UK Roadtrip Take Two - Manchester

11th September




After an early start to the morning, (we were all awake by 6am) it took us a surprisingly long time to organise and our selves out for the day.  I had sorted our map problem out the night before by downloading Google maps onto my phone for use offline. This meant we could actually have an idea where we were driving!




We drove around the outskirts of Manchester near our Air BnB first, finding some shops to wander in Chortlon and surrounds.  From here we headed into Manchester City Central to find where Mother Dearest had to attend her conference for the following couple of days and to explore the city.


Wild in Art and Manchester City Council are bringing all of Manchester’s communities together for Bee in the City, one of the most spectacular public art events the city has ever seen. In total 232 large and small Bees are waiting to be discovered on this free, family-fun trail, taking in the city’s landmarks and undiscovered gems. Each Bee has been designed by a different artist and celebrates the unique buzz of Manchester, from its industrial heritage to its vibrant music scene. An inspirational learning project will give schools, colleges and community groups the chance to take part.  The humble worker bee is the symbol of Manchester City.  It was adopted during the industrial revolution, referencing the textile mills which were often described as hives of activity.  The bee represents the unwavering Mancunian spirit of hard work and enterprise.  We saw several of these bees along our travels today and I'm sure we will see plenty more before we leave Manchester!




The main stop for the day was the John Ryland Library in Central Manchester. The John Rylands Library was founded by Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her husband John Rylands. In 1889 the architect Basil Champneys designed the striking gothic building, which took ten years to build and was opened to public readers on 1 January 1900.  The library became part of The University of Manchester in 1972 and currently holds the Special Collections of The University of Manchester Library. Mrs Rylands' memorial to her husband is now part of the third largest academic library in the United Kingdom, and the Deansgate building houses over 250,000 printed volumes, and well over a million manuscripts and archival items.




The current exhibition on display is 'Women Who Shaped Manchester'.  Women Who Shaped Manchester captures the passion and strength of these pioneers. You will be astounded by the actions of women as they engaged in politics, scientific debate and culture and are able to explore the history of the women whose hard work fuelled Manchester’s booming cotton industry.  Many items and stories were on display in the exhibition; Emmeline Pankhurst’s stirring letter that speaks for those prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of equality, the lives of the women spinning cotton at Gidlow Mill, the beautiful scroll presented to Enriqueta Rylands, the first freewoman of the City of Manchester, just to name a few.  Unfortunately photos were not allowed to be taken in this exhibition. 




The permanent exhibition at the library is home to what is believed to be the oldest fragment of the New Testament of the Bible.  The fragment of the Gospel of John contains incomplete lines written in ancient Greek, the Bible's original language.  The fragment was bought for the library in Egypt 1920, but the original origins of the piece are unknown.  Specialists have identified similar handwriting in documents dating from the early second century to the early third century AD, the fragment on display was copied during this time frame, and is one of the earliest surviving manuscripts of the New Testament and one of the oldest archaeological remains of Christianity. 


The whole library was absolutely beautiful.  The gothic architecture along with the musty book smell, made you feel like you were in the middle of a Harry Potter movie and Madam Prince was going to come any second and tell you off for talking or using your electronic devices!




After visiting the library, we drove up into the North Quarter of Manchester and had a wander around the little shops, bars and restaurants there. We dawdled home stopping in just about every town's centre street along the way, unfortunately on the way home we ran into some car trouble in the way of what we diagnosed as a slow leak in our front passenger tyre.  After a quick trip to the local Hertz, we headed back to Manchester Airport where we had original hired the car to see if they could sort it out.  Unfortunately there we ran into more trouble!  Hertz was completely booked out of cars and the only appropriate was a 12 seater van! Which would be almost impossible to drive around the UK!! Thankfully after some talking and rearranging we ended up with a smaller 7 seater van, with a sky light and navigation! definitely an upgrade! Mum just has to learn to drive it!




 The final stop of the night (after a quick run home and change of clothing) was Mum's conference opening at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.  It was a great way to wander the textile exhibition and see the first computer 'Baby' whilst enjoying the evening food, drinks and company.

   



The John Ryland Library

  

  

The Textiles Exhibition

 

The Computer Exhibition and 'Baby' Replica

woodcarvers and adelboden hike

16/12/14

This morning was an early wake up… of a whole 7 am!  We had breakfast and then had to pack our lunch for our full day of programme.  Programme meeting was at 8.30 am, we planned our day and the route we were going to take.  Then we went outside and did our hiking checks for clothes, shoes and what was in our packs before breaking and heading off. 

We left just after nine, and got to the wood carvers just after ten.  We were told it would take a lot longer with guests!! Here's some photos I took along the way...

I found some Winstons!! (My old car!)

The Woodcarver's was thoroughly impressive! The have been collaborating with Our Chalet since 1945.  The business has just been handed over to the third generation, and they recently revamped the Our Chalet sign which can be found at the end of the drive way.  The ceiling of the shop is covered in badges from the people who have visited and we were encouraged to add more! I found a Australian Friendship one among them.

 There were so many things I wanted to buy, but as I am sure I will be back, I restrained myself to just buying a trefoil name badge with 'Mel' on it.  After the Woodcarvers, we walked a little down the hill to a little cafe called 'Cafe Blatti'.  A lovely German lady runs a cafe out of her house.  I had lemon cake and a cup of tea, and I would highly recommend it!!

After our late morning tea break, we hiked down to the river.  Chloe made us walk almost to the bottom of the gorge, before she realized the path through the gorge was closed, then made us hike all the way back up again.  When we reached the river side it was time to have more food, lunch! However before we did that we all completed another section of our Staff Challenge by standing/kneeling in the rive for five seconds.  It wasn't that bad on your toes as such, however once it hit your knees and shins the water was freezing.  It was a lovely feeling to sit and put our shoes back on the feel your arteries and veins vasodilate, and return blood flow to your feet.  It kinda made them feel all warm even though they were freezing.  

