Cloudy and Damp, Manchester and Lambeth Walk

Shall we start with the weather...

"Cloudy and damp" is the forecast, and a quick peek out the window confirms it... I guess that the sunny weather could not continue indefinitely. It would have been nice to have had another week of it, but this is England and you take what you get.

It has been a week or so since I wrote here last, and most of that time was taken up with a side trip to Manchester and Liverpool. I don't start my new job until next Monday so I figured that I had a little time to kill and Manchester was only 2.5 hours away by train...

The trip up was novel and fun... Trains are definitely the only way to travel in the UK (and preferably 1st class). Virgin Trains operate the London Euston - Manchester Piccadilly service and they are fast and comfortable. I booked a Standard class seat up, but managed to upgrade, for next to nothing, to a 1st class seat on the return journey, and thankfully I did, as the train was overfull and people were sitting on their luggage back in the Standard class cars...

Manchester is a very nice city... that said, it really doesn't have any real tourist draw card. I had 2 full days to kill and spent the first on wandering about the city. It has great Christmas markets in the Albert Square outside the town hall which attracted the lunchtime work crowd for a few Friday drinks...

The city does have some rather interesting Architecture. The highlight was the Royal Exchange Theatre... a former Exchange/Trade building for the Linen industry it is now a theatre in-the-round. In order to preserve the original space of the hall, the theatre has been inserted as a freestanding structure and looks a tad like the Lunar Lander (see picture).

Saturday brought a day trip to Liverpool. At 8.50GBP return and 40 minutes by train it was hard to resist.

Manchester may not have a tourist drawer card... but Liverpool has the Beatles.

...and they don't let you forget it! Liverpool is the first place I have done the "open top bus tour". There is nothing that screams "tourist" as much as sitting on the top deck of a double decker bus while an overly loud PA system (in the voice of Ringo Starr) tells you about the sights and delights of Liverpool. but it is a good way to get to know a city in an hour...

Liverpool has some Architectural gems... the 3 Graces on the waterfront (the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Offices and the Shipping Office - see picture); the Anglican Cathedral - which is huge!; St George's Hall, and Albert Dock. Having just one day, I only had time for the bus tour and a walk around the city... must get back and have a more detailed look.

Arriving back in London came with the relief of moving into a flat. I now have a room to myself and share with 2 others, both school teachers. It appears teachers come with an interesting view of the world, I guess it comes from spending so much time with young children who are not yours...

The room is large by London standards (and by Brisbane standards actually).

I spent yesterday buying sheets, towels, a duvee and cover, a bedside lamp... all the fun stuff! Which has set me up reasonably well for the time being...

So... I now officially live in a flat above a church hall... a Methodist Mission Church Hall to be precise... at least there wont be drunken parties on a Saturday night... or dancing!

oh.... and I live on Lambeth Walk!