No soap

We are in Manchester, and having ever such an exciting time. 

We did not get here last night. We were just too tired. We were going to finish work a bit early and then set off, but as it turned out it was very quiet indeed in Windermere, and we had to sit there in our taxis for ages and ages. 

We had thought that we would keep what we earned and spend it having a holiday in Manchester today, instead of putting it in the bank to pay school fees. This is rascally, but we were longing for an extravagance.

By ten o’ clock we had earned fourteen pounds between us, which we thought would not even be enough to pay for a car park. 

We had to stay on the taxi rank for ages and ages.

We gave up at midnight anyway, and rushed home excitedly, to shower and chuck the dogs into the camper van.

We set off, but we were so sleepy by then that we did not get any further than Kendal. We drove to the little quiet lane that runs alongside the canal and went to sleep.

Mark says that somebody went past and blew their horn in the middle of the night, but I didn’t hear them.

When we woke up this morning we were glad that we had, because it meant that we could take the dogs for a long stroll along the canal towpath before we went to the city. The dogs liked this better than they like the city, and Roger Poopy scared some ducks, who flew off indignantly, quacking loudly.

I had baked a loaf of bread, so we had bread and honey for breakfast, and drove down to Manchester, listening to the thrilling Game Of Thrones story on the way. By a stroke of good fortune so huge I could barely believe it, when we got to the car park we usually use, there was only one space left, and it was just big enough for our camper van. People drove in behind us and were cross because there were no spaces, but we had found one, and we were all right.

We had more bread for lunch then, with buttery scrambled eggs and a glass of French wine. We have been saving this in the camper for nice times. We sat contentedly in our comfortable seats and watched the building site behind us. This was brilliant to watch. There were lots of cranes,with men climbing up and down them, moving huge things like crates of cement, and quad bikes, and steel poles, and we marvelled at the cleverness of people, and the magnificence of our modern world. 

When we had eaten we went for an adventure around Manchester. 

We looked at everything.

Our eyes were swivelling around like marbles in a washing machine.

It was all fascinating, huge and exciting. Of course we have seen most of it many times before, but it does not stop it being interesting. There are old buildings with intricately carved stonework, squished up beside new ones with shiny glass corners. There are buskers and beggars, doormen and policemen, and shops selling more beautiful, expensive clothes than you could ever dream of wanting.

I did not want any, so that was all right.

We thought that we might need some more liquid soap. We have always bought this in Penhaligon’s, but there doesn’t seem to be one of these in Manchester any more, and in any case I don’t like their new modernly reinvented self, so we were looking for somewhere else that might sell beautifully scented soaps and moisturisers and perhaps even candles.

We explored all over the place, and found lots of interesting things to look at, but no soap that we liked.

In the end we were obliged to stop and have an afternoon cocktail outside a bar just behind Selfridge’s, where we sat for ages, watching people and talking about them, and then when we got up we discovered that we were really drunk.

We staggered back to the camper van, stopping on the way to buy olives and hummus, which we ate with bread and crackers, and feta cheese, when we got back.

We have just got back from the theatre now. It is midnight, and we are utterly exhausted.

We are full to the brim of Manchester, and of the theatre, which was ace.

It was the story of Margaret of Anjou, bits of Shakespeare interwoven with her story.

We loved it.

It was scary and sad and interesting all at once, with a bloodthirsty conclusion which made me wish I had covered my eyes. It is not a spoiler to tell you that, because it is history, and you should know already what happened in the times of Margaret of Anjou.

I had forgotten, so it was a surprise. 

There were some brilliant actors. It was absolutely worth coming here. We walked back and thought how happy we were, and how jolly good life is.

It does not matter in the least about the soap. We will buy some in Windermere.

It is just as nice there.