Manchester & Liverpool

A few months ago we booked a long weekend away in Manchester and Liverpool, knowing that if we didn't book these things in advance our time in London would fly past and we would realise we hadn't done any of the other cities we wanted to see. Despite booking this ages ago, we felt like time flew by and suddenly it was time to head off. So after a short week at work, we took the train on Thursday morning for four days exploring the north. 

 

First stop was Manchester, and it was the first place where we've been colder than we were in Ireland. While it was only about 4 degrees, which isn't too bad, the wind was ridiculous. On the walk from the train station to our hotel, we could barely move forward with our backpacks on it was so windy. A tiny pebble hit me in the face but it was travelling so fast I thought I'd been shot. We have never been so happy to see our hotel!

After putting on basically the entire contents of our backpacks, we headed out to explore Manchester. There are parts of old/outer Manchester still remaining, which look very industrial and have textile company signs hanging off them by a nail, but it does add to its charm. The inner city, while still having ancient buildings, has been modernised with giant shopping arcades, but none of this mattered to Brian. It could have been a hole in ground and he wouldn't have cared, because Manchester has trams, and Brian has a weird obsession with trams.

Things we loved about Manchester:

• Brian will tell me off if I don't say 'trams'. So trams. 
• Manchester has the best German Christmas markets we have seen so far, all in little wooden huts with lights around them. They went on for ages and had lots of cool different things, like real pine wreaths with real fruit and pinecones tied into them. The whole market smelled of chestnuts, wine and the ever present wieners. The only downside of German markets is no matter where you lean, chances are you are going to get mustard on you. We both had mustard on our clothes by the end of the night and we didn't even eat wieners. 
• Drinking mulled cider and wine at the markets while it was freezing. I had mulled British Apple cider with spices and Brian had mulled white wine with passionfruit and Cointreau. You get it served in a little mug and it was so delicious! Due to the weather it has to be consumed quickly, or it's going to become chilled cider. The markets also sold gourmet alcoholic hot chocolates too - with rum, brandy or baileys in them mmm
• Visiting Salford Quays, the home of the Manchester United grounds. Even thought everyone in Manchester hates them.
• We went to some other Christmas markets in Salford too, and they were pretty cool - they had real mini Christmas trees everywhere, live music, and strange foods. Brian is a sucker for any food that is weird, and bought the ostrich burger. Don't think he would get it again.
• Looking through the Imperial War Museum, and the adjoining UKMediacity where they film heaps of shows like The Voice and Coronation Street.
• We found even more Christmas markets when we went to see the Manchester cathedral - these ones had the best Christmas decorations, and a seriously rowdy crowd. People were singing Christmas carols in the pubs, but it just sounded like mumble mumble mumble mumble FIVE GOLD RINGS mumble mumble mumble! We wandered through looking at amazing gingerbread houses and drooling over Dutch pancakes, crepes and chocolate fondue.
• Going to dinner on the famous Curry Mile - over a mile of Indian restaurants. It took awhile to pick a good one, but we ended up going with one called Spicy Hut because the reviews on TripAdvisor were so funny. The manager personally responds to all bad reviews, and in one he wrote 'I am angry you said the meal was too spicy, when you ordered it I said that because you are Asian it would be too spicy for you...' So we had to go there. Our meal was delicious, so the manager was lovely to us!

After two nights in Manchester, we trained it over to Liverpool, home of the four lads who shook the world. Instantly we liked Liverpool as it was so much warmer (about 7 degrees) and had no wind. We headed off to find our accommodation, which was a room in someone's apartment. We have used AirBnB a bit in our travels, and for anyone travelling on a budget, we would definitely recommend it. This weekend was the anniversary of John Lennon's death, and there are always lots of events on that day, so accommodation was really expensive. We went on AirBnB and found a guy who was renting out a spare room in his central Liverpool apartment for £30 per night, about a quarter of what the cheapest hostel was charging. He was absolutely lovely, and had actually lived in Perth for awhile - he had big framed photos of Perth and Rottnest hanging in his living room! So we settled in there and then headed off to check out Liverpool.

