Going south

Manchester was my first stop on my journey back to London. I stopped in Manchester overnight and spent my time visiting the sights, checking out the Christmas markets and people watching. Manchester is obviously a lot busier than quiet Grasmere. The highlight of my stopover in Manchester was a visit to Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club. I am not a huge fan of English football but I was enthralled as I walked through the museum admiring all the large trophies. I visited the ground on a game day which meant I was not able to take a tour, they did though allow me to take a quick look inside to see where fans pay thousands to watch players who get payed millions.

Leaving Manchester I caught a bus to Liverpool. I had paid a bargain price of £2 for a national express bus. The trip was due to take less than one hour. I arrived in Liverpool three hours after leaving Manchester. The bus broke down then we got stuck in heavy traffic. When we made it to Liverpool it was dark, cold and very wet and I had to walk through half the city to find a hostel.

I was visiting Liverpool for the same reason millions of tourists visit the city every year, to visit the sights made famous by the Beatles. I took a tour through the Beatles story exhibition which relives the story of the famous four before walking down Matthew St to view the Cavern Club where the band played hundreds of gigs.

My next stop after Liverpool was Birmingham where I stayed with a guy I met on a rainy day in Ambleside, the town next to Grasmere. He invited me to stay with him so I thought why not. He showed me the large German themed Christmas markets and the Aston Villa football stadium. I also spent an afternoon in Stratford Upon Avon. The birthplace and death place of William Shakespeare. I visited his grave inside the church before visiting the house in which he was born in the middle of town.

Leaving Birmingham I caught a bus back to London in time for another BUNAC day trip. This time we visited Leeds Castle and Rochester. I enjoyed the Castle visit but Rochester was the highlight. I did not realise the town was celebrating Dickensian Christmas. Actually I had never heard of it before. But one weekend every year locals dress in Charles Dickens themed dress and act out parts of his novels in the streets. The town was packed and a lot of fun.

Goodbye to Grasmere

In my final week in Grasmere, my dad and his wife Marsha came to visit. Together we explored parts of the Lakes I had seen many times before as well as places I had not yet seen. As we drove around the Lakes it was obvious to see the destruction caused by the floods in the previous week. Many of the roads were still covered in water and many of the locals had started the clean up job.

The water in Windermere Lake had risen so much that shops beside the lake in Bowness were two to three foot deep in water. Many of the smaller waterfalls were also now raging waterfalls.
Friday morning dad and Marsha left so I said goodbye before starting my last day of work at the Glenthorne. Following a fairly straightforward shift we made our way to the pub to begin a very big night of drinking, partying and celebration. The Glenthorne shuts down over the winter month which is the reason for our party and the reason for my departure.

The party continued into the early hours of the morning and when I awoke the next morning I saw something I had not seen for some time in Grasmere, sunshine. I also got to see something I had not yet seen in the UK, snow. All the higher mountains around Grasmere were covered in snow and the view was rather spectacular.

A couple of lazy days and a few visits to the pub later and I was on a train leaving the place which I had called home for the last three months. I caught a train to Manchester and it felt good to be travelling again.