, United won 2-0! Great end to the trip.
I've often said that the worst part of traveling is traveling. We had a connecting flight in Iceland and as we began our decent it became apparent that the weather was not going to cooperate. It was one of the scariest landings I have ever been a part of as the 50 mph cross winds tossed our plane around even after we had touched down. An Icelandic family next to me laughed at my clearly tense body language and reassured me that pilots were used to this.
The wind didn't let up either. All flights were grounded for the next 2-3 hours but at last we set off for San Francisco. Very tired, hungry, and a little grumpy I arrived at SFO to discover that the airline had not only lost my bag, but every single bag of every passenger on the flight. Apparently they were still in Iceland.
Lighter one bag, I made the hour journey to Brentwood to get my car then the 2 hour trip back home. I was very thankful to sleep last night. I return to work tomorrow and will gut out the next 6 weeks of school before saying goodbye to teaching forever and making a career switch. I am unsure when I will be able to take another trip abroad but when I do, I will update this blog.
I hope everyone had a terrific holiday.
No comments:
Post a Comment