Again, its been a week. I feel terrible. I clearly have been way too busy. This time I vow to not let this happen again. So let's flash back to where we left off, last Thursday. Thursday there was a giant international party where students from 4 different cities in Leeds. The theme (because in England, there is always a theme) was Disney. I decided to go as Jessie from Toy Story. Here are some pics of our Disney fun:
Friday night I stayed in as to not miss the train for Manchester the next morning since the week before waking up on time didn't really work out too well for me. Luckily I woke up on time Saturday to catch our 8 am train. Andrea and I hoped on the free city bus so we didn't have to walk or pay for a taxi. With 30 minutes to spare, we thought that would be plenty of time. However, the bus driver proceeded to sit in the bus lot, chatting with his British buds for a solid 10 minutes. So we almost missed the train. As we ran to the train (literally), Quinn ran in. He called me once he had gotten his ticket and we had just began moving. He had to catch the next train while we waited for him in Manchester. Finally we were all together and walked to our hostel, which was really nice. We started off going to the information centre that had a Microsoft SURFACE! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go search it on YouTube. It is one of the most fun things to play with. We then headed to CUBE (an Architecture and Design Exhibit), taking some detours around the city. Here are some pictures from walking around the city throughout the day:
When we finally go there, the exhibit was closed until the following week. So we went to find a pub that was playing the Manchester United game so we could watch it with some natives and have a bite to eat. Some locals told us to go to Yates. Once we got there, the place was jammed full of people and there was no where to sit, so food was out of the question. In addition, at the door were four, yes FOUR, security guards just in case things got out of hand. We stayed and watched a bit of the game, then left to go find some food. Finding food in Manchester was actually quite difficult. We went to a few places and finally found a spot where they weren't playing the game so there were actual seats and tables to eat at. Quinn asked the bartender why they didn't play the game and she responded, "It causes too much drama." I got my first order of bangers (sausage) and mash, and it was delicious:
Afterwards we walked around some more, making our way to the John Rylands Library. Before we got there, I thought it'd just a pretty library. But this place was so much cooler than that. Not only was it absolutely beautiful, but they had thousands of old books that you could look at (but not touch, of course). I snuck a picture of one of the rooms. On top of that, they had pieces of old, important books. One of the most amazing ones was a small pieces of a writing of the New Testament that dated back to around 125 A.D. It is the oldest dated piece of the New Testament in the world. They also had a second edition copy of Canterbury Tales. So awesome. There was also a working printing press that Andrea and I both tried.
We then walked south to the ancient Roman fort ruins. While there we stumbled across a slightly sketchy staircase that led to a parking garage (I think) where we could see the entire city. Both were pretty awesome. Following that we went to the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), which was one of the coolest museums I have ever been in. Unfortunately we didn't get to see too much of it because it closed. In the atrium when you enter though there was a giant chandelier (for lack of better words) of TV screens. You registered this card, took a picture, and it was displayed over the screens. This card also logged you into a bunch of activities (mostly that we didn't get to) throughout the museum. I have never been to a museum where you were encouraged to touch things as much as they did here. We went into the Power Exhibit, where I took a bunch of pictures of trains for my Grandpa.
That night we had quite an adventure finding food again. Most places weren't serving food since it was a Saturday night, and those that were had literally NO tables. Finally we went to a place that was a little more pricey, but food is food. I had a delicious falafel sandwich...if that's what you call it, a sandwich. We then went to a bar called Trof for a bit, but after feeling extremely young (not to mention tired) with all of these 30 somethings, we just went back to bed. The next morning we traveled to Bolton, a very small town where literally everything is closed on Sundays. Again, it took us an hour to find a place to eat lunch, but finally succeeded. Being the smart kids we are, none of us looked up where the Bolton stadium where the Bolton Wanderers would be playing. Despite its name, it is not actually in Bolton, but about a 5 minute train ride in the middle of nowhere, England. We made it to the game, got our tickets, and experienced something pretty different. To start off with, there are NO other distractions during the game besides other fans chanting. No announcements, no songs, no breaks. You aren't even allowed to bring alcohol into the stadium. The most different part was the line of security guards surrounding the opposing team, Everton, fans. The away team fans weren't even had a separate entrance that could not be accessed by the rest of the fans. It gets that out of hand sometimes. Here are some pictures from the game, which were technically not allowed, but I plead the American tourist.
Monday I went to try out the Women's Basketball Club with Elizabeth and it only made me remember how much I miss basketball. Definitely going next week! Tuesday I went to the Eldon, as usual, and had a good time with friends.
Now that I have caught up on the last week of my life, I need to go catch up on Glee!
The Girl who enjoys dressing up like Jessie from Toy Story,
Jessica
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