Things we loved about Liverpool:

• The fact that The Beatles music is playing everywhere. 
• The Albert Dock area, with all it's museums, Beatles gift shops, and art galleries along the water. 
• Liverpool One shopping district - shopping 'centre' wouldn't do it justice. Luckily we don't have any Christmas shopping to do so we just watched the chaos with a chicken pot pie.
• Watching an old guy with a guitar busk and make an absolute fortune because he had a cute dog sitting next to his coin bucket. This guy seriously cleaned up - his music wasn't even that fantastic, but everyone wanted to pat the dog and had to put a coin in the bucket to do so. Brian had a pat and threw a coin in. The dog was wearing a jacket which made him look even cooler.
• The fruit mince pie Krispy Kreme doughnut Brian had should probably get a mention in the things we loved section too.
• The Christmas decorations were fantastic here too - again there was a big German Christmas market, with lots more chocolate, mulled wine and decoration stalls open.
• The Cavern Quarter was our next stop - Mathew Street has been the home to so many awesome musical acts, with the most famous obviously The Beatles. We posed with the John Lennon statue in front of the wall of fame then headed down into Mathew Streets' most famous landmark.
• The Cavern Club hosted 292 Beatles gigs in its time. While the building there now isn't the exact same one that The Beatles played in, it is built to the exact dimensions, in the same spot, using the same bricks as the original, so I'm claiming it as the same. You go down underground, and the cavern is full of memorabilia from all those who have played there, including the Rolling Stones, Oasis and The Who.  When we went in, there was a guy playing live music doing awesome Beatles covers, which was perfect. We had a drink, listened to the music, and just imagined being there when the actual Beatles played. It's only a small venue, and even before they got huge they had people lining up down the street to get in. 
• Following on from our Cavern Club experience, we signed up to do a full Beatles tour of Liverpool the following day, as a lot of the good landmarks are out in the suburbs and too far for us to walk. So we got onto the Magic Mystery bus and went on a guided tour to see Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and the childhood homes of John, Paul, George and Ringo. We also saw where they went to college, where they did their first gig together in a church courtyard, and where Eleanor Rigby is buried. All the while our driver played Beatles songs - we loved the tour, seeing where they all grew up and hearing about how they met. It was interesting hearing about how their legacy lives on in Liverpool too - until it's recent close, Yoko Ono funded the Strawberry Fields children's home, and Paul McCartney has opened a performing arts school in Liverpool and still attends the graduation ceremony every single year to present the diplomas. 

 

So we are on the train home now, facing tasks such as washing and ironing, though we're grateful that it's our flatmates turn at Sunday roast rota so we will come home to dinner ready for us. Manchester and Liverpool were awesome, and we will be humming Penny Lane for at least another week or so.

 

Love me do,

Kobi & Brian

Xxx

Windy Manchester! 

Salford Quays Christmas markets

Real mini pines!

Salford Quays preparing for the ChillSwim, where psychos actually jump in the water!

Best idea for a pub!

Old Trafford - home of Manchester United

UKMediaCity - home of Britains equivalent of Neighbours

Christmas decorations at the cathedral in Manchester

The cathedral

 

Mulled cider and wine at the markets

More decorations

 

German Christmas markets in Manchester

 

Markets

Lights in all the trees

Chilling our drinks, nature-style

To anyone who hasn't considered AirBnB, check it out. Hotels don't give you Santa chocolates!

The busker raking it in thanks to his gorgeous dog

Out for cocktails scouser style! 

The Beatles museum in Albert Dock

John Lennon and Brian

Listening the a guy singing Beatles songs inside the Cavern Club

On the wall on Mathew Street inside the Cavern Quarter

 

Mathew Street, birthplace of the Beatles

When we stopped to take photos of this sign, our tour group was blocking the path which a local was trying to walk his dog along.  A guy in our tour said 'sorry we're in your way!' and the guy with the dog said 'that's okay, we get this 8 days a week'. Legend. 

"And the banker never wears a mac...in the pouring rain....very strange"... this is the bank on Penny Lane

The gates to Strawberry Fields

Strawberry Fields wall

Paul McCartneys childhood home 

The original Sgt Peppers

George Harrison's childhood home is the one with the white hanging flowerpot, behind the car.

 

Bath

After visiting Cambridge, we decided it was definitely time to book in more weekend trips. So on Friday after work we caught the train to Bath for a two night stay. Everyone at work said we would love it, and they weren't wrong!

