Liverpool and Manchester

Hello, friends. I'm writing from the Culcheth Library. They do have free Internet Access here, but I keep hitting a slashmark instead of the cap key.

We had a wonderful week last week. We went to Liverpool on Friday (Rachel, Deanna picked up a postcard for Ethan - I tried to talk her into a bumper sticker, but she couldn't seem to get past the fact that Ethan doesn't own a car) and visited The Beatle's Story and a Maritime Museum. Everything in Liverpool is free. We had a wonderful day and spent some time shopping in Town Centre. On the way out, we found a Disney store that Deanna wanted to look through and then a McDonald's. Deanna and Dane really wanted a good, old-fashioned American hamburger, so we ate there (although drinks over here are rather strange - all sodas are sugar-free). Daelyn discovered they had an upstairs, so we chose a window-side table and he stood up watching the buses drive by and enjoying the Liverpool nightlife from the 2nd story of McDonald's. Then we took a train for home. When the train arrived in Birchwood, we waited a while for the bus (I used my handy-dandy flashlight to check the schedule) before discovering that Birchwood is a business center and the buses don't run into the late evening. It was around 8 p.m. One of the Bobby's standing around offerred to call us a cab and, while we were waiting on it, my cellphone rang. I answered it to find my father on the other end. What a wonderful surprise!! I had just gotten it the day before, but Don had sent out an e-mail that morning with my number and Papa decided to put the International Calling Card I bought him before I left to good use. We didn't get to talk for long, though, before the taxi arrived and we headed for home.

The next day, some of the folks in Don's office needed a break, so the Company arranged for a bus to take anyone wanting to go into Manchester to Trafford Center, a HUGE high-end Mall, anchored by the English equivalent of Rich's. Don signed me and the children up but expected to be working, so we were going to try it on our own. When we got home Friday night from Liverpool, he told me that he had decided to go with us and had gotten himself on the bus, as well. I was thrilled - half a day with Daddy exploring Manchester. We were to meet at his office at 2 p.m. to board the bus and it would return at 9 p.m. Some of the Americans wanted to see a movie at the many theaters in Trafford.

When we arrived and disembarked in Manchester, I asked the man parking buses how to get a Metrolink Shuttle into downtown. He told me that the Shuttle stopped right where we were standing. We took it to the last stop, then picked up a Tram and headed into town. There was a European Market in Town Center. We wandered around, looked at booths, checked out the cheeses and bratwurst, watched them making German pancakes, bought some gingerbread from a Danish cookiemaker, had some spicy sausages for dinner, then decided to head back for Trafford. It was about an hour after dark and we were starting to get cold. As we were walking away, we heard a band playing and walked back to the edge of the market where 4 young men had set up their instruments and were playing Christmas carols. We sang softly along with them. The air was crisp and the wind was in our faces. We could smell the bratwurst and gleuwine in the air and the lights were twinkling around us. It was one of those precious moments in time. I put my arm around Deanna's shoulders and squeezed them. She looked up into my eyes and had tears in hers.

"Mama, this was worth the trip. I'm glad we're here."

This has been a hard time for her to be away from all her friends. She's missing her family and the festivities at home and every few days asks if she can call one of her friends to hear a voice from home.

Today, some friends from Augusta arrived - Andrea Prunier, for those of you who know her, and her sister. They'll be staying with us for a couple of days. We're trying to teach them some of the ropes.

We don't have any further travel plans before Christmas, unless something comes along that we can't resist. After Christmas, we're planning on doing London and, maybe, heading across the Channel. In January, we hope to visit Scotland.

A few more entries for our American/English Dictionary:

Vegetables - veg
Cup of tea - brew
yards - gardens
Sidewalk - pavement
bathroom - toilets

I'm sure there's lots more, but Deanna's late for tea with a friend, so we've got to go. I'll try and write again before Christmas.