day tripping: liverpool

yay - we finally made it to liverpool! we took a rickety old train and watched fields of sheep out the windown. first we visited the very heavily-wallpapered walker. we were in early and able to wander without bumping into lots of ladies with lots of strollers full of babies [like we did everywhere]. it was tranquil and smelled yummy. the special exhibit was a large group of artists reconstructing the liverpool city scape to celebrate its "capital of culture" status. they used tiny stencils and airbrushes and it all looked very time consuming and meticulous.


next we saw the tiniest aquarium and some giant pastic bugs at the world museum. then we were hungry and cranky, so had a yummy lunch at the egg cafe. i take full credit because i actually researched the trip while peter spent hours upon hours playing an unnamed MMOPRG. [i do not know or care what that means, i just searched wikipedia and it spit that out.] anyhow, the place was hard to find.. first we had to find the streets, which sounds easy, but in england all streets have 82 names apiece. so, we found the street then climed a few flights of stairs and found a tiny purple door that lead to the cafe.. where we ate veggie food and my most favorite carrot cake with milky tea.

after we were stuffed we headed through the eerily deserted chinatown to the docks and saw lots of artsy goodness at the tate. there were loads of recognizable names and excellent modern british painters... also some strange abstract nonsense like a light-up cheese grater and a really uncomfortable looking wheelchair/sculpture.

it was windy, crowded and frigid out [by manchester standards] so we squeezed through the cavern disctrict to peek at the awesome 'hard days night' beatles hotel. lastly we saw the 'now these days are gone' photo collection at the national conservation center.. lots of photos of ringo back when he looked like balki bartokomous. then we went home. peter fell asleep on the train. we went to aldi and bought cookies. we stashed our food on the balcony like hobos. i made cous cous that looked like mashed potatoes and we ate it with mushroom gravy. and carrots.

day tripping: salford quays ["quays" = "keys", FYI]

i had researched liverpool for our day trip, but we decided against it due to a poor weather forecast, and ended up taking the metrolink to bury. we didn't realize it until we were getting off at the end of the line, but we were surrounded by a sea of elderly people. very slow walkers. we should have taken this as a sign, but until we saw the many booths of polyester granny nightgowns did we realize our mistake. the reason we went to bury was because its "world famous" market. little did we know it was famous for the type of outfits you see old ladies wear on cruises. and lots of vhs movies.

there was a very yummy looking display case with farmer's market fare including cranberry and chile cheese, which we bought. our cheap fish and chips were also excellent.. but no photos. since the market was pretty much a bust, we took the opportunity to check out tk maxx and asda. it was thrilling. on the way home we got off at salford quays and tried to shop at the outlet mall. we bought pounds of chocolate at the canterbury shop, but that was about it. here is petey at the quays. old trafford is off to his right, although you cannot see it. just for reference.

we made up for the visit to crusty old bury by walking the castlefield canals on sunday. i didn't know about the roman ruins, but apparently a fort build around 300AD was uncovered... and the area around them is a very pretty part of manchester. that is where we will take people when they visit. if they visit. and they will like it.

along the canals we found a little sculpture-ish exhibit about the history of the hacineda and manchester's music scene. it was a very cute.. but not as cute as the cutest pub in the world. it is called the peveril of the peak pub and it is covered with adorable green tiles and i like it a lot.

day tripping: york

the saturday before last we woke up later than we were supposed to [as usual] and took a crowded train to leeds. we sat across from an old guy who drank tea. i read my guide book and petey played games. because of our tardiness the first thing we did was eat lunch at kapadokya - a turkish restaurant. i had a chicken kabob-ish yummy chunk with yogurt sauce. petey had yummy eggplant and other stewed veggies. next we wandered around york minster. there was lots of pretty stained glass, cute memorial plaques and a very windy staircase. we climbed up the tower, even though we were warned it would not be pleseant for those afraid of heights [or clostrophobic]. it wasn't bad for scardy plants me, but if i was fat i would have been terrified. the staircase was very squeezy.

after the cathedral we wandered.. found a bunch of very crowded charity shops, then walked the bar wall. it was pretty and we got to peak into people's gardens and watch their kitties.

jazzercse at its finest

just in from a day exploring york and a few minutes wandering around leeds. they are playing "perfect" on tv. peter and i just wsaw the longest, most awkward aerobics scene.. featuring jamie lee cutis and john travolta's package. i recommend it with no reservations.

alright.. update. now there is a male stripper. ***** [that is my rating out of five stars]. now his is moon-walking. wearing a jock-strap. thrusts.... wooooooo.

day tripping: bradford

on saturday we took the train to bradford. like most medium to large cities around here it has a giant ferris wheel. bradfords's is less futuristic and more carnival-ish than manchester's, so that was nice to see.

first we walked around aimlessly for a couple hours.. there was a pedestrian-only downtown/high street with all of the usual shops. it was crowded and there were lots of kids. we saw the Uni campus which was deserted. then we began to look for a place to have some foods. as part of my "researched' for this trip, i had a list of about 15 curry shops that had been highly recommended on an online forum. unfortunately i had not written down where anything was located. so we wandered. we ended up eating at a place named omar khans. it was yummy.

next we went to hebden bridge. peter tells me they have a very good chippy, but it was too early for dinner while we were in town. we walked along the main street and saw lots of cute shops and old people in hiking gear. we need to go back during business hours to check out the very promising looking charity shops there. that's it.



petey is the cutest.

garbage

i've been known to become obsessive about recycling. right now our laundry room/closet is filled with sorted recyclables, patiently waiting for us to figure out where to take them in manchester. seeing people being irresponsible - or just plain lazy - about recycling makes me very angry. i used to dig through my co-worder's under-the-desk waste bin and pull out all the paper he was apparently too 'busy' to dump in the paper bin. the frustrating thing is that recycling has been made so easy. it's free.. you have to pay for trash pick-up [in lansing] per bag.. if half your bag is empty chef boyardee cans you may as well throwing them in the recycle bin instead and save $3.

besides paper, another sore spot is plastic shopping bags. peter and i have tried to use paper or cloth bags for a few years now, and have been pretty successful. paper bags hold more stuff and are very easily recycled.. just fill one with junk mail and set it on the curb.

when i moved out of my apt. i tried painfully hard not to throw anything out. i even krazy glued some broken mugs back together to pass on to friends. i made almost daily deposits at the thrift store in an attempt to salvage every possible thing from the trash bin. being so obsessed with old, previously-loved things, i have hope that someone else will discover my discarded goodies and love them as much as I had.. i can only hope.

happy birthday petey!

today peter turns 25.

after his first class of the term i took the train out to salford to meet him. it was my first solo train ride, and even though it is only two short stops away, i was proud i ended up in the right place. we then spent the afternoon with a handful of peter's acoustic classmates at the crescent pub where i had my first fruli. i was the only girl and i was drinking a pint of pink "beer." it was yummy.

later in the afternoon i discovered another uniquely english invention. we were served a round of complementary "chip barms." chip meaning french fry and barm meaning bun. we ate french fry sandwiches. sounds like a recipe a four-year-old might make up, but they are very real and an excellent way to soak up that extra booze before you head home. i look forward to eating more of them in the future. and hopefully they will all be free.

tomorrow i have an apt. with kelly services to find a job. i need a job. please hire me.

morethanalot take II