Bath is one of the most gorgeous places we'd ever seen. Every building is made of Bath Stone, which makes the whole place look like a postcard. It reminded me a bit of Monaco, in that the mentality of the founders seems to be 'build a township, make it small, but do it well.' It has everything you need, but still manages to appear very old, and still unspoiled despite the number of tourists.

We set off on one of the Mayor's free walking tours on Saturday morning for two hours, which was more than enough time to walk the entire town of Bath (it's tiny!) Bath was once a medieval walled city, and it eventually expanded to include residential housing outside the township. While the walls no longer exist there is still an obvious divide between the town and the surrounds, and our guide talked us through the history and pointed out all the things that make Bath so damned charming!

 

Things we loved about Bath:

• How everything is made of stone! When Bath was established, the buildings were made of the stone found it the area. As it became more popular, a guy named Ralph Allen invested all his money into stone quarries. He then got elected as Mayor, and decreed that all buildings in Bath must be made of stone. Good one Ralph! 
• The Circus block of houses and the Royal Crescent overlooking the rolling hills surrounding Bath. Everything was so pretty. Plus Nicolas Cage owns number 7. 
• Bath Abbey and the bells that ring out all over the town.
• The Avon Valley and all the leaves turning yellow. We had some sunshine, but it was definitely cool here this weekend!
• Seeing the house Jane Austen lived in.
• Hopping on the purple Scarpers Tour bus and driving out to Stonehenge. On the way are ancient roman burial grounds, the site of lots of freaky crop circles! 
• Seeing Stonehenge out in the middle of the field. Construction on Stonehenge started 2600BC, which is a ridiculously long time ago! The heaviest stone weighs 45 tonnes - how on earth they moved these, let alone get them ontop of each other 15ft in the air, remains one of the greatest mysteries. To this date no one knows why it was built - some say its a type of sundial/sun calendar, others say a temple for sacrifices or festivals. The complete lack of evidence on Stonehenges' purpose made for a very interesting audio tour - I kid you not what I say one of the lines from the audio guide was 'this rock is pointing out the route of the procession that our ancestors may or may not have taken'. Everything about why it exists it speculative, but there's no denying that it's pretty amazing how they built it. Oh, and the guidebooks don't tell you that it is next to a sheep farm and smells like shit. 
• Seeing a free range pig farm and free range chicken farm on the way to Stonehenge. So cute! 
• Visiting the ancient Roman Baths, which were built over 2000 years ago. The main bath has been preserved amazingly well, and while the water is pretty dirty looking, it is still steaming and bubbling away from the heat of the earth. They have done an incredible job restoring it as a museum with an audio guide. We walked through the ruins to the steam rooms, cold water immersion baths and the heated thermal spas. You can't swim in them anymore as they're heritage listed, and the water is untreated so it's pretty bad for you. Brian was disappointed as he brought his boardies along. A private business has cashed in and built fancy day spas using the thermal waters but we didn't go in. We just wanted to see the ancient ones, and they were really awesome.
• Having a picnic lunch in the park, with gardens full of vegetables and herbs. Brian wants me to write that the rhubarb and strawberry slice we got from the bakery was also worth a mention. 
  

Thanks for having us Bath, despite some rain we agree with everyone who told us how charming you were. When we were just walking along the river, everyone we passed could be heard saying 'it's just so pretty!' 

Back on the train to London now, grocery shopping and washing await us!

Kobi & Brian

Xxx

 

The ancient Roman baths

Bath streets

So much stone! 

Avon river

The Circus - Nicolas Cage lives at number 7

 

More stone houses

The tiny castle in the hills isn't 3D, Ralph Allen (who owned the stone quarries) built the front of the castle as an advertisement for stone.

The beautiful Royal Crescent. We did not take this photo, when we went it was covered in scaffolding for restoration purposes! This happens to us all the time. 

The Avon River

So pretty

 

Morning riverside walks

Gardens in the town centre

Where we had our picnic lunch

The most beautiful ivy home ever!

 

Stonehenge

More beautiful buildings from our walking tour

 

London

Well we have been living in London for just under 2 months and our suitcases are officially unpacked. The tans are starting to fade away too, but we're not complaining - London has been glorious! We've had almost 2 months of warm weather, squirrel watching in the Common and red double decker bussing. We also spent almost two weeks in pursuit of a pedestal fan as they had completely sold out in London (one street vendor was selling them for £50!)