After finishing lunch, we continued on into town, where we met up with Jen.  Here was where we got to organize our ski hire!!  We had organized to hire from a company called InterSport in town.  They decked us out with ski boots, skis and poles.  Apparently you can only hire a helmet if you are under 15.  The guy laughed at me when I asked him... So it looks like I will either have to borrow one from the Chalet or buy my own!

After we moved all our gear to the van... there was a lot of gear to move, when you think 8 people with boots, poles and skis, then begun the Adelboden Scavenger Hunt.  We had to find things such as the cow (bonus points for making it moo), take a photo in front of the town fountain (bonus points for getting your noses wet), how many steps between two shops which I can't spell the names of, how many public toilets can you find, and take a funny photo on the childrens playground.

Us in front of the town fountain

Our funny picture on the playground

We also went to the Co-op to buy some more snacks and chocolate... you can never have enough of Swiss chocolate, before meeting at 4.15 pm and heading back to Our Chalet.  We managed to get a couple of shots of all the Vollies together and the Vollies and Interns.

Once we got back to Our Chalet, half of us split and finished setting up the attic of Spycher and the cooked dinner.  Then after dinner we had the evening off! Finally our internet was working (kinda), so I caught up on the news (omg Sydney!!) and talking to people at home.

At about 8 pm we headed over to Jen and Mara's house for hot drinks after they invited us at dinner.  It was nice to sit on the floor and talk about nothing!  Half headed back before the rest of us, and Charlotte, Chloe, Katrina and I headed back last at about 9.30 pm.  When we got back, Chloe stood in front of the fridge trying to decide if it was to late to have food (shes a bit of a food/sweet junkie!).  When she opened the fridge there was a bit of a surprise! 

 Needless to say, she screamed (waking up all of Stockli in the process) and we all thought it was hilarious!  She ended up on the floor for about 5 mins trying to control her self, and we eventually calmed her down when Katrina bought out chocolate.  

"The mood-enhancing properties of chocolate are well known in both the Muggle and wizard worlds. Chocolate is the perfect antidote for anyone who has been overcome in the presence of Dementors, which suck hope and happiness out of their surroundings. Chocolate can only be a short-term remedy, however. Finding ways to fight off Dementors – or depression – are essential if one is to become permanently happier. Excessive chocolate consumption cannot benefit either Muggle or wizard."

—Description of the effects of chocolate, Harry Potter.

The funniest bit was, when we were all sitting at the kitchen table after we had all stopped laughing, Chloe got up and opened the fridge and almost scared herself again!!

last day in london

5/12/14

This morning I slept in before packing up all my gear and folding up my bed.  Once that was done I headed out for the day.

First stop was the London Eye.

There was about 10-15 in the pod, however it was still quite roomy.  There were lots of places to stand and look out and tablets on the walls which showed you the main icons of London.  The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben were pretty obvious though!

Next stop was Sealife, the London Aquarium.  

The Aquarium is located a short walk from the London Eye, in the basement of the County Hall on the South River of the River Thames.  They have more than one million visitors each year and more than 2 million litres of water.  

Thankyou to Cairney for my tickets which were my christmas present!!  I really enjoyed them!!

From Sealife I walked down and across Westminster Bridge to take some closer photos of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  

I was headed towards Westminster Pier where I was to catch the Red Rover River Cruise down the Thames.  My original plan was to catch the boat all the way to Greenwich, which was going to take three hours for a round trip, however when I got on the boat I decided that I would instead only do the shorter version to Tower Pier return, a 1.5hr return trip and then go to the Globe Theatre instead.  

I made the round trip back to Westminster Pier and then caught the Underground to Southwark Station and walked to the Globe Theatre.  The replica is not in the Original location of Shakepeare's Globe Theatre and they have made a few additions to follow new laws such as fire and safety regulations, which would not have existed previously - but it is incredibly accurate to the building specifications, seating, and the paintings on the stage.  The detail was incredible.  

Before you entered the theatre itself, there was a museum on Shakespeare, his works and the original Globe Theatre.  Here is where they had the information which had been used to rebuild the Theatre and materials made for new productions.  The costume above was made for Jane Lapotaire as Queen Elizabeth I for the Royal Gala Opening of the Globe Theatre in 1997. 

From the Globe I walked up the Thames through some Christmas Markets to the Millennium Bridge. 

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in London. It was built some time before the Summer of 1995 and was destroyed by Fenrir Greyback and a small group of Death Eaters on 24 June, 1996, in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. 

After I had finished walking the bridge, and getting worrying that Death Eaters were going to appear out of no where and destroy the bridge, I made my way to Leicester Square to buy tickets to the Lion King show that evening.  Though they were actually much cheaper than going at home, I still bought then anyways - it is part of the 'London experience' to go to a show in the West End.  I found some food at Burger King and then made my way through Trafalgar Square (below) to the Lyceum Theatre where the Lion King was showing.  

It was a very good show, very well done and the performers were amazing, but I was a little disappointed on the adaptions they had made from the movie and the extra bits and pieces they had added in.  

I headed home where I had all my stuff packed and ready to go.  I called a Mini Cab to take me to the Hotel Danielle and her family were staying at, where they had invited me to stay.  The taxi man had no idea where he was going and tried to ask me where to go.... I didn't know either!!  But I eventually made it there in one piece by about 12.30 am, crawled into bed with an alarm set for 6.15 am.