uk roadtrip part 11: a swing north tuesday in manchester

Last stop of our UK roadtrip was, as it often has been, Manchester. Those of you who know me know that I have mixed feelings about the city itself, but one thing can't be disputed, and that is that some of the very best people we know live here. Like Rachel!


We started our Tuesday afternoon with a late lunch in Didsbury, where Rachel lives.




Liam offered to take these photos of Rachel and me - I have trained him so well that I don't even have to ask him, can you believe it? :)


We got ready for the evening and then went into town to go dancing at Swing North, which would have been my favourite dance society in the world if it weren't for West Coast Jitterbugs. Liam and I taught a balboa class as guest teachers which is always such fun (and such a privilege that they want us back and that people are willing to come out to take a class for us!), and then we walked over to a different venue for the social dancing.


Took some photos on the way. I like the Northern Quarter:








I also like this beer, a delightful nitro porter.


Dancing!




We were there in the middle of a heatwave and it got veeeery hot on the dance floor. Liam and Jenny dealt with the heat with these newfangled contraptions ...


... while Rachel went the more classic route.


Luckily, there was an outdoor patio where we could have a late dinner. A social dance in a pub that also has pizza? YES.


Kevin and Rachel, such babes!


And after social dancing finished, a few of us went to a different pub for the traditional post dancing beer.



This is such a lovely gang, I'm so glad we got to see them.


And if that wasn't enough, the guy next to us wondered if we would watch his dog while he went to the bar. YES. The cutest most well behaved dog in a pub ever!

yeule | Dudu

uk roadtrip part 10: from glasgow to huddersfield

Time for a travel day! We woke up outside of Glasgow in the lovely home of Nick and Katy. Had breakfast together ...



... and then said goodbye for now in the late morning. They are always such a delight to visit. Next time in Gothenburgh?

The drive from Glasgow to Huddersfield is just over four hours. Liam and I both needed some alone time and to sink into ourselves for a bit, so he listened to a podcast while I wrote in my journal and listened to Love...Thy Will Be Done by Martika on repeat. What a song. What a life this is.


We stopped at Tebay Services for lunch. I bloody love Tebay Services (also Gloucester Services when going to the south - it's the same company). Actually, I don't know any Brit who doesn't sigh happily at the thought of Tebay Services. They drive A LOT in this country, you know, so how would you not love services with a pond? And actual grass? And good veggie food?


AND they have a shop for locally grown food. I bought some local and local-ish stout, OBVS. Had so much great beer on this trip.


And in the afternoon we made it to Skelmanthorpe (not really Huddersfield as it says in the title of this post, but they lived there for so long that I still think of it as "going to Huddersfield") to see Rosie and Marshal and their lovely family. Turns out we made it back to England from Scotland just in time for a heatwave. When we left Glasgow it was 21°C; four hours in an air conditioned car later, we stepped out in 31°C. Help! :)


Georgia handed me a very cute egg tattoo almost as soon as we got in the door.


She was a very tattooed lady herself this afternoon. :) I wanted all of her tattoos!


Something about Marshal's cooking was loud, apparently!


Is that a black hole I see, resting on the stairs?


Marshal made us some delightful dinner.


And then we spent the rest of the evening out on the patio.


It was a slightly more comfortable temperature of 25°C at night, and a perfect summer evening to spend outside with fabulous company ...


... a good beer ...


... and sticky toffee pudding. :)


The next morning we had breakfast ...


... and cuddled with Molly ...


... and took selfies ...


... and then we waved goodbye to the family. It was so, so lovely to get to spend time with these wonderful humans. The memories from this trip are so incredibly valuable to me.

Martika | Love...Thy Will Be Done

uk roadtrip part 9: loch lomond national park

We started our last full day in Scotland petting Highland Cattle. Liam had looked up a place where you can feed and pet them, so obviously we had to go, because Liam is obsessed with dogs, and cows are essentially big dogs (or "grass puppers" as they are called in our household).



This is Liam's lovestruck face whenever he sees a particularly good dog, or in this case, three very big grass-eating good dogs.


Then we drove to the second national park of this trip (woop woop), Loch Lomond national park. I was going for a walk (obviously) but it was very sunny and I realised I had forgotten to take a hat. Liam, who was only going down to the village pub and not up a mountain, let me have his hat and put a t-shirt on his own head instead :)


And then I started walking up Conic Hill.


More up.



Sat down for some fika halfway up ...


... where this was the view. I was not suffering.


Then some more up.



And then I reached the top!


It was so beautiful up there. I was so so happy.


I stayed for a bit just to take it all in.



And then I went back down again the same route. The path was well paved and it wasn't too steep, so this was a very pleasant afternoon walk.





I went to the pub to find Liam who despite what it looks like had had a delightful day inside, away from the sun and the heat, drinking coffee and tinkering on his laptop. :)


Then we drove to Glasgow where we stayed another night with the lovely Katy and Nick ...



... talking about life, the universe and everything until late.

Little Simz | Young