We were nomads during the first two weeks of our stay, crashing in people's spare rooms as advertised on AirBNB. We didn't do too badly though - the first place in Brixton had a pretty average room with lovely people, and the second place in Clapham South had a pretty lovely room with average people. But after 4 months of living out of suitcases we were definitely looking forward to getting our own place, and within 24 hours of landing in London we had 4 viewings booked. What an experience! 

A few things we learnt:

a) Most things in our price range in London are either old, rundown, or nowhere near the tube 

b) Australians will do anything (including living with up to 8 other people) to save money

and

c) It is never okay to rent out a linen cupboard minus the shelving in someone's flat and live in it (we seriously saw this happen)

At the end of that full day of viewings we came across the perfect place in Clapham Common, right next to the tube, which is exactly where we had wanted to be all along. In South West London, Clapham is pretty well known for being full of Australians, and a few of our friends who had lived in London before couldn't recommend it highly enough. The flat was just a two bedroom, and we would only be sharing with one other couple which we thought would be a much easier adjustment considering we have lived on our own together for over 5 years (something I was a little nervous about, but soon realised I was worrying about nothing). Our flatmates are fantastic - Emma is from Norway and Dan is from Uganda - and they're easy going, fun and considerate to live with.  I already know when we eventually head home it will be hard to leave them! They've been in London for a few years and know all the good spots to eat, drink and visit so they've been a great resource for us in learning our way around.

So the house aspect came fairly easily - jobs were always going to be the harder part. Initially we were pretty confident as there are thousands and thousands of jobs available in London. We soon realised that there were thousands and thousands of people applying for them. I got lucky early on - after registering with a recruitment agency they sent me along to an interview with the London Nursing and Midwifery Council for a maternity cover Executive Assistant position, and I started the following Monday. I was lucky because the person going on maternity leave was finishing up two weeks after I was due to start, so they needed someone urgently. Brian was applying for roles in the finance and banking sector, and unfortunately nothing they do has a shred of urgency about it. Banking also love to put you through all their crazy testing processes, including multiple interviews, online testing etc - only to then advise that they are actually going to restructure the role internally. So after a few frustrating weeks for Brian (though quite good for me as I came home to a clean house and my dinner ready each night) my 'stay at home trophy boyfriend' started work with as a Sales Executive doing business development and account management with Hire Intelligence.

But it hasn't been all serious house and job stuff. Considering we'd never even been to England prior to moving here, we had a lot to see and do. Even though we're here for a lot longer than most people are for a holiday, we knew that if we didn't get cracking with the sightseeing, time would fly past and before we knew it we'd be on our way home without ever seeing Buckingham. Luckily, having Mum and Dad visit us for two weeks was a great excuse to get out and see London like the tourists do! So...

Things we've loved about London (so far!)

