Traveller's Tales...

Hitting The 'Pool

It was my boyfriend and I's anniversary on Saturday, so we fancied a weekend away, having gone to Edinburgh last year. We settled on Liverpool, as I had never been, and he said it was a really cool city, so we booked our trains.

We arrived to a very windy reception on Friday evening, and got picked up by the lady we were staying with in Birkenhead (a friend of my dad's). After dumping our stuff and sprucing up a bit we walked to a local pub called The Swan where everything was ridiculously cheap. I had a 4oz steak with a mushroom and red onion sauce, chips and peas, 2 glasses of wine and a starter for £8! It was tasty as well. After we had eaten (and finished watching the six nation's rugby match) we walked to another pub called the Canaervon Castle for more drinks, before getting a taxi home as it was so blustery!

On Saturday we got a bus into Liverpool city centre. We had a wander around Mathew Street (birthplace of The Beatles) and the area nearby which included an amazing Vivienne Westwood shop, and a lovely retro cafe called 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' which we had a late lunch in.

I got a bargain 50s style dress from a little boutique, as well as some classic Primark steals, and then we walked to the docklands to try and find somewhere to eat later that evening. We got some nice photographs of the water and skyline as it was just coming to dusk, it was just a shame about the driving rain that got us absolutely soaked!

After a bit of a struggle to get home as we couldn't find our bus stop, we quickly got changed into evening gear, had a glass of very nice wine that we had been given as a present and then went back into Liverpool for our meal. We had eventually chosen Las Iguanas, a Latin American restaurant that I have been curious to try out, as I have seen a few of them dotted about around the country.

I was adventurous and ordered a Cherry Bomb cocktail to drink which was delicious, and then for starters we shared 'Totopos' (nachos with guacamole) and 'Molletes' (ciabatta with refried beans and melted cheese). For main course I chose a Brazilian dish called 'Xinxim' which was quite similar to a traditional Thai curry- chicken in a creamy crayfish, lime and peanut sauce. It was served with asparagus, rice and deep fried plantain which I had never tried before so was good to sample something different. It was all amazing, but sadly I couldn't finish it all as the portions were so generous. Some of the desserts sounded awesome as well, I'll have to remember to skip a starter next time! After tea we walked to The Living Room, and had a couple of drinks, before catching a night bus home.

On Sunday we had a brilliant cooked breakfast courtesy of our host, and then we packed up all our things and caught a bus back into the city. Our train wasn't for another few hours, so we paid to lock our bags up and went to the Tate Modern. Despite some very strange artwork that I didn't think seemed particularly special, there were also some interesting sculptures and a few paintings by well-known artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Salvador Dali. The last time I visited an art gallery I was considerably younger, so it was good to relive the experience with a more mature outlook on the exhibitions.

Then, at 3.31pm on Sunday 6th February we caught a train back from the Capital of Culture to the land of work and life that is Lancaster. An awesome weekend that I didn't want to end!

Weekly Update!

Family Fortunes, Takeaway and an Impromptu Night Out!

I'll keep this post short and sweet seen as my last one was so mammoth! I also have little to talk about as I have spent the weekend in Liverpool (see tomorrow's post) so didn't do much else during the week.

On Tuesday I made a really tasty beef casserole with roast potatoes, which was a well needed hearty meal after what feels like weeks of turkey drummers, pizzas and chips (not that they're not tasty...). After tea a few of my flatmates from last year came round for a catch up, and quite a lot of alcohol! We ended up playing a Family Fortunes game that I got for Christmas, that my team obviously won; and then we got a takeaway at about 2am. Clearly I was hungry that day!

On Wednesday I saw Black Swan (see previous post) which was really good, but it also horrendously freaked me out, so much so that I gatecrashed my boyfriend's night out. This then turned into a mini bar crawl, and then cocktails in Lounge, so what I thought would be an early post-cinema night became a 3am walk to his friend's house for one beer (the irrational habits of the drunken mind!) followed by a mission to the other side of town to get home, and a bedtime of 6am!

