Manc-cents and a Few Days in Scouseland. A Musical Weekend.

Back in my loverly city o' Glasgow. Thought i'd finally get around to posting an abridged version of my weekend travels over the past month or so. First up Manchester and Liverpool. After an long bus ride through absurdly British countryside we landed in Manchester, where they speak with a Manc accent. The hostel was nice and full of friendly Aussies. We daytripped it to Lyme Park to see the site of Colin Firth and the wet blouse. He is gorgeous, it was gorgeous, I climbed a tall rock, and we were hunted by a pack of wild deer. All in all a very well rounded day. Next day we wandered the streets, jumping over puddles of Morrissey's tears. 

Then it was off to Liverpool,  and the hostel known as the Embassie. It was a real nice place run by an real nice guy named Kevin Sr. whose skiffle band beat John Lennon's in a neighborhood competition back in the day. He had loads of neat stories. We wandered by the docks, had a swell day-long Beatles tour and saw the Cavern Club, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Mendips, and all the rest. Ate some scouse (a famous Liverpudlian stew after which the people are nicknamed, "scousers") then it was back to Glasgow town on the night bus. Here are the photos!

A lovely pond on the grounds of Lyme Park.

SHEEPS!

Recognize this?

Fall foliage.

Some well groomed shrubbery.

The manor house. Not real cozy looking.

The countryside and some neat tree branches.

I call this triumph.

A little parish church we found in the village of Disley. For real.

Manchester. No British city would be complete without a Ferris wheel. Go figure.

Manchester at dusk.

The Embassie in Liverpool.

Requisite red phone booth antics.

The massive Liverpool cathedral. 4th largest in the world.

Chinatown. We hit up a seriously good bakery here. mmmmm.

Albert dock and some lil' boaties.

My fab traveling companions Elise, Natalie and Eden puttin on their best Brit face. I like it.

Me puttin on my Brit face. Brick wall and all.

Ta Da!

Some nice red gate action.

The church and grounds where the Quarrymen played the day John and Paul met.

The telephone wires in Liverpool were of the hook. Also a lovely sunset.

The Cavern. Wish I could've seen the lads here way back when.

For comparison: George gettin down with his adorable self.

Oh ho ho. Recognize it? So cute. I die.

Me grinning like a fool in front of the Cavern. It smelled like vomit. I was still happy. 

And now for some Manchester tunes. Transmission by Joy Division. So far I don't know if Manchester has produced any happy people..... but that's okay because they've been brilliant anyway. 

One of my favorite Smiths songs. Lots of good 80's bouquet thrashing happening as well. Not sure what that is about. Morrissey looks good though. 

Everyone's favorite Liverpool lads. Some stuff from the early days that I really like. 

My favorite of all with George on vocals. Whatta sweetheart. 

Home and Away.

I have been roaming far and wide, but here are a few updates from my travels. I have been writing but that'll go up later. Still trying to catch my breath.

School  kids headed to the chip shop after school. Sauchiehall street Glasgow. 

The Glasgow Necropolis at dusk. 

English countryside and herd of deer near Disley. 

Manchester university buildings. 

Rare sunshine near the docks in Liverpool. 

Row houses in Liverpool. 

Scribble and Scratch.

So I have had lots of adventures. This is true. And I will of course put up more photos with endless enthusiastic commentary. But I thought I would post some artwork as that was the purpose of this endeavor to begin with. I have done this since getting here. I suppose it is not much for a month, but I was feeling rather accomplished.

I suppose inspiration was drawn from all over. Olivia's nifty use of handwritten script, tattoo shtuff, and the beauteous Dan Felton. Here is a photo of the real deal. 

It's not really the same but eh. I can deal. And now the award for the best song and dance involving a velvet crop top and corvette goes to the band Girls. This is currently my jam. Watch it. And if his swagger doesn't do it for you maybe the beautiful shots of mist shrouded SF will. 

O HOW I LOVE THAT CITY!

p.s. apologies for photo quality. The lighting in my bedroom is a wee bit janky. 

Glasgoing.

Still here. Went in for a full weekend of Scottish activities. Visited Loch Lomond on a beautiful and misty afternoon, partook of sticky toffee pudding, patronized King Tut's Wah Wah hut for a bit of rock n' roll, enjoyed high tea on a rainy afternoon, discovered the drying room in my flat, drank Irn Bru, listened to a Scottish folk jam session at one of the many neighborhood pubs and found the best chippy for chips and curry sauce. T'was swell. Here are some photos.

Walled garden at Loch Lomond

Defunct castle 

It was really this green. 

The lake. Deep water and dangerous monsters. 

It was a very rosy dusk. 

HIGH TEA!

AHHHHHH!

No caption necessary. 

Cute back alley. 

Neato panes of glass. 

All done. 

Oh, also I ate my first pasty. That was pretty cool. 

Moving Along.

Nothing thrilling is happening. I am continuing to fall in love with the city. It is still scary and friendly. Strangely enough have been feeling more patriotic than ever before. It is really a new feeling for me. That will be for another post. 

A photo I took back in Edinburgh. That skyline is really gorgeous.

 I can't wait for real fall to set in here. The foliage is going to be off the hook in the park. I have tried to write a couple of times. It's been a bit difficult. I want to write a poem for the river Clyde, because I like it so much, and I keep trying to find my way to the canal but it hasn't worked. And I can't really write about the river until I have walked along it. So I wrote this. I think it's for Olivia. Not sure what it is or what it is about. Meh. 

The Millionth Untitled

Headbang

In time to

And as

Breaks screech

And the subtle unrest

Of slammed doors

Tears at the afternoon

Shimmy and shake

In empty bedrooms

Against a backdrop

Of liquor stores

And the rainy riverbank

Laugh and fall back

Again and again

Onto a thin mattress

In night that stretches dimly towards

No point of resolution

Keep Calm and Cèilidh On.

The other day the rain and wind let up. Took a walk in the park with my camera. Everyone was so happy to be out in the sunshine, the mood was palpable. Here are some photos. Also the title of the post is from a tee shirt that I saw, which I thought was very clever.

The prettiest fountain. 

This old man just wound up in the photo. He is kind of grimacing, although this is not representative of the people I  came upon as a whole. 

A little back alley of houses I came upon. I really loved these rooftops. And chimneys.

Looking the other way. The layers of row houses are really beautiful. 

A fierce statue. 

The beautiful brown river. 

A little fellow on his way home from school. 

The park, and skatepark, and houses on the hill. 

Other news from the land of Scots. I attended my first cèilidh which was good fun, and the band was amazing. I also tried Haggis. I had the vegetarian version (scoff if you will, it was delicious and didn't make me half as nervous, although I did have a nibble of the regular kind). Progress is being made. And now for a tune! Yeah yeah I know he's Irish but this song is transcendent!