• Being at Buckingham Palace on the day Prince George was born. We actually went there and then left to get on the tube home, so we missed them setting up the easel with the announcement on it, but I'm claiming it anyway. The media were lined up all the way along the street, it was crazy.
• Walking through Green Park in the beautiful weather and seeing hundreds of people having picnics.
• Seeing Trafalgar Square and the beautiful statues. Particularly loved the new instalment on the fourth plinth 'Hahn-Cock', the giant blue cockerel.
• Hiring Boris Bikes and riding with Mum and Dad through Hyde Park (avoiding the psycho swans) and stopping for ice creams. It was interesting to see the Speakers Corner with all the people preaching their various beliefs - Brian went and listened to the 'Preserve the Purity of the Blonde Race' sermon for a few minutes but said he had no idea what the guy was getting at.
• Having a cider with my cousin Megan at Franks Bar in Peckham. What's better than having a drink in an outdoor bar on the top floor of a ten storey car park with a view of London City? Not much.
• Eating at Jamie's Italian in Richmond with Mum, Dad, Brian, Megan and Cousy and then drinking way too much wine and paying for it the next morning on the tube.
• Having drinks at the White Cross in Richmond, where the water from the Thames comes up so quickly and so high that patrons at the bar are offered Wellington boots to wear while they drink.
• Seeing the beautiful Westminster Abbey - though its eerie to think how many dead Kings and Queens are in there.
• Hearing Big Ben chime and seeing the sun reflect off all the gold at Parliament House.
• Walking past MI6 and seeing all the surveillance and Brian feeling like he was in a Bourne movie.
• Seeing a squirrel digging through a bin and watching it pull out a breadstick and eat it all in one go like Bugs Bunny.
• Catching up with people from home who drop into London for a day or two; Lucy from City of Bunbury, Pat from Ansac - we both appreciate that you make the time to see us!
• Catching up with people from Contiki and that we've met on our travels; Jack from Berlin, Victoria from Sydney, and Nikki and Alex before they move from Brighton to Brisbane.
• Catching up with school friends like Caroline who live in London, and feeling like no time has passed at all since school finished.
• Making it through the Notting Hill Carnival alive. 2.6million people partying to reggae in the streets and eating Caribbean food. Totally insane! 
• Riding the Emirates sky line while Mum freaked out about the height.
• Eating pulled pork burgers at the Borough Markets and buying Turkish delight and cherry pie for dessert that night.
• The awesome care package we received from our families - Vegemite galore, Busselton Jetty snow globe, jerky, books, CDs and chocolate. Our parents rock.
• Watching my dad rearrange my cousins apartment so that the outdoor setting didn't block her view.
• Our weekend in Cambridge with Uncle Max, Aunty Julia, Tim and Katy. We loved punting along the backs of Cambridge University, especially when Uncle Max dropped the pole (we will never let him live it down). Cambridge itself had a magical feel - it felt like Hogsmeade in Harry Potter. The town is full of little shops and markets, interspersed with cathedrals like Kings College and the living quarters of the students. It's really beautiful and was really nice to see where Uncle Max Went to uni. Aunty Julia spoiled us with amazing cooking and made us wonder why the hell we had never had Yorkshire puddings before.
• Going to see a dog pageant in Spitalfields Market the day after Mum and Dad went home to cheer us up. And cheer us up it did - no one can be sad when there's a whippet gallivanting around in a pink coat and hat.
• Tasting our first jug of Pimms under an old apple tree at a house Emma and Dan were dog sitting at. 
• How amazing the supermarkets are. Tesco is like heaven. Within two minutes of stepping inside Brian has ducked off to the cereal aisle where he painstakingly selects a box, or two, or three. We have so much cereal in our flat its not funny. 

So that's a few of the big things we've seen so far. But it's the little things that I have to pinch myself over each day; walking down Oxford Street after work to catch the tube, seeing fans camp outside the hotel near my work waiting for Lady Gaga who is staying there, and seeing the glitzy Broadway show theatres scattered all over the West End. The weather has been so beautiful, though many a Pom takes joy in telling me 'Oh, just you wait!'. At least when the cooler weather sets in my hay fever might subside! Its the third day of Autumn and already I can see the days getting shorter - it will be Christmas before we know it, which I am exciting for because it means Winter Wonderland and outdoor ice rinks, Christmas lights on Oxford Street and more friends from home visiting at New Years.

Until then there are a few things on the itinerary:

• Day trips to York, Bath and Brighton
• Weekend trips to Edinburgh and Paris
• A snow trip
• And when we head home, a stopover somewhere warm on the way. I'm already devastated at the prospect of leaving a winter and heading home to another winter!

I hope everyone is keeping well. Thanks for everyone's emails, texts and Facebook updates - we love hearing from you all, it makes us feel less far away. Sorry if you get random text messages or emails at 2am your time - just remember it means we're thinking of you in another time zone!

Much love old chaps

Kobi & Brian

Xxx

 

Our apartments on Clapham Park Road

 

Our little room

Our kitchen

Brian and Dad moaning about the Ashes over platters at The Slug and Lettuce

The fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square

Loving London

With Megan at Franks Bar, Peckam

 

Brian at the Walkabout with Pat from Bunbury

 

Big Ben and Parliament House

Fans waiting for Lady Gaga outside The Langham Hotel

Punting in Cambridge

Uncle Max dropping the pole - you can see it leaning up against the bridge!

Along the backs of Cambridge University

Cambridge University

Kings College, Cambridge University

Our preferred method of grocery transportation

Beans the Whippet, at the dog pageant

My last day with Mum and Dad, Richmond Waterfront

Out for dinner with the cousins in Clapham Junction

 

Care package wohoo! 

 

Baby swans - all swans are property of the Queen

Emirates sky line over Greenwich wharf

 

Notting Hill Carnival

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