Happy Halloween, Love Batgirl

(Want bed, not party)

Great Success in York

Trembling Madness Drinks Merchant and Medieval Ale House satisfies all my Down Under lager needs

Blackpool

On Saturday I visited the strange, strange land of Blackpool. It's kind of like the lovechild of Las Vegas and Sydney's Royal Easter Show with a dash of Venice Beach. Anyone remember that episode of Mr Bean where he goes to the funfair, ends up looking after the baby all day and swallows a goldfish? Yeah.

After an oh-so-British fish & chips & mushy peas by the seaside, we waited in line for the epic ~Blackpool Tower~, opened to the public in 1894:

(above photo credit: http://deanburnep.primaryblogger.co.uk/category/deans-stuff/)

This was the view from the top - and looking down through the glass floor!

"Don't look down!"

We were lucky enough to visit while the annual Blackpool Illuminations was still being held. at 6:30pm, the city was lit up by over 20,000 lamps and one million LEDs.

We popped into Coral Island to try our luck on one of the hundred of machines... including the bad boy below, which involves a never-ending cycle of inserting a 2p coin then winning it back... until you lose it all.

"Please win me a Hello Kitty!"

On the way home, there were cancellations and major delays and we ended up stranded at Preston for a glorious chunk of our Saturday night. All was ok when we finally made it home and ordered Chinese food.

Sapporo Teppenyaki

£14.95 three-course Japanese feast cooked before our very eyes...... vegetable tempura, spicy sea bass, fried rice, vegetables & chocolate ice cream. Oh, and a saketini to wash it all down.

Location:Oxford Rd,Manchester,United Kingdom

FOUND IT.

(oh and Snickers ice cream bars).
Haslingden Tesco FTW.




Friday night pub quiz at the Duke of Wellington...... we came third. Who knew Sean Connery was a body builder in the 60s?

Location:Manchester,United Kingdom

October Gigs

It has been a busy month.

October 3

Cloud Control

Deaf Institute

October 6

Death From Above 1979

Manchester Academy

October 10

Bob Dylan & Mark Knopfler

M.E.N. Arena

October 19

Jens Lekman & Lia Ices

Band on the Wall

October 23

Josh Pyke & Passenger

Deaf Institute

October 25

VICE.COM Issue Launch: Purity Ring, Gold Teeth, Boredom, Great Waves, Hangloose

Deaf Institute

October 29

Warehouse Project: Jamie xx Presents

Manchester Piccadilly Station

People's History Museum

Trying to convince Mancunians to become £10 poms.

Odd Bar at the Northern Quarter sells Coopers Pale and Sparkling Ale. For an eye-watering £4.50 a bottle.

I have tickets to Man United & Man City games hehehe.

Oh, and it's the end of Week 4 of term and I'm technically not enrolled in any subjects. HI-5

Location:Oxford Rd,Manchester,United Kingdom

Tuesday is moustache day

North Wales: Anglesey

First stop: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Not joking. 76% of the town's population speak Welsh fluently.

On the Isle of Anglesey we stopped at Trearddur Bay, South Stack Lighthouse and saw the RAF Base at Valley where Prince William operates the search and rescue helicopter. Save me, Prince?

Above: we toured the ancient copper mines at Parys Mountain.

The final adventure for the day was Beaumaris Castle - the last castle to be built by King Edward I in 1295.

(why do these day trips always end in icecream......?)

OH and we drove past the Waitrose where Kate Middleton does her grocery shopping ;-)

Send all love letters and tins of milo to.....

Sarah Hope

Cambridge Hall of Residence North DG205

41 Cavendish St

Manchester

M15 6TT

UK

& be sure to message me your address if you would like to receive a postcard.

North Wales: Llangollen and Erddig

There was no Sunday sleep-in for me this week - I was up nice and early for a day trip to North Wales, visiting the town of Llangollen and Erddig House. Wales is a place with a crazy-looking language and is so bad ass that horses pull boats along the canal (see below).

When we arrived at 10am the sleepy town was quite dead and despite its small size, I got rather lost. Eventually I stumbled across the tourist information centre and explored the shops and crossed the bridge across the River Dee. I climbed the hill to get a good view of the area and walked along the canal. I treated myself to morning tea at Cottage Tea Rooms (below).

Pardon?

Welsh fudge NOM

We hopped back on the bus for the short drive to Erddig, a house inhabited by the Yorke family for over 200 years until 1973. The family was known for the respect with which they treated their servants and the living conditions demonstrated this. I got to see original 18th Century furnishings and walk through the gardens and woodland.

Can I be a servant here, please? They serve ice-cream......