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Published: August 8th 2007
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I started off well - I left in plenty of time, as planned - rather than the usual rush out at the last minute. I really wanted to get to Chorlton by 4.30pm to take my lovely, fashionable, but fallen-apart boots back to the shop. However, this was not to happen as I had the most horrendous journey up. A lorry had overturned near Huntingdon, so about the time I should have arrived in Manchester, I had just about got past Cambridge - that was fun! Knowing that I couldn’t change any of the situation kept me remarkably calm - none of that road rage, although I did end up taking the most bizarre route (ignoring my GPS’s pleas to “turn around and take the next left” as I followed that old stalwart - the map!) as I watched my car temperature raise (it was a sweltering day, without sitting in traffic for 3-4 hours…) and looked to keep it moving. Finally arrived in Manchester 7.30pm, in time for a nice meal and chill out with Erika - and the usual fun of looking out the window to see when a parking space comes free, dashing downstairs and trying to parallel
University of Manchester
Closest I've been since I left the job! park (I really should have a special lesson on it!).
b
Friday started with a lovely lie-in, making it down past the University of Manchester in time for lunch with Karen - we went to
Tai-Pan on the A34 - heard good things about it, but never tried it - we kept going to Moso Moso. 2-course lunchtime menu was £6, with a starter of chicken & sweetcorn soup, with a choice of 3 mains - including one of my favourites - Chicken Satay. After calling into
STA to discuss my Round the World ticket, the plan for the afternoon was to go to most of Manchester’s outdoor shops (there is
Blacks,
Millets,
The North Face, 2 x
Ellis Brigham, and
Cotswold Outdoor), starting with (and in the end, the only one of the day!) Cotswold Outdoor, as I walked past and it advertised 20%!o(MISSING)f if buying 2 of rucksack, raincoat or hiking boots. Well, already have the hiking boots, but by now knew was almost certain which backpack I wanted - an
Osprey hybrid backpack on wheels. Spent a long time in the discount section - well, I didn’t earn the title “Bargain Bex” for nothing - finding a lovely pink fleece (the constant range of
Vietnamese Meal
Penny gives me tips on chopstick etiquette... cream, navy and khaki which appears to be standard issue for travelling gets a little wearing after a while!) - that was as far as I got, then started chatting to shop staff (it’s a fun way to spend an afternoon… these guys have been to many different places and tried out much of the stuff themselves!). Another hour later I have tried on a variety of backpacks, including weights (which makes a big difference) - and trigged that I can use litre-water bottles to test how much I can carry - as these weigh 1kg each, and if these become too heavy as walking around, can tip out the water, and see how many litres you end up with - good tip - wonder if I’ll remember to try it out! Best fitting coat was in the sale, which appeared to ruin the 20% off the rucksack deal, but by this time they knew they didn’t have to do much more to get me to buy, and offered me some money off the backpack anyway - sold! Good to have that all sorted…
Having dashed back to Erika’s to drop off my purchases, I headed back into the
My turn!
Never have quite got the hang of them! city centre to meet up with Penny for our long-planned evening out! Our plan was for cheap/cheerful student food, but the pubs were heaving - so walking through Albert Square Penny highlighted
Tampopo, getting in there just before a mad rush. Had my first taste of Vietnamese food - interesting - and a lesson in using chopsticks… think that soup spoon may come in very handy! We then headed off to the
Bridgewater Hall where
Joshua Bell was playing - I make no pretence to be a knowledgeable classical music sophisticate, but really enjoyed it - and couldn’t help laughing every time there was a massive outbreak of coughing as the ‘movement’ changed. I’d spotted a couple of academics sat amongst the audience, and at the end ran into
Janet Wolff, who I used to work with in CIDRA, who was with some others, including
Douglas Crimp, CIDRA’s Visiting Lecturer on his second visit. It finished quite early, and I turned down Erika’s invitation to go clubbing, and went back to the joys of a broadband internet connection, TV and an amazing view.
Saturday was the main point of the visit - Karen and Lachy’s wedding at
Holy Trinity Platt (after making it to the
Bex @ the Bridgewater
Missed out on the Bridgewater Hall whilst living in Manchester, so this was the time! shop to take the boots back - think they were very fair, as they gave me my money back!). An enjoyable service, and really happy to see the happy couple, well, so happy. Erika came with me - and noted that the Lord’s Prayer was different from how she remembered it from Catholic schooldays… it has extra bits! My ex-housemate Julia was also at the wedding so we had a bit of a catch-up over a cream-tea, provided for those who were not going to the main meal. Erika & I had then arranged to go over and see Andy & Tammy - a really nice chance to hang-out, chat, and go to
Decathlon (such a fun place to go, although I have realised that I have a lot of my travel stuff already, so didn’t get much). Was quite tempting to sit and chat to Andy & Tammy all evening, but we headed off for the evening reception, with a celidah. Karen had changed the top half of her wedding dress, and both still looked like they were having fun! We weren’t sure about the tables, so we crashed on the floor - was fun watching the vigorous dancing…
Nothing too late, so Sunday morning we were up for breakfast at
Lava - thanks for that Erika - that was a complete treat - even the Black Pudding which always sounds inedible, but was in fact nice! We then graced the
Castlefield basin with our presence, noting some of the industrial history, rather than walking straight through it. A couple of hours in town followed, finding a few odds and ends for travel - including the necessary mosquito burner/pastilles. Was determined to find
‘Writing’ magazine, in my quest to see if I can earn a living out of writing on many different topics… just need to ensure I find the time to read it! A relaxed afternoon - including the
Arndale Centre, and as Erika desired, not TOO long in travel shops… “it’s a stuff sack Bex, if you’re not sure you can buy one later” (I was looking to see if there was variety in colouring!). Then it was back in the car for the short drive to Bolton!
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