Liverpool and Manchester

Liverpool, UK

My friend Danni and I had quite the adventure this weekend.  We took a whirlwind trip to Liverpool, Manchester, and Lyme Park.

Friday afternoon we took the four hour train to Liverpool.  It was a long ride, but pleasant.  I love traveling by train.  It's a great way to see all that a country has to offer.

We spent all of Saturday there just exploring the city at a leisurely pace.  We started our morning off in Liverpool Cathedral which is supposed to have the oldest church bells in Europe.  It was a massive place, and like all the others, breathtakingly beautiful.

Liverpool Cathedral

Next we went down to Albert Dock and did "The Beatles Story" museum.  I'm not a huge Beatles fan, but I learned a huge amount in that short hour.  I left the place with a newfound appreciation for the legendary band.

The Beatles Museum

Our hotel room in Liverpool.

Liverpool was a very historic city, but it was rough around the edges.  The buildings, although pretty, were old and run down.  It seemed no one had taken the time or money to restore the damage leftover by the wars.  I struggled to find a very nice upscale neighborhood downtown, or really, anything that didn't look like rough neighborhood.  It was an eye opening experience seeing the raw side of England.  This once grand city is a ghost of the past lingering on the docks.

The rest of the afternoon was mainly just spent wandering around the city.  We visited the Liverpool Museum, the Liverpool Central

Library, the Royal Liver Building, and saw the Cunard Building at Pier Head.  The day ended by looking for a coffee shop, which didn't end well.  Right when I was beginning to think Starbucks was taking over the world, I found myself in a neighborhood with only one coffee shop that was completely full. Tired and only slightly bitter, Danni and I hiked our way back to Lime Street station, grabbed a coffee to go, and hopped our train to Manchester.

In a short forty-five minutes we were in a brand new city.  Our walk to the hotel was longer than it should have been--we exited from the wrong door at the train station--but it was okay because we saw hundreds of Manchester City fans making their way to the stadium for a game.  Everyone was decked out in light blue and white.  I couldn't help but think of UNC's Tarheel games.  Momentarily it felt a little like home.

I like Manchester well enough.  It's odd, I was warned by many people how rough the city was, but I didn't find it particularly unseemly.  It had the air of an industrial powerhouse with a streak of modernity.  Like Cardiff, the old buildings were mixed with tall glass sky scrapers and apartment buildings.  It appeared that in this city, someone took the care to rebuild and repair the old decaying buildings.  I only passed through the city on a tram en route to Old Trafford, the Manchester United stadium, but what I saw seemed pretty normal for a city.  Manchester is a good deal larger and busier than Liverpool was.  It was more of a working city.  There weren't as many touristy things to do there, but the eternal hum of electricity that you get in a big city was there in the background, energizing its inhabitants.


Saturday morning we caught an early train out to Old Trafford.  Danni had booked us a museum and stadium tour.  This place blew me away!  I wasn't terribly excited at first.  Admittedly, I'm not a football (soccer) fan, and I knew very little about the team except that David Beckham once played for them. But after this tour I was proud to walk out of the "Manchester United Megastore" with my red and yellow t-shirt and support the team.

The stadium holds around 75,000 people, which in comparison to some of the mega-domes back home in the States isn't much, but standing next to the grass pitch being warmed by things that looked like the huge industrial crop irrigation contraptions with sun lamps attached, I realized how much time, effort, and money goes into each game.  We got to see the dressing rooms, directors' box, press rooms, and all of the cool back stage areas typically only seen by staff and players.  We learned a ton about the team's history, and Old Trafford itself that's been there since the early 1900s.



The afternoon was spent at Lyme Park, the home of Pemberly, from the 1995 A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.  Despite some rather foul weather, it was a wonderful afternoon.

Danni and I stepped off the train into what appeared to be in the middle of nowhere.  I pulled out my iPhone to pull up my Google Maps only to find a dreaded "No Service" message.  My heart sank as it dawned on me that neither one of us knew where we were going, and had stupidly planned to rely solely on technology.  Well, technology had failed us.  After a few seconds of panic, we noticed the sign that said Lyme Park.  "Well, I guess we're going to do this the old fashioned way."  Off we went. We only walked for about a half a mile, although, allow me to point out, that when you're walking in a seemingly random direction with only one sign to go off of, no cell service, and practically by yourselves, a half mile feels like an eternity.

Front Gatehouse

Shortly thereafter, we arrived at the gate of Lyme Park.  I was quickly beginning to realize exactly what the true meaning of a "country estate" was.  It's a euphemism for I have a enormous house and lots of land in the big middle of nowhere.  We found a shuttle bus to take us from the front gates up to the house.  Our driver was very nice, and gave a short background story on the property itself.  He told us about the hunting lodge on the property as well as the house.  Apparently, they several types of deer in the park.  In a few minutes, he dropped us off, we went exploring in the house.

South side of the house.

The house itself wasn't nearly as large as I had imagined.  Don't get me wrong, it was still huge, after seeing it in the movie, I assumed it was all house, but it actually was square shaped with a courtyard in the middle.  The north side of the house is where the main entrance was.  It was pretty, with a big circular driveway and another beautiful gate.  The inside of the house was lovely, but we weren't allowed to take pictures.  My favorite, however, was the south side of the house that starred in the movie.  It was beautiful and everything I imagined.  The pond behind the house was enormous, but since the film they had erupted an awful statue of a giant Mr. Darcy emerging from the pond like in the movie.  It kind of ruined the mood.  That small complaint aside, the whole afternoon was fantastic.

We caught our train home and arrived safely back in Swansea for another week of classes and real life.

I feel so blessed to be able to see all that I have in these short few weeks.  Yesterday marked the beginning of my fifth week of classes, and my sixth week here in Wales.  It's been a wonderful adventure that is only just beginning.

I promise, my post on Paris is coming soon.  The pictures from that trip as well as this one is already on Flickr, accessible via my photos link.  More later!

Spanish Fiestas and Cardiff Part Two

Friday night I went out with my friend Molly and our Spanish friend, Patricia.  We were introduced to a huge group of Patricia's friends from Spain.  It was a blast!  It was really cool hanging out with this group that was all speaking a mix of Spanish, English, and Italian.  My spanish listening skills are definitely improving.

Ivan, Julia, and myself.

Yesterday Molly and I were up bright and early to meet our American and Australian friends to take a day trip to Cardiff.  There was a Six Nations rugby game going on in Cardiff so the streets were lined with Wales Rugby gear.  The city was packed with fans and vendors.  It was really a sight to behold!  It reminded me of WSU on game day when we have the Cougar Athletics people holding the signs coming into town welcoming people to Pullman, everyone's wandering around in Coug gear, and the energy is overwhelming.

Flag lined High Street the morning of the Six Nations game.

We spent most of the day wandering through Cardiff.  Eventually our large group split into two and ended up being led around by myself and another Taylor from Texas A & M--we are very similar in a lot of ways.  It was kind of like meeting my twin, but then my twin has the opposite personality as me.  Weird!--my group went to Bute Park which is right next to Cardiff Castle, then we found a pub and watched the last half of the rugby game.

Molly, the other Taylor, myself, and our friend Marina from France.

Cardiff is quickly becoming one my favorite cities.  There is lots to do, but it's not terribly spread out, so it's easy to get around.  The castle and the art museum were surprisingly fun the second time around.  It was also nice to spend some quality time with my fellow Americans.  We love all of our Australians too though!  We came back in the evening, all tuckered out from a busy day.  It was a blast!  More trips are already being planned for the future.

As usual, be sure to check out the photos page for more pictures--there are lots of them--and keep an eye on my page because there is much more to come!