Week 12

My first tour since I arrived - and look where I end up!!!!
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This week saw Manchester invaded by the Scots for an UEFA cup final with a Russian team. Something like 200,000 soccer fans flooded into the city although only 17,000 tickets were available to the game. Beer and big screens were promised but the beer ran out mid afternoon and one of the main screens failed. English soccer bedlam followed – mobs attacking policemen, police dogs biting fans, a stabbing and many arrests. Something like 100 tonnes of rubbish was cleaned up from the streets the following morning and it took days before the place stopped smelling like a public toilet. Its times like these that make me happy to be living in Warrington!!!  Thank goodness Jo Jo and i didn't arrange to meet this week otherwise I would have been in the thick of it.

Trough of Bowland in Lancashire
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The work week was pretty busy and I am finding it a little difficult to manage the workload and leave time to do research also, but I think I have agreed a plan of action with the relevant people over here – they are being very accommodating.

Locals and Tourists

Friday I attended a day of an International Study tour that the company arranges for its graduates and international staff. It was a wastewater day with a tour of their major wastewater treatment plant…..straight after lunch!!!!! There were attendees from UK, Australia (even another from Adelaide), Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Estonia and the Philippines. It was very strange hearing the Aussies talk – I now understand why Madeleine says Aussies sound like ducks!!! I couldn’t stop laughing when the Aussie girls was explaining where she had bought her shoes and proudly went on tell everyone how many bucks she spent on them!!!!!

Trough of Bowland in Lancashire
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After the training session, I went to the Trafford Centre (just so happens its directly across from the wastewater treatment plant which was convenient) to go shopping – its kind of like their Marion. I ended up having dinner at Carluccio’s which is in the Trafford Centre. It was ok….but not what I was expecting given the hype it receives.

Saturday I slept in, chatted on the phone with Australia and finally spent some time checking out the local shops in Stockton Heath village. I met Linda’s twin…..Bag Girl UK – I was in the bag shop for about 20 minutes and barely looked at the bags, but got loads of other advice!!!!

The company tour guides - working hard on a Sunday
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Saturday night was Clare’s birthday (a girl I work with). Marion, another girl from the company was invited too. I happened to meet Marioin on Friday at the training course and it just so happens she lives around the corner from me. We decided to go to the birthday together as it was in Didsbury (a suburb of Manchester about 30 minutes from where we live). It was a nice night at a Tapas restaurant. Marion and I both had to be up early so we didn’t kick on after the dinner.

Sunday I joined the study group again…..yes on a Sunday!! I met them all in Liverpool and then a bus took us about 1.5 hours up to Lancashire’s Trough of Bowland – this is an area of natural and scientific b where the company is doing some environmental works in their catchment area. It was a very picturesque area of the UK and part of the drive took us through a village owned by the Queen (they claim the Queen will retire up that way…..is she ever going to retire though?!?!?). This area also happens to be the very centre of the UK.

The Intrenatioon Study Tour
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After the long drive back to Liverpool, I had a long walk back to my car. I finally stumbled across the Super-lamb-banana – what is this I hear you ask? Many years ago this statue was gifted to Liverpool – looks like a combination between a banana and a lamb hence the name. As part of upgrading Liverpool they were going to remove it but the Liverpudlians suddenly weren’t happy about it (I guess similar to our Malls Balls – no one really likes them but you can’t take them away). Anyway , there was so much support that they are running competition to design more of these things as part of the Capital of Culture program and soon they will be springing up all over the city. The company I am working for has rights to one of them as a major sponsor so has been running a competition for the last 3 months.

Walking in the centre of the UK!!!!
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As I had my car, I decided to go on my own Magical Mystery Tour to end the weekend to check out some Beatles sights outside of the Liverpool city area. I wasn’t successful in finding Eleanor Rigby’s statue but I did manage to find Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and I even drove up John Lennon’s childhood driveway.

Bye