Hellooooo lovely readers! I have been flat out having a great time and I have not had much free time to write my beloved blog. I guess this is a good thing, that my time is being occupied in the funnest way possible…by travelling and making the most of my every day!  Finally this morning I have allowed myself some free time to write, sort out my photos and line those pesky ducks up. You know I like them neat.

So London was a blast, have a read of my last blog tripping around London if you get the chance, then this one flows on quite nicely. We basically walked all over London and had a blast. We walked through Hyde park a few times, walked along the river, went to Boroughs market, which was a real highlight for me. We went on the London Eye (slightly over rated if you ask me, but still fun), walked across Tower Bridge, went to find the Bullet, otherwise known as the ‘gherkin’ or I like to call it the cucumber. Hilarious! Had drinks up at Harvey Nichols, very posh and fancy pants, and sadly went to bed early both nights because I was still getting over my jet lag! And then we caught the train up to Manchester… which is where I am now and where this blog was meant to start! But I had to fill you in on those bits first!

We arrived into sunny Manchester, yes you read right, the day was hot and perfect. Some of Andy’s friends met us at the train and we proceeded to the local bar and perched in the beer garden for the next 4 hours. It was lovely! So nice to meet some new people who were super friendly and spend all that time outside.

British people literally bask in the sun like seals whenever there is sunshine, because bright shiny no clouds in the sky kind of sunny perfect day, is rare. Clouds and over cast skies are the norm around these neck of the woods, so a clear blue sky and sunshine is well worth staying outside for all day. Fine with me, I loved it!

 

My first day in Manchester I decided to take the tram into the city and explore. To be honest I am more of a countryside/gardens/natural environments type traveller, so one day in the city was enough for me. I wandered around the cathedral snapping away at the magical stained glass windows. I walked all around the city and was impressed to find a ‘gay village’ a full street dedicated to restaurants and bars and colour and gayness. Good on them, come on Perth, we need a gay village too! What a fabulous idea!

Once my eye was tuned to it, I noticed many feminine men, wearing more makeup than me, even one guy with tattoos getting his eyebrows groomed! Good on them. Whatever rocks your boat I say. Better to be well groomed than not groomed at all. I felt so daggy in my travelling outfit, I totally need an overhaul and a fat loss regime. But not yet. I am still on fun time. There is plenty of time for ‘torture time’ in the future once I am home. Argh!!

Then I sat on the hard grass in the sun with all the other ‘seals’ for awhile and read my book, then I went to the Art gallery which was pretty cool. A few new exhibits mostly about fashion, and lots of really old paintings. By 4pm I was ready to return home, so made my way back on the tram. I chatted away quite happily to the Nanna’s around me, they are always good for a chat.

Surprisingly the nights stay light until almost 10pm, which makes for very good BBQ weather; so this is what we did, for the next 2 nights. We whipped up a salad, flipped some great Lincolnshire pork sausages and some other meats and boom, we were all happy. I also made some curry eggs, a classic bbq accoutrement.

Yesterday we went out to one of the most amazing places I have ever been to, it was called Bodnant Gardens in Wales. A lovely lady, my friends Aunty, and someone who has read all of my blogs (amazing!), kindly offered to take me out there for a day trip. I was wrapped and in heaven to be amongst such beautiful and peaceful gardens. I took many photos but also tried to enjoy the serenity and calmness of the open green space, full of colour, lakes, lilies, roses, faeries (bound to be it felt so damn magical), peonies, squirrels and loads of pensioners who came in bus loads.

 

There are many photos there but really I took so many more! It was one of the most magnificent places I have been to. I hope you enjoy them all!

A few more days left in Manchester now and I plan to relax a little and enjoy spending time with my ‘host family’, thank you to my friend Andy and his family for having me stay this week, I am having a marvellous time!

Next post will be about my road trip to Scotland! I hope you are enjoying my travelling posts I would love your feedback, feel free to say hello!

These boots are made for walking,

Anita xx