A Day in... Manchester

Second stop of our little trip through the North: Manchester!

Day 1

After the shock of Leeds and totally exhausted from carrying our bags around all day we arrived at the coach station in Manchester. We all agreed to go straight to bed, only problem: Because I booked after my friends, they had a double bed in an ibis budget hotel and I was in a hostel not too far away. So we said goodbye for the night and went into different directions.

I had a bed in a mixed 28-bed dorm. And honestly, the first night was totally fine! There was only me and three other guys and we managed to spread out so I couldn't even really see them. Only negative things: the shower in the basement is freezing cold because the ventilation didn't stop and the lights in the room didn't turn off until midnight.

After a short breakfast my friends and I met up at my hostel and walked to the National Football Museum (I mean, it's Manchester, come on) which is free and explains a lot about the sports history, developments and aspects like tragedies, women's participation, LGBT+ members and famous footballers. Not only football fans will find something worth looking at in here.

Next point on our list was the second largest China Town in the UK, which was... really disappointing. When you are used to the tourist attraction that is London's China Town the normal looking part that we walked through just looks like any other. The archway was cool though!
At this point we were so hungry we went into a buffet restaurant lust opposite of the arch and made our way through everything they had including dessert. The guy at the counter was really nice and it was cheaper than a single meal in any of the other restaurants we walked by so check it out.

If you are in China Town you just have to walk a few minutes to get to the Manchester Art Gallery. If the weather is bad or you need to go somewhere where you can stretch your legs for a bit a museum is always the best option and this one actually has nice paintings. It also has an entire level dedicated to modern art which is not really something I enjoy in most cases. Like, ok, that a picture of an empty vase. Nice. Ok. Next!
One exhibition my friend was looking forward to in here, and me too when she told me about it, is the Imitation Game. Apparently it's about how an AI can 'grow' and develope by learning. You ask it a question, it learns from it... somehow. I say somehow because it didn't work when we got there. It was set up and you could tip in your question, but it just didn't react. Disappointing, but nothing we could do about it.
For all those who are still kids in there hearts, one tip I can give you is to play "If I were you..." in a museum. The possibilities are endless, there is almost always someone around who would be scandalized by the ridiculous dares you can come up with and if it gets out of hand declare it an art project! Perfect.

And because we were not finished with culture for that day we did a quick stop at the gigantic beautiful library that you can actually see from the museum. It's one of those old ones where you are afraid to breath too loudly in case a stern looking woman with glasses shushes you. I love it. Makes me really excited for university and the unavoidable question 'why am I doing this to myself, I could just start as a stripper'.

Because we still had time to kill we walked through the gigantic Arndale shopping centre and then headed towards the ibis hotel. I just wanted to take a shower in a place where I wouldn't have to freeze to death as soon as I turned out the water. And hell, the showerhead even shone in different colours! And they had a TV! I almost didn't leave.
I wish I hadn't when there was a problem with the room and who has to go into which bed until the manager, with a guest list in his hand, figured out that two guys slept in the wrong room. At this point every bed was occupied and I was still the only girl. A+ logistics, really. Good thing I was too exhausted to really care.

Day 2

Day 2 started out by going to yet another museum. This time, it the People's Museum next to the river where I met my friends. Again, it is really cool, with a temporary (?) exhibition of old photografs from the very beginning of this new technology. It shows workers and how they lived, worked,  looked like. Really interesting, to look at all those faces of people with history, families, problems and to not know anything about them and what went on in their heads. It makes you feel small and unimportant. One day, our photos and selfies will be hanging in museums and people will stare at us und try to figure out how we lived. It's easy to get lost in thoughts like this when looking at blurry,  washed out grey-and-white pictures of strangers.

On the second floor a history of wars and revolutions leads you through the centuries all the way up to the Second World War (what else?). There are several interactive computers that show you the history of several generations of one family as well as dress-up stations. Just don't get lost!


