Manchester

We spent 3 nights in Manchester and on our first night had a lovely meal at the KRO bar in the heart of the city after checking into our Ibis hotel. The Whitworth Art Gallery was closing on the following Monday for a year to do some extensions and so they had organised a weekend of celebrations to say goodbye to the old gallery. We visited the community event on the Saturday and were enthralled  with the entertainment offered. We lunched in the park on Mumbai street food brought from a stall, very yummy then walked around the park looking at the stalls set up selling all sorts of items. We came across the Living Room tent with a stage, carpet on the ground and lounges to relax and listen to the music on offer. We caught Sura Susso, a young man from West Africa playing the Kora and singing. I have to say it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard and we sat spelled bound listening to him sing and play his instrument. The gallery was open for free so we took a look around the exhibitions and afterwards moved outside to the larger stage and caught a jazz group with a women named Zoe Chiotis singing. She had a large audience and was very entertaining.  Back to the hotel to change for dinner at a local Malaysian restaurant, nice food but not much for the price.

Sunday we took our time and had a late breakfast. Luckily breakfast at the hotel on weekends was from 6.30am until 12 noon which I thought very civilised. We decided to just walk around to the large shopping centre then take in a movie. We saw The Way Way Back with Steve Carell and Toni Collette and we both really enjoyed this coming of age type movie. 

We got back to the hotel in time to repack the bags for the Ryanair flight to Paris on Monday morning. 

Knaresborough part two

We travelled by train to York twice as the first time we didn't get to see all of the York Minster (Minster is a Anglo-Saxon word for missionary church). On our first visit we took a guided tour which was enlightening and entertaining as the guide had a good sense of humour and a bit theatrical. The guide said that within 200 years of the death of Jesus his followers began to gather on the spot that is now the cathedral. Changes have been made over the years and fires have meant a rebuild in sections but the current version is awesome. We were so impressed we decided to stay on still 5.15 pm and attend the Evensong which is held in the Quire where the choir sings. We could sit anywhere so I moved into a box and when the  choir and the Ministers came into the Quire the Dean of York Rev Vivienne Faull sat right behind me. When she spoke I felt like I was part of the clergy. They sing the whole 40 minute service and it was beautiful. The choir had the lights on in front of them and it made a magical scene from where we sat. 

The second visit to York returned us to the Minster and on our way we walked past a building advertising an open day for the Lord Mayor House. We decided to take a look and were greeted by the Lord Mayor herself Julie Gunnell. She shook our hands and welcomed us into her house, well she lives on the top floor which is not open to the public but the reception rooms and public rooms where open so we walked around and up the stairs. The yellow lounge room was where the Queen sat to have a G&T before her meal when she visited in 2012. 

From here we stumbled across a recital by Helen Atkinson playing a lute and singing songs from England's royal courts. She had a lovely clear voice and as it was in a small church the sound was beautiful. 

We visited the Minster again and went through the underground chamber with its audiovisual galleries which is like a museum. It shows the journey of the last two thousand years of Yorks history with interactive sections for kids to enjoy. It explains how Constantine was made emperior of Rome in York and he stopped the persecution of the Christians and helped to spread the word.  

We walked on a section of the York City Wall which surrounds the city and on our way back to the station we came upon a court yard with a display of birds of prey and  behind that a small ancient church. The detour meant we had to catch a later train so we stopped for a beer and relax on a very interesting day. 

The Bank Holiday made for a long weekend and on the Monday we had heard that a guy was performing in the park in Ripon. We spent a nice day walking around the small town and being entertained by the local singer/songwriter. The cathedral (yes I know another one) in Ripon inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland as the choir stalls featured some medieval woodcarvings of a rabbit running to a hole and other woodland creatures. They were carved under the seat but visible when seat lifted. Carroll was attending the church around the time he was 20 and would have seen these carvings regularly. We had morning tea in the Mad Hatter cafe, very cool. 

The two weeks came to an end very quickly and we were sad to leave Knaresbrough and our friendly apartment owner who made our stay very comfortable. She allowed us to use her washing machine and invited us to her sons birthday party. We parted with a hug and a promise to visit if we get the chance in the future. 

Knaresborough

Well what a lovely little town and arrived by train into the Feva festival where we caught the last weekend of the music and art. The tourist information centre as usual was a great source of knowledge about what to see and do. We attended the Picnic in the Park free open air concert behind Knaresborough House and enjoyed the 3 bands playing including Barcode Zebra who had a female singer with a fantastic voice. The rain did come down at one point but as we were already sitting under a leafy tree we didn't have to move or even put on our rain jackets. With a lot of families bringing along their food and drinks it was a calm but enjoyable atmosphere with no one getting drunk and making a nuisance of themselves. It's finished at 5pm so went off to catch a group called Cartoon Food which I was not sure about but found this 4 piece acoustic band very enjoyable. One guy was using a wooden box as a drum and they had great harmonies. We headed off early from this to grab some dinner at a near by Chinese restaurant and then off again to the third concert of the day in St. John's church with Knaresborough  pro Musica playing Baroque music including Bach. The violins sounded incredible and the church acoustics the best I have heard. We slept well that night having enjoyed a wonderful diverse range of good music. The Sunday meant a visit to the Farmers Market and then later walking to a historical shrine called The Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag, which was built into the side of a hill by a stone mason called John the Mason in 1408. This became a wayside shrine for pilgrims but now is only open between 2 and 4 on a Sunday between April and September. Got talking to thevolunteer manning   the site and had a good conversation about the Reformation and the impact on the Catholic Church in England. We finished the night off at a pub called The Mitre listening to a local band Area 40. They sounded very good but it was crowded and very hot so we left before they ended to walk back under a full moon.....very romantic. 

Took a bus to Harrogate which we could catch just around the corner from her apartment. We are 20 minute walk into town so good to do short walk to bus station straight to Harrogate. We collected our batch of leaflets and brochures on what to do in Harrogate after first having a coffee in the famous Bettys tea room which have been operating since 1919. The town is busy with shoppers with rows of designer shops and the usual chains. We went looking for a hairdresser for me as the length is driving me crazy and discovered some interesting second hand and vintage clothing shops just out of the main area. Harrogate is a spa town and will be the finish of the first day of the 2014 Tour de France. 

The Knaresborough people are very friendly and we spent over an hour talking to the owner and her mum in a local cafe after having lunch. They were very funny telling us all the goss about town and we learnt what markets and shops to avoid. Wednesday is the big market day and the square was filled with stalls and people buying local produce. We picked up a magazine on keeping chickens for when we get back home so that should be informative. 

We visited the castle and you will see me below sitting on a medieval dunny. It also has a great museum showing what life was like in medieval times and some history of some of the towns characters. From the castle gardens you can see the viaduct and I managed to get a photo with a train passing over the bridge.