Manchester: The First Few Days

Alrighty folks!

I'm currently in Manchester, England with my best friend, Maggie, and her mom, Evy!

Things got off to a pretty rocky start, but they are definitely settling down now that we are here!

But hey, I can't complain TOO much, because it gives me a story to tell as well as the ability to check something else off of the list of things I want to do!

It all started.... and ended.... with Chicago O'Hare Airport. Flights were grounded there, so we were unable to take off at the scheduled time. After about two hours of waiting we were finally airborne...for a short while. We landed in Chicago just minutes before our connecting flight departed. But, if anyone knows O'Hare, there was no time. We thought ahead and had already reserved spots on a later flight, but there was an issue with different workers printing out our tickets.

Finally Evy was able to contact American Airlines and get us a new flight. For 6:10 p.m. the next day. After quite awhile in the airport we were able to get a free hotel and dinner for the night. To top it off, there was a photo booth and ice cream.

Honestly, the delay wasn't that bad. I was actually able to enjoy it because we were given the chance to go  to Downtown Chicago, somewhere I had never been before. We bought new clothes at H&M, saw the Bean in Millennium Park, snuck around Macy's to use their test makeup, at McDonald's (who can resist?) and got back to the airport with PLENTY of time to spare. This is when yet another unfortunate thing occurred. As we were nearing our scheduled boarding time, a woman came on the loudspeaker and told us that the flight would be delayed because there was a piece of metal poking out within the interior of the plane. They needed an engineer to double check their work before they were able to allow us onto the plane. 

The flight wasn't absolutely terrible, although we were wiped out. Once we got through security and got our passports stamped we went to find our luggage. Evy found hers within a few minutes, but after about 30 minutes, none of us could find the missing bags. We reported them missing and left the airport (Hallelujah). 

We dropped our bags and went to a tea room for a few hours. We bought another set of clothes, showered and changed, relaxed for awhile, and then ate dinner. We were finally able to crash at about 10!

We were able to tour the Manchester United Soccer Stadium on June 18th. This was something that Erick was really looking forward to seeing pictures of, so I tried my best to capture the interesting stuff. I actually came out of it learning quite a lot! 

Later on we walked around the city of Manchester and ate at a restaurant called the Alchemist. It was decorated so cutely, and I could really imagine myself either designing something similar, or actually working in a place like that. 

June 19th. 

We started off the day pretty early and headed to the Lake District with Michelle and Mucker, her dog. We ate breakfast in a small town and drove across to the lake. It was absolutely stunning, which I am sure that you can tell from the pictures. 

We ended up walking around a few lakes as well as a stone circle which is sort of like stone henge. It really reminded us of the Sound of Music, especially when the children are learning how to sing. We stopped for ice cream in the town that Peter Rabbit became famous, and then ate dinner before watching England compete in the World Cup. 

Overall, besides the carsickness that came from all of the winding roads, we had a great day seeing the beauty that God created over here. I could seriously just feel his presence while we were surrounded by mountains all day long. What a wonderful maker we have!

Lastly, I wanted to share this group of photos of an adorable little boy that was eating ice cream today. 

Striding for him,
Melanie