After a more or less quick lunch outside, the sun came out at last!, we went on our way again. Our original plan was to go to one of the universities, only did we figure out we were on our way to the wrong one halfway through so we turned around and gave up on that plan in favor of going to the Northern Quarter.
Or, well, I did and my two fellow au pairs went into the shopping centre once again. To be fair, we knew the Northern Quarter are supposed to be more of a hipster vintage part of  Manchester which is my style, not theirs. It actually has a really nice second hand book shop, vintage shops that sometimes wanted more money than I could offer for a skirt and a forbitten planet. There are also all kinds of coffee shops that look like the cutest little things, god I love those.
Actually, one of those coffee shops was our next destination. We made it our mission to have an actual tea time at least once and this was it. We orders tea and scones for my friends and magnificent madeleines for me. as I mentioned, it looks really cute and lovely with small details you wouldn't even think about. The cake table was hugh and the tea really good. Plus point out of luck: my madeleines didn't come in time, no idea why, so they gave me two and said I had to wait another ten minutes for my food because they were freshly made. It wasn't ideal, but whatever, at least they will be fresh. They tast like vanilla and are eaten with whipped cream by the way.
And in the end, my whole order was on the house, so I didn't even have to pay one cent! I honestly didn't expect that and would have been ok with waiting, but I also won't say no to a kind gesture like that. It's called teacup kitchen and I can definitely recommand it (because of  the food and the service, don't worry).

I felt like I couldn't eat anything anymore for the rest of my life.
From there I went to pack my back at the hostel and straight to the train station where we met up once again to get train tickets to Liverpool. That's just a lot more comfortable than a coach and faster. With the amongst of travelling we would be doing that week we sure as hell deserve some comfort.

So off we were, on to our final destination.

A Day in... Leeds

Day 1

One thing you get used to as an au pair in England, especially with kids that go to a private school, is that they have a lot of school breaks. Since the kids have two to three weeks of holiday again, two friends and I decided to go on a little trip around the North of England. Well, they pretty much planned it and I was too chicken to admit I had the week off, too, until almost a month later. Ups...

Anyway, the first stop on our tour was Leeds. The bus trip was almost 4,5h long that I spent reading Game of Thrones, maybe one day I'll even finish it. Once we arrived we still had a few hours until the check-in which we spent sitting in a park eating lunch. The weather was nice for a change and we knew it wouldn't last for long - another thing you learn quickly here. When we gathered our luggage to find our hostel we didn't know we were on our way to hell.

The place we were supposed to stay at is called Russell Scott Backpackers, is outside the city centre and privately owned. We joked around that the picture on the internet looks like a small, old lady will open the door and fuss around. Instead we had to call the reception to even get into the building in the first place. While waiting there we also figured out that I booked the next bus at the wrong time which means I had to cancel and rebook. The woman that came to open the door for us let me use her PC and then we were off on our way our rooms.
We lived in another building down the street. Not only were we not able to lok the front door or the door to the first room we were let into but the whole place was dirty and unsave - the fire alarms were not activated, anybody could have walked into the house and our room, the floor was loose in some places and the whole thing smelled like nobody opened the windows in ten years.
We were brought to a new room which had a double bed on the first floor. My room didn't have a key, so I decided to go into a 4-bed room were another girl was in apparently. We wanted to meet up with an ex-au pair so we left our things behind and left.

Since we still had an hour we went into the Leeds City Museum at the Millenium Square which has a nice exhibition about the LGBT+ community and past in the city as well as a short overview of the history. When we meet our friend in front of the building we decided to get a drink since the three of us really needed it at this point. SHe showed us a little pub in a side street with cheap drink and nice looking locals and we catched up on how we were and what we did. After that we went to another bar that was more 'public' and then went for a burger at Five Guys. It's weird to see how laid back the city is after living in the rather hectic London and looking after kids most of the time. All of us were exhausted and it was obvious we just wanted to sleep, so we said goodbye and left rather quickly.

