In early November, I (David) took a four-day-weekend jaunt across the pond to visit my friend Thomas who lives in England. The trip was a bit of a whirlwind with half a day in Manchester, 1.5 days in Edinburgh and another half day in London at the end. I'm generally not a fan of crossing oceans for less than a week's vacation - but this was a special situation - the flight was free (skymiles sale) and I was more focused on visiting with a friend than really accomplishing any sightseeing....so overall I would do something like this again if the opportunity presented itself.
First stop - Manchester! We arrived in the early afternoon, checked into our hotel and wandered around the city center. The Christmas Market had just begun that weekend so there were lots of people meandering around. I really wish we did these in America! There are tons of food vendors with chocolate, booze, and typical Christmas foods. There are also a lot of different Christmas decorations and events to enjoy.
Manchester itself seems like an interesting city. It really grew up in the late 1800s so there are lots of buildings from that time period - not unlike Chicago or Pittsburgh - but with a small older core that you can't see in America. That evening we grabbed dinner and visited a bunch of bars in the gay district. There's one main drag that hosted more than a dozen bars that people seemed to move between. We spent a good while talking with a group of English 20-somethings that were camp counselors in West Virginia. Pretty random. All-in-all a fun Saturday evening/afternoon.
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| The Christmas Market in Manchester. The weather is typically British. |
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| Inside joke store name... ;) It burns! |
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| Old pub in central Manchester. |
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| Manchester Cathedral...not too impressive on the outside. |
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| Lots of cool late 19th century buildings. |
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| Probably the best meal of my trip...fried gnocchi! I took the opportunity to eat lots of mushrooms since Paul wasn't around. |
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| A bar in Manchester. English bars tend to have a cool cozy interior theme. |
The next morning we got up and set out to catch our train to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, our train was cancelled! In all my travels I think this is probably the first time that's ever happened. Luckily, there was another train heading to Edinburgh from Manchester's other train station (about 1 mile away) in a couple hours. We made our way to the that station, stopping for a late breakfast along the way at an Italian cafe nestled in a department store.
The train ride to Edinburgh passed through some lovely English and Scottish countryside. The route passed just east of the esteemed Lake Country - with it's hills and pastures. Not a bad way to spend a couple hours. Since the previous train was cancelled, this train started very full. There weren't enough seats for everyone and a group of middle-aged "Spice Girls" didn't have a seat for about the first hour. They parked themselves on their luggage near the doors and were about the most stereotypical drunk British women you could imagine - heavy northern English accents, short skirts, spilled Prosecco, and lot of profanity. It was like watching a live episode of the Kardashians. Delightful!
We arrived in Edinburgh later than expected, so by the time we reached our hotel (the historic
Waldorf Astoria which Thomas was very excited to visit) it was already nearly dark (which happens at this time of year and at this latitude at around 4:15 PM). It was Sunday evening, drizzly, and cold so we wandered around the city center for a bit and found dinner at nice cozy pub/restaurant before turning in for the evening.
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| Bucolic England near the Lake Country. |
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| Meals in Edinburgh mostly consisted of large pieces of meat (chicken here). |
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| The central Edinburgh train station built in a bit of a gully in the city center. |
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| Lots of cute Scottish streets. |
The next morning we wandered around some of the same areas, but this time with more lighting, and visited the free
National Museum of Scotland - a hulking confusing mass of buildings regaling visitors with all the highs and lows of Scottish life since prehistoric times. The rooftop terrace provides excellent views over the city center, obscured only by the persistent freezing rain.
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| Edinburgh Castle from afar. |
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| Victorian stuff abounds. |
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| Breakfast of champions (oatmeal)! |
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| More cute Georgian style streets. |
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| Interesting alleyways galore. |
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| Cathedral in Edinburgh near the castle. |
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| A splash of color is always appreciated in gloomy climes. |
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| Edinburgh from atop the National Museum of Scotland. |
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| This just looked very British to me. |
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| Whiskey! |
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| The local coca-cola replacement. Tasted like Inca-Cola in Peru too (bubble gum). |
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| Fall in Edinburgh. |
Edinburgh is a really delightful city. The streets are quaint and full of charm. There are tons of pubs and restaurants and the mass scale of the Georgian architecture makes this city fairly unique. The people here were also very friendly and helpful. I'd recommend a visit in the summer though, when you have less of a chance of it being rainy and freezing cold.
The next morning we set out early again for our train trip back to London. This trip, since it wasn't cut into two, was a very long 4.5 hours on a train. There were some interesting sights along the way though - old English towns, the North Sea and more countryside. When we returned to London, we made our way back to Thomas's flat where we hung out for a bit before going to dinner and calling it a night.
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| Last meal in London - seafood risotto. |
Peace out UK - I'm sure we'll meet again...just maybe not in winter.
