The Road Back To London

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Via The Home Of The Biggest Sporting Team In The World Of Course

Arriving in Manchester I decided to take it a bit easier for a couple of days. It feels like I've been running for most of the trip to try and see everything I can and I think it's starting to catch up with me. Anyways, I bunked down for the night, knowing that I had a full day tomorrow to fulfil everything I wanted to see in Manchester.

The next morning, I headed straight for the Mecca of sport.... Old Trafford!! Home to the Red Devils, Manchester United, it is the most supported team in the world across any sport. Funnily enough, it is not the most supported team in Manchester. Manchester City, the perennial under achiever, is the main football team in the city and it is mainly international supporters that keep "Man U" alive. That and their unparalleled track record, winning more silverware then any other team including The Treble, an amazing feat in the 1998-99 season where they won the English Premier League, The European League and The FA Cup all in the same season, an accomplishment never before done or repeated. The tour of the stadium was geared around fanatics, with trips into the Players Room, Changing Room, Players Box and of course the pitch itself.

The rest of the day I spent having a quick look round the city at it's libraries and town hall before taking it "easy" with a few Irish boys back at the hostel. And I thought Australians could drink! Between 4 of them I saw 2 bottles of vodka, a carton of beer, a bottle of wine and half a carton of premixes disappear within 45 minutes during a card game. Not a bad effort considering they were only warming up before they headed out for the night. Me on the other hand had a bus to Oxford the next morning so it was only a mild intake for myself.

Oxfordis student central in England. With Cambridge, it is the main university areas in the country. Founded around Christ Church College, the original and the most opulent and sort after college around, the city grew to house the rapidly growing student population. Unfortunately, the grounds are inside the quadrangle are not open to the public, but the gardens and the exteriors give the impression of wealth and creed (or should I say breed). Besides the pomp and posturing, the gardens are amazing and you can just imagine preppy boys running around doing lacrosse and rowing.

From there it was down to London again for a couple more days before saying goodbye to mainland Britain. In those few days though I managed to fill in the time remarkably well. The first day was spent wandering around to Abbey Road hunting for the famous crosswalk that The Beatles crossed for their album cover before heading to the building near Green Park, Apple Studios, for that was where The Beatles played live for the last time from the roof top. Back at the hostel, I caught up with a couple of American boys who wanted to have a drink and ended up chatting the night away, and ending up with a couple of other places to stay on the West Coast of the US.

The next day was spent in relaxation before heading to the Tower of London for the evening tour of the Ghouls and Ghosts tour of the city. Covering everything from Anne Boylen and the punishment of the day (hanging, transportation or beheading) to the mass grave of plague victims and the Whitechapel Murderer. Now some might ask who's that?.... Well the truth is, it was the papers that caught hold of a forged note to the police signed Jack-The-Ripper. The only note to have been thought to have come from the murderer himself was signed "From Hell" but by then the legend was born and since has spawned books, movies and conspiracy theories in numbers. Finishing at The Ten Bells was a fitting end to a dark and sinister recount of the East Side.

Arriving back at the hostel, I found there to be a toga party in full swing and (after a couple) everyone decided to head out for a couple more. Great idea.... except when you have a bus to Paris booked for the next morning at 8am, and you have to be there an hour early, and it'll take 40 minutes to get there. Getting home at 4am may not have been the best idea in hindsight. Waking up at 10am was even worse. So much for the bus!! Plan B..... Eurostar! Two and a bit hours later (and a fair bit lighter on the wallet) I was on the mainland continent and arriving in the City of Love.

"If you do nothing unexpected, nothing unexpected happens." - Fay Weldon

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