However, going back to our hostel wasn't exactly relaxing. A guy that lived in our house as well was turning weirder and made us more uncomfortable with every minute we talked to him to the point were I actually took a knife with me upstairs cause I wasn't sure he wouldn't be dangerous - he made enough jokes about it anyway.
Needless to say I didn't get a good night's sleep.

Day 2

After an aweful night and a unsatisfying breakfast my friends and I packed our bags and left for the reception to give back the key.... and complain about the state of the building. We had to wait a few minutes for the owner to come to the house, but once she did and we told her evrything that was wrong, including the meeting with the gay and how unsafe we felt, we managed to get a refund. In better spirits, we took our luggage into the city only to find out we had to carry them with us because the lockers were way too expensive.

We spent most of the day strolling through shops (where I actually found two jackets I could use for my Harley Quinn cosplay for comic con next month - yeah!), avery cool modern shopping centre and getting something to eat. We walked through the Corn Exchange and Kirkgate Market but we weren't able to find something we all wanted.

In the end we went to a place called "Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen" that was recommanded to us by our friend and where they sell cheap but amazing pizza (first two pieces half-price!) and that had a hipster vibe going on. Apparently they do music and movie events, too, you should really check it out! I think I could spent our there.

Anyway, the only museum we were really interested in was across the river so we headed that way. The Royal Armouries Museum is big and more interesting than you would think when you hear the name. They even had lockers were we could leave our bags for a little while. We came just in time

for a little tour by a guy in costume who explained different weapons and how they were used at the time. Great thing, the only problem is that is closes at 5pm already. Later we went straight to the coach station to wait for our bus to Manchester without having to carry all of our bags around again. It hurts your back after a while.

All in all, the hostel and the bus dilemma put a strain on the whole Leeds-experience, but thanks to our friend Megan (it was nice seeming you again!) it wasn' totally aweful. I think the laid-back mentality and the little bars and secrets in every corner actually put it pretty high on my list of 'possible semester abroad places'. If you are more of a tide-up person you won't find it very endearing, but for me it sends a don't-give-a-fuck vibe that's very appealing when you are used to stress about everything.

Windsor Castle

Most people know Windsor Castle because it's the resistance of the Queen for, according to the audio guide, most weekends. It's actually rather easy to get to Windsor. There is a train from Waterloo passing Clapham Junction as well that goes straight to a lovely little train station from where you can see the castle when you look left.

Just a walk up the hill brings you to the entrance. It's 18 pounds for students – my run-out student card from school still works since no one really takes a closer look once they see it's German. If you get a signature in the end you can come back for free for a whole year though, so it's definitely worth it if you don't have enough time or want to see a section that not open all year long. And the prize includes audio guides!

The castle is hugh, just to warn you. At the end it's actually hard to pay attention or care about whose portrait it is or how old the china is. You can see the guard change if you arrive on time (and only on Sundays I think), visit the state appartments, Queen Mary's Dolls' House which is probably worth more than my future university education as well as the St. George's Chapel unless it's a Sunday. There is also a little part where you can learn more about Shakespeare and why Windsor is an important place for the historic play writer.

It's really nice, especially the garden you can see around the Round Tower, including a little waterfall, don't cease to amaze. Just watch out for Guards shouting when you get in there way as we had to find out ourselves.

Luckily the grounds are so big that you don't feel cornered. And if you are lucky and the sun is out, you can get some really good looking photos.

After a few hours we left and went to get lunch at the Nando's across the street. The Guy taking my order was red-haired and called Harry, I don't even wanna know how many jokes he has to endure. Also, who the hell manages to eat an entire chicken, I only had 1/4 with hot sauce, spicy rice and sweetcorn and I was full.

The rest of the afternoon we spent making our way through the shopping street and having a little walk along the Thames. We would have probably spent more time there, but it was getting cloudy and we could feel the first raindrops falling. I'm sure it would have been lovely if the sun had shone though, it all looked very peaceful.

