The plan for Friday morning: Wake up, bus from uni to train station, train to Glasgow, bus to Manchester... Piece of cake.
What actually happened: Leave res a little later than expected, miss train by 1 minute, catch the next train and arrive in Glasgow @ 11:00am. ETD for bus: 11:00am. RUNN!
Needless to say, we had a bit of a rocky start on this trip.. but by some miracle, we made it on the bus in time and we were on our way down to Manchester. England, here we come!
After a 5 hour bus trip, we spent the night wandering around this German market in the city center.
It wasn't hard to get into the Christmas spirit.
I was very satisfied after eating a German sausage and drinking some caramel hot chocolate, mmmm... Time for bed after a long day of travelling.
Day 1: already gone through 3 pairs of socks to stay warm. Sooo cold - I'm such a wimpy Canadian.. :(
Good morning Manchester! There were some impressive football skills downtown to get everyone ready for the game in the afternoon..
Man United vs. Blackburn Rovers GO REDS GO!
I have officially fallen in love with football - I've always wanted to go to a game, and it was amazing.
It was a totally different atmosphere than a hockey game; Even though there were 76,000 people in the stadium, it was so quiet until there was a goal or a card or something - then people would go crazy. So serious..
Man United won 7:1, way to go guys!
(I've been so proud of myself for not saying the word 'soccer' for the past 3 months btw...)
Next stop: Liverpool
Our hostel with Liverpool flags, posters, and banners everywhere seemed like a good place to leave our Man Utd bag that I got the day before. We conveniently forgot it hanging up on the wall in the living room.
Being good students and taking time to LEARN at the Beatles Story Museum. ^
^ Set up in The Cavern club where they use to play.
We definitely drew a crowd with our amazing duet of 'Yellow Submarine' on the giant piano.
(Mom and dad, those lessons paid off!)
Meeting up with relatives was a great way to see the sights of Liverpool! Our personal tour guides continued our Beatlesville tour by taking us to see some exciting things including Paul McCartney's and John Lennon's childhood homes (respectively ^) and...
And finally this:
What is it you ask?? A Lambanana! That's right - a cross between a lamb and a banana. They are kind of like the moose you can find around Toronto: all over the city and each one painted differently. We saw one in the train station on our way back home and stopped to say hello.
On the long bus ride home, we were gradually seeing more and more snow the closer we got to Scotland. Since I've been back, there have been a few snowdays.. trains, buses, and flights were cancelled earlier in the week and snowmen have been popping up all around campus.
Here are a few snowy pictures to leave you with:
Sad looking swans in their frozen loch
I'm off to go find the Loch Ness Monster this weekend. Next time you hear from me, I'll be famous.
Stay warm. Cheers!
