one of those days where you’re slightly claustrophobic, because it feels like the whole world is inside you, and you cannot escape it, because you cannot escape yourself, and your room is all you have. it’s nothing serious, nothing dramatic, just a sense of being stuck, while slipping at the same time.
that barely even makes sense to me, but it describes the feeling more or less accurately.
Wollaton Park grounds.
Wollaton Park Garden (with a view over the grounds that i forgot to take a picture of). hyacinths and other gorgeous flowers planted everywhere; the scent of them was everywhere.
greenhouse with different types of roses.
and a glimpse of Wollaton Hall itself.
the very first thing we did in Liverpool was go to Penny Lane – it’s Liverpool, you have to see something related to the Beatles. here is Hetty, my perfect guide!
this is from the following morning, as the night before was spent watching movies and having dinner in good company at Hetty & her partner’s home! anyway, this was one of the most gorgeous views i’d seen on the trip, or in general. i’m not sure the picture does it any kind of justice. see the Mersey opening up at the end of that street? amazing.
lots of beautiful, gigantic old buildings in the city centre. this Queen Victoria monument was quite sizable, as well.
the old docking area in the city centre. all the museums and galleries seemed to be in this area; we visited the Museum of Liverpool.
they had lovely, colourful lambanana statues. had to strike a pose with one, naturally.
visited the amazing metropolitan Catholic cathedral of Christ the King. it was mind boggling, for lack of a better word. very modern (and big) on the outside, with a sort of crown perched atop, and vast and colourful and perfectly circular inside, with the altar in the middle and the pews circling it. it also had small prayer rooms and chapels going around, with lovely artwork.
the weather went from sunshine and blue skies, to rainy and grey, but it didn’t really matter all that much. we went to China Town! it wasn’t an especially large area, as far as i could see (though there was a Chinese supermarket and a school), but the arch was huge! it was also a little quiet, due to the fact that it was relatively early in the day, and none of the shops or restaurants were open.
we wandered around some more, and ended with going to Bold Street. after some shops and a video exhibition, we ended the day with tea in Leaf (highly recommended). it was a pretty amazing day; saw more than i could have ever hoped to, and had an amazing time with a friend as a tour guide! MUST return to Liverpool at some point, it was so lovely.
one last picture out of the train window, on my way back to Nottingham.
so, so lovely. there are flowers everywhere, and the trees have gone green with leaves in the space of a week.
i’m terrible at updating nowadays. it’s always at the back of my mind to make a new post, but then something else comes along and i forget.
either way, two days after returning from Helsinki, while everyone was still on their Easter break and the campus was deserted, i went on a little trip around a few cities in the UK. here are some pictures!
Sheffield was first; it’s about an hours train ride away from Nottingham. here is Sheffield railway station.
Isabel, from my Virginia Woolf course, was my guide around the city (though even she had to ask for directions at one point).
visited a cute café named after Woolf’s novel.
saw some exhibitions, one of which included one painting by Roger Fry (of poet Edith Sitwell) and one by Vanessa Bell (sister of Virginia Woolf, for those not in the know), both central members of the Bloomsbury group! after that it was time for lunch.
& then Isabel had to leave, and I spent a few hours wandering around a very rainy and chilly Sheffield by myself. these were taken in the park outside of the Town Hall. i imagine it is absolutely gorgeous there right now!
after some 6 hours in Sheffield, i took the train onwards to Manchester! this was one of the first things i saw on my way to the hostel.
it was my first time in a hostel, and i was lucky in that i ended up getting a six-bed dorm all to myself!
it was quite late, and i’d been out all day, but i figured i had to take advantage of the situation and made my way down to Canal Street! one of the best things I did on that trip, in hindsight, even though it was just one drink alone at a bar. strange to be in a place that you recognise from one of your favourite tv shows ever! would love to go back there before my exchange is over.
the next morning i set off early from the hostel and just walked around the city. i really liked Manchester; for all its relative modernity, especially in some parts of Picadilly, it was very inviting and friendly in atmosphere. i also loved all the street art i came across. my aunt lived, if not quite in Manchester, then at least in suburbs on the very fringe of it for many years, and although she passed away from cancer in 1997, i kept feeling as if she should be there. probably just a fancy, but still!
picked up some post cards and sat down in a Pret at Picadilly Railway station to write. i was waiting for Hetty’s train to arrive, so we could spend a few hours in Manchester before the next leg of the adventure
before we left Manchester, we visited Manchester Art Gallery and saw Raqib Shaw’s amazing exhibition. few works of art have made such an instantly lasting impression as his did. check it out if you get the chance!
next, Liverpool…!
hur såg du ut för ett år sedan?
såhär ungefär.
vilket är ditt mest använda ord denna vecka?
har märkt att det kanske är ‘shit’. inte riktigt säker varför.
har du någon fobi?
