Liverpool, Round 2: Alice in Wonderland and the Beatles

Last Thursday, three flatmates and I headed off to Liverpool to check out the Alice in Wonderland exhibition at Tate Liverpool.

I visited the Beatles Story which I didn't get around to checking out last time I visited Liverpool.

At 2.30pm we joined the 2-hour Magical Mystery Tour of important Beatles sites around Liverpool.

Below: George Harrison's house

Strawberry Fields Forever!

John Lennon's House

Finished the day with a pint at the famous Cavern Club.

Cornerhouse

Another tragically cloudy Sunday Mancunian morning. You know what that means..... culture time!

Fortunately, just down the road from my flat is the wonderful Cornerhouse centre - an art gallery, cinema, bar and cafѐ. So it was the perfect opportunity to finally check out the gallery (free entry), featuring the exhibition Rashid Rana: Everything Is Happening At Once as part of the Asia Triennial Manchester II. It included photo sculptures and large-scale mosaics, aiming to "subvert perception of size and structure and urge us to look deeper into the relationship between the fragment and the bigger picture."

I noticed they are currently showing the Australian film Snowtown... I wonder if as many people here walk out of it as they did at Dendy Newtown?

Finished with a hard-earned brunch in the downstairs cafѐ. You can't tell from the picture, but this strawberry muffin was sprinkled with red glitter!!!!!!! Kawaii

Leeds

Last Thursday I made the 50-minute train trip to Leeds, the 'cultural, financial and commercial heart of West Yorkshire'. Existence of the city itself can be traced back to the 5th century and in the 17th and 18th centuries Leeds became a major centre for wool. I must admit, before I arrived in the UK the only reason I had heard of it was due to that little August music festival.

Our first stop was the Henry Moore Institute (whose sculptures can be found around the city centre) but to our disappointment, the main galleries were closed for installation of a new exhibition.

Nevertheless, we popped next door into the rather grand-looking Leeds Art Gallery.

Above: Leeds Council.

Below: 'Both Arms' by Kenneth Armitage... this city sure likes its sculptures.

Christmas markets!

After lunch, we checked out Leeds City Museum and went vintage shopping around the Corn Exchange - I picked up an awesome Morrissey singlet top for £15.

Manchester City v Newcastle

This afternoon Mark, Aaron and I hopped on the bus to Etihad Stadium for a big game (and our first at Man City's home ground).

Again, our tickets were very nosebleed, but the match was much more exciting than the one I saw at Old Trafford. Man City won 3-1 (sorry Mark).

The 2.3 mile walk home in the freezing cold was not as great.

Rome Day 3

With a 12:55pm flight booked back to Manchester, it was a very early start to squeeze in the Vatican Museum. Luckily I had become a pro at the Metro subway system.

I honestly could have slowly wandered through the Vatican museum all day, photographing the beautiful ceilings and decorations. But I had one goal to conquer in less than 45 minutes: the Sistine Chapel.

I snuck a photo with my iPhone - obviously doesn't do it justice but hopefully you can see how amazing it really is. Everyone takes a seat and stares up at the stories above them in awe.

I was greeted upon return in Manchester with rain.

Rome Day 2

I woke up to a beautiful day of sunshine - perfect to sit on an open-top hop-on hop-off bus to explore the city.

I got off the bus at the Colosseum, built in 80AD and can only be described as imposing (as was the length of the queue to enter, fortunately I joined a tour group to skip it & learn about the beast of a structure).

The tour then took us to the Forum - a plaza surrounded by ruins of ancient government buildings, with a beautiful view over the city. As the oldest part of Rome, some of the buildings date back to the 8th century BC.

Entering VATICAN CITY

You can keep your Colosseums and your Pantheons - they most important sighting of the day was this little guy, who looked awfully like my first cat Lucky. RIP.