The train ride back was rather uneventful apart from my very first ticket inspection in the UK so far. So there are actually keeping track of illegal passengers.

St. Patricks Day

If you are planning to stay in London for St. Patricks Day, you should be prepared for a lot of people.
Though, only a few are actually dressed up apart from a bit of green make-up smears on their faces. I actually saw a few with green wigs, green dyed beards and hair and more unusual clothes.

And lets be honest, a lot of people see this holiday as an opportunity to get shitfaced. So if you have a problem with any of these you should find another activity.

Anyway, the first thing we saw after getting dinner was the parade at Picadilly Circus with several trucks including dance groups, bands, a marching band playing "Uptown Funk" and even a football team. In between smaller groups of Irish people and kids walked along, waving at the people behind the barriers. We came just in time to see a gigantic thing drive along, to this day I have no idea what it even is. Looked cool, though!

To my surprise, Picadilly Circus was still fairly empty at this point. Maybe because it was rather early or most of the visitors were standing somewhere else along the way. So we made our to Trafalgar Square where we finally found more people. At this point we were actually concerned that we were the only ones dressing up at least a bit. I mean, we actually painted our lips green with eyeliner, that's commitment right there!

Trafalgar Square had a gigantic stage. In the time I was there, which wasn't for very long to be honest, several bands performed a few songs each, mostly traditional Irish or at least with an Irish touch to it. The crowd was nice and there was still space to move around and breath, though I don't know how it got once it was late. To catch our breaths we took a break and went to Waterstones for a bit. Books are just relaxing, especially after standing in a already slightly drunk group of strangers. That's also the reason why I split up after and went to a comic book store instead of joining the others.

So no, sadly I can't say a lot about St. Patricks Day or spill some secret stories or tips. I don't like hugh crowds, even during concerts I can barely tolerate them. It's the feeling of being restricted and the difficulty to breath that I just can't stand. Not to forget that I wasn't feeling very social that day.
But, as always, I'm happy to have tried it. It was quite an experience after all, and I had a reason to wear my little green hat I got in Dublin in February. And the glances you get when you step into the tub with green lips was definitely worth it, too.

A Day in... Glasgow (feat Twenty One Pilots)

Being too exhausted to do anything right before a concert is normally not a good sign. At least I had a good explanation in my case.

After arriving in London on Friday morning from my visit in Dublin I had to leave again not even 13 hours later to take a coach to Glasgow in Scotland. And as usual, I wasn't able to actually get a good nights sleep. Adding the fact I couldn't check in until 3pm and the mess that is my life is complete.

Now, Glasgow is supposed to be a fairly nice city; not the most beautiful, but still interesting. Only was it raining that day and I had to walk around with my rucksack and all my stuff. The only locations open and close where the shopping centres and the museum of modern art, with is not only very small, but also not the kind of art I like. But it has a roof, so a short walk through it was ok. Also, did you know that Glasgow is the city with the most 'TARDIS' police boxes left? I didn't which is a really cool surprise for a Doctor Who fan like me.

Now, the hotel I was staying at was something else entirely. I got updated to a 4-bed all-female room, however the room was rather small and dirty. I didn't even think about taking a shower in there, even if I had the time. My advice: spent less money on hotel shampoo packages and coffee cookies and more on renovation! Good thing I only needed a room to sleep in for just one night and that it was central.

After dumping my stuff in there and walking the short distance to Barrowland I had to stand in line for about three hours. Not considering the weather, which was a mix of cold wind and drizzling rain, my Nikes were definitely the wrong choice of shoes, but too late for that now. 

When they finally let us in I was able to get a good spot in maybe the 7th row. The room looked cool and according to Google, about 2000 people can fit in there. 

Sadly, the support act - Ultraviolet - wasn't really my cup of tea. The guitarist reminded me of an old friend back in Germany, but that's about it. 

