Wow, it really doesn't feel like I've been here for one and a half weeks already! I really haven't done as much as I thought I would, but this is vacation, right?! Besides hanging around Manchester, I've been to see York and Chester. In both towns I've been to see the cathedrals, which are really nice. The York Minster Cathedral is unique because it has all of it's stained glass, something that was damaged in most churches and cathedrals during the civil war. It was quite impressive to see such a huge peice of architecture. The whole thing is falling over though because it was built on sand- kind of ironic when the processional banner they use in service has strong reference to the verse "build my house on rock and not sand" I was the only one in the group to find that amusing, I think....

Chester had a smaller cathedral, but I think I enjoyed the windows there a bit more. Also, it is where Handel was forced to rehearse The Messiah for the first time, as a storm kept him from sailing to Dublin on schedule. The cathedral has the original manuscripts on display. That was really neat for me to see. I went to the Dewa Roman Experience in Chester, which is supposed to be this big great thing. It is basically a hokey museum where you walk past statues and look at piles of rocks and old roman pottery. Dewa was the name of the town when Rome was occupying britain. It was pretty bad... but I still had fun.

Tomorrow I am heading off to London!I have a whole list of things to do there. I want to see the Rosetta Stone, and Portebello Road, and the Queen's horses, and Karl Marx's burial site. The UK is great because a lot of the things to do are free. I try to give at least £3 donations to the museums and cathedrals, but it's nice to be able to do these things when I am utterly broke.

Still haven't made it to Liverpool, but I have plenty of time. I'll probably do that on Monday or Teusday depending on the whether. My pictures are here: http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/OpheliaLoved/England/
Although the pictures from Chester aren't developed yet; I'm waiting to get a couple more rolls so I can take them all in together.

I'm off to do some dishes and then to meet some friends for "tea" (that's dinner)
Pip pip!