Manchester England England

Last week was self-study week so Rose, Fika, Louise and I decided to take a road trip for the day. Woo! Manchester won the contest. Most of us hadn't been there before so we were excited to see what it had to offer. I really wanted to visit Whitworth Art Gallery, which is well known for its wallpaper collection but when we got there we found out it's closed for refurbishment, bummer but next time. So we made our way to Manchester Museum instead. 

As soon as we entered, I heard the girls say: 'Ahh, this is perfect for Anna.' because it was pretty much a natural history museum, so yep, my idea of a fun way to spend a few hours. Except it was half-term, which we hadn't realized. So the place was packed with kids. Most of these were banging on the windows to make the animals react not realizing that they weren't actually alive. I was reminded of the scene from the first Harry Potter when Dudley bangs on the snake's window and screams 'Make it MOVE!'. There actually was a greenhouse section with actual live lizards and chameleons, which I felt truly sorry for. 

I watched them for a few minutes, admiring their weird beauty until I was stepped on and kicked in the shin by some child and was forced to move. At least they made something move I guess.

leaf & stick insects!

'Earth laughs in flowers.'

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

After getting our fill of dead things (and wanting to make other things dead), we went to explore another part of the city called the Northern Quarter. We loved it. It was full of cute cafes, charity and vintage shops, artist studios and alleys. Here are some snapshots from our great afternoon around.

Fika & Louise & a pretty wall

We unfortunately had to leave quite early to get back to a Newton Faulkner gig in Birmingham (mind blown), which was just a perfect end to the day, followed by some jazz music. It's amazing what can happen in just one day. This one was definitely memorable, thanks for driving and putting up with our noises of excitement, Rose!