Now, Twenty One Pilots themselves were awesome, the crowd less so. They were really pushy and actually created 'waves' from side to side which made it hard to stand. Also a lot of people fainted. I have been to a few concert so far, and there is always someone who didn't have enough to drink etc., but this was just over the top. According to other people I've talked to, it is rather normal for a 21P concert though...

Anyway, Josh and Tyler were great, talking to the crowd, making us sing with them and lets not forget their stunt where they stand on boards that are being held up by fans and drumming there while confetti rains down and the mist machines go off. Really cool ending, I loved it.

Setlist:

1.  Heavydirtysoul
2. Stressed Out
3. Guns for Hands
4. Migraine
5. Polarize
6. We don't believe what's on TV
7. the Judge
8. Lane Boy
9. Piano + Drum Mix of: the Pantaloon, Forest, Screen, Ode to Sleep, Addict with a Pen
10. Doubt
11. Holding on to You
12. Ride
13. Not Today
14. The Run and Go
15. Tear in my Heart
16. Car Radio

Encore:

1. Goner
2. Trees

As a conclusion I would say that I would love to see them again (and I will, at Readings in August), but I won't go too far to the front. Not worth it. The fans should reconsider how they behave first.

The walk back to the hotel was nice, I got some chili chips. The only thing I hated about the next day was that instead of 9 hours, the bus ride back took 12,5 hours because Scotland was one gigantic traffic jam. That was really annoying, but I can't exactly change that.

Musicals: Kinky Boots

(pic: thetimes.co.uk)

Kinky Boots. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Kinky Boots is a fairly new musical in London that three friends of mine and I decided to see last Saturday. With daytickets at only 25 pound it wasn't even too expensive (like some others).
Basically, the story is all about Charlie Price inheriting a bankrott shoe factory from his dad that he will probably have to close down. His plans to go to London with his fiance are destroyed as he has to try to save his fathers work. Then he meets Lola, a drag queen who complains about her shoes and how badly made they are. Charlie decides to start making 'kinky boots' for drag queens and manages to convince Lola to be the designer. They work together to overcome different obstacles like money shortage, prejudices and even a bit of love drama.

It's a wonderful show, I especially loved the singing and the costumes. The sassy and funny conversations made everyone laugh multiple times. I can really recommand it to anyone who wants to see something extraordinary.

A Day in.... Dublin

Dublin. The capital of the Republic of Ireland.

A beautiful city, even when you are ill and don't feel like doing much more than lie down and sleep for about 50 years.

Sadly, it takes a 12 hours bus drive to get there from London. It only gets worse when there are four guys right next to you who can't seem to shut the fuck up. The whole trip also includes an about 3 hours long trip on the ferry, which is nice cause you are able to sleep. And if you are bored, there is a mini cinema waiting for you.

Day 1

Anyway, after arriving at 6am on Tuesday during the half-term holidays at the coach station right around the corner of our hostel Jacob's Inn, we made our way there to check-in or at least lock away our bags. By the way, in my case that meant a rucksack and a bag. That was all I needed. Minimal package is the best.

They actually allowed us to shower in the 'public' showers (meaning they are for a whole floor and not just a single room) and have breakfast for free. The lockers, which are really big, were free, too. That was already a huge bonus since we were really tired. I only got about 2,5h of sleep on the ferry! After spending maybe three hours in the louge we decided to explore the city north of the river. To be more specific, the botanic garden. We had to walk quiet a bit, but it was totally worth it. Th garden is beautiful, even in the winter, and really warm which was one of the reasons we spent so much time there. We just didn't want to go outside again.

The garden is devided in several houses which are dedicated to different continents. Little signs explain everything you need to know. Very lovely, I wish I could see it when everything is blooming.When we came back we pretty much just walked through the shopping streets for a bit to get a sense of what we wanted to do the next few days.

The only two things we did after that was go back to the hostel to unpack our stuff in our room (10 bed room mixed) and then go for a Guinness at the famous Temple Bar. It was great, a lot of people and a very good singer. And to be honest, Guinness isn't half bad. I'm not a beer fan (even though I'm from Bavaria...) but the dark beverage didn't want to make me throw up as much as others.

