May 30th & 31st - Manchester

We didn't originally plan on going to Manchester but Allison made a little mistake and had her hat for the derby sent Manchester instead of Edinburgh. It was on the way though so we stayed there for a night. We got there late and drove in circles forever trying to find the parking structure but it all worked out in the end. We got to the hotel and sat in the bar for a few hours trying to plan the rest of the trip so as usual we got to be pretty late. The next day we went to LK Bennet to pick up our new shoes and then went to an art gallery Allison found. The guide book said they had the largest collection of wallpaper or something and she really wanted to see it but they didn't have that exhibit up at the moment. Damn guide book! We walked around a bit in the gallery but it was really nothing special. We read about the Imperial War Museum and went that way next. Our guide book said it was open until 6pm so we thought we had plenty of time but it closed at 5! Damn guide book!! I'm really happy we at least got to see it but we could have easily spent all day there. It was one of the interestingly designed museums I have ever seen. They do a light show ever 30 mins showing someone's story from one of the wars. They have projectors all over projecting different images and words telling the story. You can sit anywhere in the museum to see it all around it. Very neat, Allison is a graphic designer and she just loved how they did it. The museum itself was beautifully designed! It was easy to follow but at the same time very intricate with a lot of small areas and pathways to follow. They had several different installations that I could try and explain but I put some pictures which will do a much better job.

After the museum we drove to Warwick and stayed in a lovely estate! We actually drove past it the first time and not knowing we were staying there Allison shouted, "that place looks AMAAAAZING". It was very beautiful and had the bells from Downton Abbey! We planned on having an early dinner and getting to bed but in true Allison and Emy fashion that did not happen. We went to a local pub for dinner, I had delicious lamb, she had a salmon cake and we made some friends! They offered us birthday cake and we started chatting for hours. They were lovely couple and their 13 year old son. She's Irish, he's British and live in Warwick. We made it back and again sat in the bar so I could blog for a bit and made another friend, the guy who runs the estate. He's had 900 weddings there! Another very interesting guy. K we gotta go find Kate so I have to run, sorry the pictures are out of order!

A stick figure and a cane aren't enough,
they're hunched over!

Pub we had dinner at

Wroxall Abbey Estate! Allison thought I was
saying Rock Salt!