Parking the Tuna Boat
We went to hospitals in Manchester, Bradford and Stockport today. At the end of the day we headed to Liverpool to spend the night. Bradford was an interesting little place. All the other little towns we had been to thus far were really cute. Bradford was different. Annemari and I both were shocked when we got to Bradford. We found out later they call it “little Pakistan”, and we knew why. We saw maybe a handful of Caucasians milling about, but there were tons of Pakistan, Afgan, and Indian (who they call Asian) people walking around. The shops that were still open were all Pakistani. The rest were boarded up. The town was very run down. We later were told that there were several mills in the area and the influx of immigrants had just been in the last five years. As the immigrants moved in, many of the locals moved out.
That afternoon Melinda had a little meltdown, she sent us through the same 2 round abouts over and over and over. Then she took us to an alley and stopped speaking to us. I swear I could here the irritation in her voice. Of course you can’t blame her… we were yelling obscenities at her.
We did quite a bit of driving today, and it was time to get gas. The Audi only took diesel, as did many of the cars. We originally thought gas was much cheaper here, but then we realized it was the price per liter. 95 cents per liter in fact. I spent over $100 to fill the car up. At the convenience store we stocked up on food. We had spent all week rushing around and usually missing lunch so we decided to seize the opportunity. Jan had told us about the different flavors of crisps they have here. Apparently the brits love their crisps. Jan recommended the shrimp cocktail crisps and roasted chicken crisps. We opted for the shrimp cocktail crisps. The first 2 tasted like ketchup, and the next 2 tasted like rotten shrimp. That was all I wanted to experience thank you. British chocolate is also very different from American chocolate. British chocolate has nowhere near the wax that American chocolate has. It is awesome. So of course we loaded up on candy too.
So that night we stayed at the Crown Plaza in Liverpool. It was on the Princes Dock, which is the next dock over from the Albert dock. It was a very different experience than the Holiday Inn Express. It was a very Americanized hotel. The bathroom light switch was still on the outside of the bathroom, but you did not have to leave your room key in the switch to keep the power on. They also had the same long, deep tub, and the hairdryer was still located in the desk drawer. They even had toiletries (yay Tif!). They had air conditioning, but still there was no alarm clock. I have noticed a trend however… none of the hotels thus far have had irons with steam. Basically you iron something and then you look rumpled ten minutes later. At least now I have an excuse to look frumpy!
When we got to the hotel I was trying to find a parking space that I could navigate. Well on the first attempt I did not. It was up against a hedge and basically blocked in. I see-sawed it back and for and got it in after 10 minutes or so. By that point we were hysterical. Annemari and I sat there crying we were laughing so hard. I decided it was a bad parking space (ummm… finally) and I spent another 10 minutes getting out. I never hit anything though. I finally found a suitable spot. We got checked in and decided to go back to the Indian restaurant we had gone to on the first night. We were on the Princes Dock so we decided to walk the half mile over to the restaurant on the Albert Dock. We didn’t get far before it began pouring. We hailed a cab to get there, and after several hours at the restaurant we walked back to the hotel. It was a gorgeous evening.
That afternoon Melinda had a little meltdown, she sent us through the same 2 round abouts over and over and over. Then she took us to an alley and stopped speaking to us. I swear I could here the irritation in her voice. Of course you can’t blame her… we were yelling obscenities at her.
We did quite a bit of driving today, and it was time to get gas. The Audi only took diesel, as did many of the cars. We originally thought gas was much cheaper here, but then we realized it was the price per liter. 95 cents per liter in fact. I spent over $100 to fill the car up. At the convenience store we stocked up on food. We had spent all week rushing around and usually missing lunch so we decided to seize the opportunity. Jan had told us about the different flavors of crisps they have here. Apparently the brits love their crisps. Jan recommended the shrimp cocktail crisps and roasted chicken crisps. We opted for the shrimp cocktail crisps. The first 2 tasted like ketchup, and the next 2 tasted like rotten shrimp. That was all I wanted to experience thank you. British chocolate is also very different from American chocolate. British chocolate has nowhere near the wax that American chocolate has. It is awesome. So of course we loaded up on candy too.
So that night we stayed at the Crown Plaza in Liverpool. It was on the Princes Dock, which is the next dock over from the Albert dock. It was a very different experience than the Holiday Inn Express. It was a very Americanized hotel. The bathroom light switch was still on the outside of the bathroom, but you did not have to leave your room key in the switch to keep the power on. They also had the same long, deep tub, and the hairdryer was still located in the desk drawer. They even had toiletries (yay Tif!). They had air conditioning, but still there was no alarm clock. I have noticed a trend however… none of the hotels thus far have had irons with steam. Basically you iron something and then you look rumpled ten minutes later. At least now I have an excuse to look frumpy!
When we got to the hotel I was trying to find a parking space that I could navigate. Well on the first attempt I did not. It was up against a hedge and basically blocked in. I see-sawed it back and for and got it in after 10 minutes or so. By that point we were hysterical. Annemari and I sat there crying we were laughing so hard. I decided it was a bad parking space (ummm… finally) and I spent another 10 minutes getting out. I never hit anything though. I finally found a suitable spot. We got checked in and decided to go back to the Indian restaurant we had gone to on the first night. We were on the Princes Dock so we decided to walk the half mile over to the restaurant on the Albert Dock. We didn’t get far before it began pouring. We hailed a cab to get there, and after several hours at the restaurant we walked back to the hotel. It was a gorgeous evening.
posted by Jill at 10:40 PM
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