I have had two very busy weekends of adventuring. Last weekend I went to the seaside, yesterday I went on a really exciting, very big, amazing snowy adventure I need to tell you about and today I have been to Manchester. I’m exhausted. I’ve done so much adventuring, I’ve not had time to write about it. So, this is just a quick post and some pictures from today and I promise that in the calm of next week I will share with you what I’ve been up to over the last few weekends on my seaside and snowy adventures.
So today, a visit to the big city, Manchester! What for? To celebrate the Year of the Rabbit of course and the Lunar New Year. To say I don’t like New Year, this was good, I’ll make an exception for the Lunar New Year.
I think I’ve said before I’m not a city girl, I go to Manchester, Leeds or London when I need a girly shopping day, want to see a show or some other cultural museum visit, and then I’m happy to come home again. I like the countryside and nature. I do like a good street party though and Manchester and London have the biggest Lunar New Year celebrations in Europe. Each of the cities have their very own ‘Chinatown’ area and are home to a huge East Asian population. It’s a fantastic area to visit at any time of year as there are some amazing restaurants here: Vietnamese; Chinese; Japanese; Korean; Thai and lots more. I love Asian food, particularly Thai, so it’s always worth a visit.
I’ve also mentioned before that I love to learn about different cultures and their celebrations, and I love to join in. The Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the lunisolar calendar year whose months are cycles of the moon. The date changes every year but the East Asian Lunar new year is always on the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February. The main celebrations this year are today, 22nd January. So off to Manchester I went in search of a street party.
I went on the train so it was a bit of an adventure as I don’t normally travel by train. There is a good reason for me travelling to Manchester by train. I’m not proud of it but I’ll admit it, I have been banned by the household from taking the car to Manchester on my own. I may have told you that I am a bit of a daydreamer and not always fully aware of what’s going on around me. I think it an age and hormone thing, like brain fog (that’s my excuse anyway). But to cut a long story short the last two times I have been to Manchester alone in the car I have received a £60 fine each time for driving straight down a bus lane! I swear it’s not very well signed and I can definitely blame the sat nav for one occasion but according to everyone at home I’m just not safe to be let out in a city in a car on my own! So, train it was today, in my new hat which according to the household has not been in fashion since Abba won the Eurovision with ‘Waterloo’ in 1974 when Anni-Frid wore a blue one! I could seriously fall out with them sometimes, but warmth was my priority today.
Anyway, it was fantastic. It was loud, it was busy, it was colourful, there were fire crackers going off everywhere and there was the hugest parade going the full length of the city with a 175ft dragon accompanied by drums and traditional lion and ribbon dancers. There were street entertainers, traditional street food vendors, music and just a really good atmosphere and celebration. I ate, I drank and just generally had a really good time soaking up the carnival atmosphere. I just need a rest now to recover from all my exploits and tell you what else I’ve been up to so watch this space!
Oh, and on a separate note, I’ve returned home to an empty house……………..they’ve gone! Back to University! A day of double celebrations, the Lunar New Year and the grand student depart. I just need to get my rubber gloves on and tackle two bedrooms and a bathroom next week. I’m secretly missing them a little bit already, it’s just so quiet, and even though they think I’m the most embarrassing uncool human to ever grace the planet, I can just tell with that last hug that they give you before they leave that deep down, they might be missing me and my Abba hat a tiny little bit too.