It’s the Final Countdown (dah nah naaaah nuhhh…)
November 23, 2009
…do do doo do dooooo!!
It’s official. I’ve begun the countdown. Only two weeks till I’ll be trekking back down to London and jet-setting off home, leaving frosty Manchester in my wake.
And it’s all finally started to sink in…
Despite the rain and the cold, I’ve grown strangely attracted to the city, and as if to rub it in my face, Manchester’s never looked more inviting. Christmas fever has well and truly hit, and everywhere you look there’s lights and decorations (and an open air ice-skating rink!). Yesterday, Starbucks gingerbread latte in hand, I explored the famous Manchester Christmas markets – rows upon rows of wooden stalls – stretching the entire length of the city centre. And the atmosphere was amazing –everyone being all festive and merry, browsing the stalls, gorging on delicious European cuisine (German Bratwurst, Spanish Chorizo, Belgium waffles!!) and drinking loads of hot chocolate, beer and mulled wine. I can really start to see the appeal in a winter xmas.
Anyway, catch-up time. Turns out I was a bit optimistic in my travel plans – Oslo (officially the world’s most expensive city) had no cheap accommodation, and all the youth hostels had been booked way in advance. So that trip was off the table (oh well, the flights had only cost us 4p). And as for Amsterdam, although I was really keen to go back, by the time we all got our act together in our flat, the MMU trip was also already booked out. Grr.
But Barcelona is still very much on for the beginning of December (even if it is just for two days).
Oh, and while we’re kinda on the topic of countdowns and Christmas, on the 12th I went to see Manchester’s Christmas lights switch-on. Like Bonfire night, this was another big calendar event that took me slightly by surprise – thousands of people crammed into Albert Square to watch the concert, lights and fireworks – they even had X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke perform (*cough*)
On a side note, we were all very well behaved, unlike those damn rioting Brummies.
What else? Last Saturday Sophie and I went to see a matinee performance of Beauty and the Beast at the Opera House, which was good fun (despite the masses of loud ill-behaved children). But apart from that, things have actually been relatively quiet over the last few weeks – been slowly trying to get the motivation to finish at least some of my essays before coming home. Also caught another cold currently doing the rounds at halls, so I’ve been good and haven’t been going out very much. Mind you, I’m imaging that might change over the next two weeks…
x.
