England :: The End

Brian and I had to catch our flight bright and early. We flew out of Manchester with a layover in London. (NOTE: There are plenty of direct flights out of Manchester to Chicago, but we used travel miles which made us go through London). Bill & Lora took the train back into London, and were lucky enough to spend a couple extra days there. We arrived home in the early evening, and right away, I had drop Brian off at work. (He left the next day for San Francisco.) It was great seeing the kids, even though my first task upon arriving was to get them hair cuts since C had taken the scissors to his the first day we were gone. H had been talking about getting a buzz cut for months, so his wish was granted.

The vacation was perfect. Bill & Lora were awesome travel companions -- in fact, I kind of miss them! We fit more in four days than you would think even possible. It felt non-stop, but everything kind of fell perfectly into place. And we all always took time out at the end of the day to enjoy a glass of wine or beer and unwind a bit. London was extremely easy to get around via the tube, and everyone takes it at all hours, so it felt safe enough to me. Manchester was easy getting around via taxi (got to love the English cabs) -- nothing we went to was very far away. The biggest obstacle we had was crossing the street. Brian was so anxious to get to our dinner reservations (we were running a few minutes late), that he nearly got hit by a car crossing the street. He had looked the wrong way (easy to do), and didn't even notice it until he felt the wind of the cab coming his way. We got in the habit of looking both ways all the time ... just in case. Although, I did get a note from Lora saying that Bill was hit by a Prius in Borough Market. Fortunately it was backing up and going slow so he wasn't hurt at all.

Beside the near death experiences, we feel so lucky to have gotten to experience everything we did on this trip, and we so happy to have gotten to share it with our friends. Cheerio!

England :: Day 1
England :: Day 2, Part I
England :: Day 2, Part II
England :: Day 3
England :: Day 4

England :: Day 4

Like I said, in Manchester, we had absolutely the best sleep we've had in a long, long time. We woke up to a gloomy, cold, rainy day, so it was quite easy to spend the morning relaxing. After our whirlwind last few days, it was definitely needed. Around noon we met up with Bill & Lora at a café across the street from the hotel, where we enjoyed amazing coffees and a proper English breakfast (sausage, bacon, fried egg, beans, and roasted tomato).







After that, we walked about five minutes into the city center and met up with our friend Mike -- who purchased the original Liverpool tickets -- and spent the day wandering around the holiday market. The pictures really don't do it justice. It was sparkly, festive and absolutely beautiful. And, it never ended! The market was huge. We would stop for a pint, walk a few feet, have a sausage sandwich, walk a few feet, have another pint ... it was just one of those days. The perfect way to spend our final one. After we had dinner with Mike, we parted ways, and the four of us walked over the Manchester Arena (a close distance from our hotel) for yet another concert.




Mötley Crüe, and ....





Def Leppard! Ok, definitely not two bands on my list to see, but it was actually very fun. I preferred Mötley Crüe over Def Leppard, even though their pyrotechnics had me thinking they were going to burn the house down. But we had a really great time. We even got to see characters like this, which made it all worth while.

England :: Day 3

The third morning of our trip, we woke up bright and early to catch a train to Manchester. It was a relaxing two hour ride, where we could unwind and enjoy a few of the treats we picked up at the Borough Market the day before. We dropped our bags off at the hotel (we stayed at the Crowne Plaza - Manchester), and took a cab right away to Old Trafford -- our ultimate destination. (We were all a bit excited.) We spent some time just walking around with our mouths dropped open, in disbelief that we were even there. Then we went to the Mega Store to purchase some gear. You should have seen Bill & Brian's smiles walking into that place. Next we took our seats, and this is where I'm going to warn you -- we were so completely spoiled. My parent's friends, who's season tickets we used, have seats right in the middle of the field. They were amazing seats. Not only that, we had access to a couple restaurants. Typically these have to be arranged ahead of time, but we were lucky to have gotten a table for lunch. Maybe it was the way we talked that gave it away that we weren't from around there. (Actually, it was pretty funny because everyone kept telling us how much they loved our accents and I had to laugh, because we of course felt the same about theirs! Plus, everyone in Manchester was really so nice.) Anyhow, we enjoyed a nice lunch, then were happy to hear that once we were at a table, it was ours the rest of the day! In fact, we placed our halftime drink order when we were leaving, and had beverages waiting for us, which was quite divine. Another fact, we even had drinks waiting for us after the game. It was magic.