The great thing about the hostel: there were two other Germans, medicine students who came here for holiday. A nice couple, sadly we didn't exchange numbers or social media names.

Day 2

Our first full day started with a nice breakfast (toast and cereals) and a trip to Trinity College. A nice place to walk around as long as it's not too cold – which it was. So we flet into the old library which includes an exhibition about the Book of Kells. It was 10€ and for the both of us the exhibition was a bit too boring, but that always depends on what you like. After that, the trip to the science museum on campus took longer than expected. The exhibits are partly interactive and play with your mind. Three installments, which were made by an artist who is afraid to lose his hands in an accident or because of illness due to age, made it clear to us just how difficult it can be to do easy everyday tasks like opening a jar when you can't properly use your hands. Another experiment shows why waterboarding as an interogation technique doesn't work since your memory suffers due to stress caused by imitating drowning. And that was in a safe environment with our previous consent!

A hugh part of the day was over already at this point, so we went to the Nation History Museum for an hour, only after walking around the university again by accident, and then back to the hostel. The last place we went to was the cinema to see Deadpool, which is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Seriously, I normally never go into a movie twice, but Deadpool would be an exception. If someone asked me, I would say yes in an instance. It's sassy and witty, fast-paced and breaks the fourth wall several times – just like in th comics. And it's th only superhero movie I can think of that has a lot of swearing in it and therefore doesn't pass a PG13 rating – sorry kids.

Day 3

Our last day. Sadly.

We were allowed to keep our bags in the locker and went out for our last tour. First we visited the Dublin Castle and booked a tour as well. That way you can see more areas and get some background knowleadge along the way. I was really ill by that time which makes it a bit of a problem to walk around in the cold as well as the rather wet underground areas, but there is nothing you can do about that. The tour guide was nice and it didn't take more than 45 minutes as far as I remember to finish.

Slowly, we made our way to the prison Kilmainham Gaol only to find out that there was a hugh queue and that the next tour wouldn't be for another two hours so we ditched that plan and went to the nearby Phoenix Park and the Wellington Monument instead. The weather was still crisp so we sat down and enjoyed the silence and the view before heading back, which seemed to take ages. On our way back we went to the main shopping street for a bit to buy postcards and because I had to return something to Penny's, which is the exactly the same as Primark but named differently. Sadly, there it happened.

I got robbed.

Not my wallet, and I have to say it is partly my fault. I went from the cashier to the cash & wrapping department to customer service only to have to change till because the first one was broken. At that point I was just exhausted, irritated and hungry so when I finally got my money back, I left my shopping back behind.

In there was my dark green Dublin sweater, presents and an already filled our and stamped postcard. I noticed an hour later and went back only to find out that the woman behind me picked it up and left with it. Great.

Because why give it to the nice lady at the customer service you are already standing at anyway, am I right? Why be a decent human being when you can steal tourist stuff from an ill teenage girl? At first I was angry and sad, but by now I'm mostly disappointed.

When our coach came two hours later, I had mostly come to terms with the fact that I'll never see my stuff again. I hope the woman that took it sees my postcard and feels guilty and ashamed. I don't care what your reason was, I just hope you will remember it every time you wear my sweater and feel bad about it.

That night, I didn't sleep at all – not even because of my stolen stuff, but because it was too early on the ferry to sleep there and I can't sleep on buses. So instead, I saw Star Wars in a miniature private cinema on the ship and listened to music on the bus. Just like Deadpool, this is a movie that's just as great as everyone says. The effects were great (and the rocking of the ship during the flight scenes was an unexpected bonus), the story is close to the original movies but with not too many parallels in much else and the characters are interesting. And don't even get me started on the fact that the three main characters are a girl, a black ex-Stormtrooper and a Hispanic pilot.

A wonderful holiday in a beautiful city. I am really happy I went there and would recommand it to anyone who has a few days off.