åtminståne att bli instängd i ett litet utrym.
vad är det godaste du har ätit hittills i veckan?
rökt lax med sparris, majs, broccoli och moröter. det var himlagått efter en lång dag av spatsering runt Manchester och Liverpool utan riktig mat.
vad är det finaste någon har sagt till dig idag?
har just vaknat, så har inte kommunicerat hemskt mycket, men städerskan sag hej när jag gick förbi, och det var ju snällt.
när kände du dig riktigt nöjd med dig själv senast?
i Manchester, på morgonen efter att ha spenderat natten ensam på ett hostell och kände mig fri och modig för att jag var ute och reste själv.
vad tror du kommer bli roligast i helgen?
hoppeligen en öl på nån terass med Milla, eller så kanske en liten daytrip till Lincoln, vem vet!
vilken är din pepplåt för tillfället?
Die Antwoord – Baby’s On Fire. såg videon på en video utställning i Liverpool och blev kär genast. himla bra musik över huvudtagen, har de.
vad har du sysselsatt dig med då du har haft dötid i veckan?
suttit och kollat saker på nätet, som alltid. läst lite kurslitteratur också, dock.
har du gjort/kommer du göra något i veckan som du inte gjort förr?
bott ensam på hostell, sett tre städer på tre dagar.
vad oroar du dig för?
just nu är jag inte hemskt oroad, men när jag blir det är det oftast framtiden, och mest de nästa två månaderna här i Nottingham.
vem är den kändaste personen du har sett på senaste tiden?
ingen aning! det har nog varit länge sedan jag sett nån kändis.
vad har varit mest förvirrande på senaste tiden?
mitt humör och vädret.
hur ser dina senast tagna webcam-bilder ut?’
tar faktist inte webcam bilder, så det får bli de tre sista ur min telefon:
har veckan varit bra än så länge?
väldigt fin för största delen, med små fickor av ångest och obehag. men ganska fin när man tänker på helhetet.
* to read in english, google translate should do a semi-decent job! wanted to do this in swedish for a change.
first proper meal in several days.
jazz concert in Mikael Agricola church on good friday.
Kaisa, finnish food & a couple of pints on saturday (& sunshine!)
flowers, hens & chicks for easter sunday.
dad and my uncle’s dog sometime between dinner and dessert on sunday.
tea & coffee with mom after seeing Marjatta Tapiola’s exhibition at Tennispalatsi.
long walk along the seaside/harbour with dad one day – ice floats.
strange violet tulips that turned interestingly dark at the tips of the petals, but withered in two days.
on the plane back to England.
spent a week and a half of my Easter holidays in Helsinki, stocked up on proper food, sunshine, a sense of home, and most of all, my parents.
exacly a week ago on saturday at 8AM, a small group of us took the bus (2,5 h) to Leeds for the day! here’s what i managed to capture from our time there.
a sea of flowers at Leeds City Markets (i wanted to buy them all and send them to my mom).
sarcophagus.
a view of Leeds from the ferris wheel (absolutely FREEZING up there).
lunch at Da Marios (good service for people with difficult diets such as i).
i’m quite picky about art, and tend to favour traditional forms over the more modern stuff, but i really liked these string nets!
they were good for taking Bond-esque shots, too.
gallery cafe ceiling!
after the Gallery, we moved on to Mr Foley’s Cask Ale Pub, where Jack discovered that orange goes well with beer.
after a shortish walk around the city during which we realised we wouldn’t have time to go to the Armory, we set out to find somewhere warm to sit and while away the time until our bus back.
ended up here; Leeds’ oldest bar, established in the 17th century (not quite Ye Olde Trip, but pretty good, still!).
and that was more or less it! it was so cold that i didn’t manage to capture anything of much interest outside, and we didn’t actually see a lot of Leeds for that very reason – it was much more peferrable to stay inside. a very good trip, either way!
* Virginia Woolf: “Monday or Tuesday”