The game was awesome to watch. The level of play was ridiculous. Manchester United played the Wolves and creamed them 4-1. We were warned about the language -- and while I do believe it does get rowdy, it was quite tame when we were there. One thing we all commented on was the fact that beverages and drink were not served IN the stadium. You watched the match, took a break during half time, then came back. It was kind of nice. Imagine the uproar people would have if they couldn't have their nachos and beer while watching a game here. Of course, baseball and football are much longer games -- food and drink is what gets me through it too! The other thing we noticed, is the lack of mega screens. If you missed a play, you missed the play -- there was no showing it back. Honestly, it was so nice not having that distraction. I've never had a game go by faster. We didn't ever want it to end, and felt so lucky to have had the change to be there.

After the game, we took a cab back to the hotel, checked in, then looked for a place for dinner. This was the hardest part of the entire vacation -- everything was so jam packed. After awhile, we ended up at a Lebanese Restaurant, and it was so good. The nightlife was crazy. Even if we were interested (which we weren't), we couldn't have even gotten into one of the pubs. We ended up at our hotel for a quick nightcap, then retired upstairs for the best night sleep I've had in a really, really long time. Amazing.

England :: Day 2, Part II

The Ten Bells might be most well-known for it's association with Jack the Ripper. It's where he murdered two of his victims. And it seemed to be quite the place to be. There was a line around the corner waiting to get in. We walked right in, and up the stairs, to our destination -- a dinner by the Young Turks. Brian had read about it in Wallpaper* magazine, and we knew we had to try to go. The Young Turks at the Ten Bells is a pop-up restaurant -- only going through the end of January. The menu changes every week. When we showed up, we were the only ones there. They were nice enough to have us come 30 minutes earlier than their official opening so we could make it to our next destination. It worked out well, and even allowed us the opportunity to get a photo with them. The meal was excellent, and the wine pairing suggestions were spot on. The menu on our evening was as follows:

Hendrick's Cocktail

Smoked Plaice Roe
Turnip, Pork Fat & Apple
Potato, Dried Oyster & Pickled Shallot
Pear & Walnut

Fresh Milk Curds, Cauliflower, Watercress & Sunflower
Venison & Rabbit Faggot, Pine & Parsnip
Partridge, Jerusalem Artichoke & Kale
Quince, Custard & Ginger Biscuit

It was a very cool experience. Unfortunately, we had to rush out to go to the O2 Arena to see .....








OMG ... Coldplay, people! Seriously, could it be any better than that? Coldplay, in bloody London? Come on! Unfortunately, we did show up a tad late. But we saw the majority of the show, and what we saw was absolutely mind-blowing. I cannot wait to see them again some day -- to see and hear them was addicting.

England :: Day 2, Part I

This, may have been my favorite day of the entire trip. We took in so much -- which was crazy, considering we didn't have many plans at all before we left home. Over coffee, we decided to go to the Borough Market -- a food lovers paradise. I'm so happy we did. For me, it was one of the highlights of the vacation. The cheeses! The meat pies! The produce! It was absolute heaven. We got to sample a pretty good variety of foods but the chorizo sandwich and raclette really were standouts. We could have spent all day there. But at 2:00, we had to be on the other side of town. We met up my friend Megan, who was in town a couple days during a layover from Africa, where she lives. Together, we strolled through Portobello Market, ending with a couple pints and sweet potato fries. It was really an excellent day. Just wait for what we had in store that evening!

England :: Day 1

We're home from a whirlwind few days in England! Well, part of us is. Brian had to turn right around and leave for San Francisco today. You may remember when we purchased Liverpool "football" tickets (long story short, we actually ended up at a Manchester United game instead). Well, the time finally came for our trip. Thursday morning, we met Lora & Bill - who had flown in on a different flight - at Heathrow. After dropping our bags off at Hotel Indigo - Paddington, we grabbed a coffee, then hightailed it out of there. I know different methods work for different people, but when I go abroad, I can't take naps the day I arrive (even though I can never sleep on the airplane) or I'll sleep through and wake up early. It throws everything off for me. I'd rather just go through the day and try to get to sleep early. We didn't stop all day. Which was fine by me, because the last time I was in London was 1985, and all I hoped for was to see the members of Duran Duran. Well, I guess I still wouldn't mind that. Point is, I was very excited to be there. First we took the tube to the London Eye. Lora & Bill stayed behind and walked around the holiday market that was close by, but Brian, who's scared of heights, joined me. Honestly, it wasn't scary at all, even for the chicken. The rain drops appear bit more dramatic in the photos then they really looked when you were inside. It was gloomy, but the view was still quite amazing. Afterwards, we just walked for miles around the city in awe at how amazing it was. We passed by Big Ben, through Westminster all the way to Buckingham Palace. By then, we were all a bit delirious, and figured it best to hop on the tube towards our hotel, and find a pub for fish and chips. Just a few minute walk from our hotel was Victoria. It was absolutely delicious. And the perfect end to a perfect first day.