Industry City

So the next day after we arrived at Manchester, Nick had to "work" (well, go to a Man U game and review it for the Man U official website and magazine - tough job, hey?), but we all went to brekkie at a cool little shop around the corner from where they used to live. After the brekkie, we went to some craft markets, perused the awesomeness, and then on to John Rylands Library, which had just been re0pened after a refit. It was built by Mrs Rylands after John boy died as a monument to him and it's pretty darn nifty. It looks like a church, very vaulty and big, and contains fragments of the original bible, as well as the Koran and some other religious books of importance. We had a lovely morrocan platter at a funky shop for lunch (after seeing the Hilton - ugh, ugliest building ever!) and then it was off the the Gothic town hall. And lucky us, there was a wedding out the front but not just any wedding! Oh no, it was a full on goth wedding, with the flower girls dressed up like Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire, and the bride wearing a deep red dress. Heh.
After bumming around at Vic & Nick's watching tv (yay!) and drinking tea, Nick finished work and we all caught the Magic Bus (seriously, that's what the bus company is called!) to the Indian restaurant that is the bomb! It was very nummy... mmm, Indian. We then wandered the streets a bit, found lots of Indian sweets for sale and bought some for dessert. Went back to Vic & Nick's, ate our dessert and watched Vanessa's midget show. Fun times!

The next day, we waved goodbye to Vanessa (who later told me it took 7 hours to get back to London - ugh!) and Vic, Nick and I went to the art gallery, where they had lots of PreRaphelite stuff.. yay! We then wandered about a bit, doing some shopping in Topshop and H&M (heh) before having lunch at a pub where you could get a pint and nachoes for £5. Oh, and we also went to another cafe with wireless internet so I could check my train stuff. Joy. After lunch, Vic and I went to see Superbad at the movies and I tried Ben & Jerry's Icecream - Cherry Garcia. Very nice, but it tasted a little bit of fake cherries... never a nice flavour. After the movie, we went back to Vic's house where she made an awesome risotto for dinner. It was a great, relaxing normal day. Always fun!

So the next day was travelling to Windermere. Yeah, that was fun. I got on the train, no problems (well, the ticket machine almost wouldn't accept my credit card - stupid English credit cards with their microchips!) but when it came time to hop off at my change, I missed it! The train only waits 3 minutes at each station, and don't really let you know that the stop is coming up... I think you're magically supposed to know. Anyway, got off at the next stop, thinking I'll just ask the ticket office what to do... but no, the ticket office was closed. Probably for lunch, the bastards. Anyway, I bit the bullet and tried to buy a ticket back to Oxenholme (my station) but the damn ticket machine wouldn't accept my card (see chip stupidity!). So, frustrated as all hell, I invetigated and thought, I'll ring the ticket company. Yeah, couldn't get through. Awesome. So finally, a train pulled up going past Oxenholme and I asked the paddle waving guy what I should do. He said just hop on and tell the conductor what happened. Sweet! So I got back on, made sure I was waiting next to the door and managed to get to Oxenholme an hour after I was supposed to be there! I then had to wait for the next train, so I was an hour late getting to Windermere. And then the helpful taxi driver told me I was staying in the wrong hostel... Ambleside is better, apparentlly. But we pulled up to Windermere YHA and I just fell in love with the scenery. It was exactly what I wanted... smack back in the prettiness. Fun.

So I checked in and then walked down the hill to the bus stop, my ankle protesting all the way. Yay for twisted ankles. Anyway, caught the bus into Windermere and discovered, well, that there wasn't much there! So went to Bowness, which is right on the lake. Very pretty and lots more shops! Did the Beatrix Potter thing, which was more geared to kids, and then wandered about Bowness, hoping to maybe get to Ambleside. Was going to catch a boat, but unfortunately I had just missed the last one! So sat around hoping for the bus, but it didn't show as they had just changed to winter times (damn the end of Daylight Savings!). So wandered around trying to find a taxi, but no joy. Finally, I asked a shop lady if she knew where a rank was, but she said I could use her phone to call one. So nice of her! Made it back to the YHA and had a lovely dinner (bangers and mash!).

The next day, got a taxi down to the train station, admiring the scenery while I waited (so pretty there, seriously!). The train ride was uneventful until Birmingham, where I had to swap trains... via a completely different train station! I got directions from the information booth, but either I'm stupid or they weren't very good cos I was so going the wrong way! However, a very nice security guard pointed me in the right direction, even walking with me a ways to make sure I was going the right way. Got to the station after walking through the shopping district of Birmingham, so I can so say I've been there now! Arrived at Stratford-Upon-Avon and checked into my B&B, which was just gorgeous! Would recommend to anyone, def. I had a pink room (as mentioned before... but it was so super cute!) Anyhoo, the owner suggested I see Henry V that night, as it was the only play on in Stratford and her son had seen it the night before and raved about it. So I wandered through the town until I found the theatre, discovering it was the Royal Shakespeare Company in their temporary premisies, as they were redoing the Swan Theatre. Bought my ticket and continued on to Shakespeares Birthplace, where they had live guides in every room, giving you a little background on what the room had been used for. Fun! I then went on the internet, organising the rest of my trip, which took ages. Then it was dinner time and play time! The play was quite good, but the production was amazing! During the scenes with the French Court, they had actors on trapezes, symbolising the airiness and frivolousness of the French. And the war scenes were awesome, smoke, light and sound used to make it seem like a World War I trench (even tho the play was set in the 13th century - meh, who cares!). Unfortunately, I was so super tired that I kept wanting to fall asleep, and when the play clocked in at three hours, I thought I would! Luckily, made it through it, went back to the B&B and had an awesome sleep!

Break time. Back with Bath!