Thursday was a lazy day of minimal work, and in the evening I watched The Hours and consumed copious amounts of Cadbury's Whole Nut chocolate while packing for my weekend away. Dissertation can wait!

Inspired by an experience

House For One

Living alone. Those two words seem to inspire fear in any student. For many, leaving the comfort of home in first year is a hard enough change to adjust to, and sibling jealousy develops just because the one still there gets proper hearty food and their laundry done for them. It’s something taken for granted pre-university, as well as always having someone to go running to when you need change for the bus, or to help explain how you claim your tax back without resorting to the internet. For the majority of students though, this dependency shifts when the nest has been flown, either onto new flatmates, a boy/girlfriend, or in my case - myself.

I’ve always been pretty independent, I had a job at sixteen, was driving at seventeen and had been in a three year relationship at eighteen, so for me uni was the new start, the real deal. But when two weeks in, I had no car to travel wherever I pleased, couldn’t get a job for love or money and had finished with the boyfriend who was holding me back, I was hit with the realisation that this was it.

The novelty of a student loan to spend and going out drinking every night had worn off; and I was burnt out, bored and craving a challenge. At home I was always busy, so being resigned to a bedroom, corridor and kitchen that I had to share with six others was like putting a hamster in a ball - I could wander around, but ultimately, I felt trapped.

Rather than solve the problem in a drastic manner that required maximum effort (I am still a student after all) I tried a few different things to sate my desire for more. I joined the theatre group, and performed in ’Twelfth Night’. I made friends, filled my time with rehearsals and line-learning and fed the exhibitionist in me by appearing on stage for two nights. And that was it. After a hectic eight week whirlwind, it was all over, and I returned to the drudgery of a three room world where getting a takeaway was an event.

So I tried the next thing. I’ve always been into fashion, and had found a kindred spirit in my boyfriend’s flatmate, so we started the idea of creating a fashion society. After all the formalities, LUFS was set up, and soon we had 38 members, a trip to The Clothes Show planned, and a magazine in production. One thing I hadn’t realised though was how much work running a society was. Handling an email account, running meetings, organising socials and prepping a publication with just two people was a nightmare, and ridiculously time consuming. Exec members changed with the wind once they realised how big a commitment it was, and funds were tight. I began regretting setting myself such a demanding task, and relished the snatched hours I had to watch rubbish TV, and bake fairy cakes.

Then the biggest opportunity reared its head - living alone in third year. Having lived in a house of twelve previously it would be a massive adjustment. My parents had bought a house, with the premise of renting it out, but it had space for four, and we were a group of six. Six people with a bickered division that meant we were split into two threes, and there were no houses for three. My boyfriend was the first to go, having been offered a space with four other guys. Then a house for four was found, leaving one left over. At the prospect of living sans rent for a year, I jumped ship and offered to settle the problem.

When I started telling people, the reactions were laughable.

“You’re living on your own? Like completely?”

“Alone? But…why?”

“Oh my god, did no one want to live with you?”

I found it astonishing that people just couldn’t comprehend. The number of times I explained the situation only to be faced with a blank stare was ridiculous. What did all these people intend on doing after university? Live with their parents their whole lives, or wait patiently until a relationship got serious enough to get a mortgage and settle down? I felt quite capable of managing a house by myself, and thought that at worst it would mean less distraction from the dreaded dissertation.

I spent my summer choosing paint colours and bedspreads, making cushion covers and tie-backs, and choosing wallpaper for my feature wall; I loved it. I changed an empty magnolia shell into my own house, where unlike a typical student residence, the kitchen sides were visible and I had more than one cupboard for my clothes.

As the holidays dragged to an end, I was excited to move in and start my new venture. I had visions of sitting on the lounge floor surrounded by Vogue magazines with no one to complain about it, and eating at a real table because - shock horror - I had a dining room. Term started, and I looked forward to the end of the day, so I could go home to my own space, where I appreciated watching rubbish TV as I had paid for the license, and if I baked fairycakes they weren’t all gone the next time I came downstairs.

Slowly but surely, people turned. “Oh my god, you’re so lucky having this all to yourself!”

“This is like a real grown-up house.”

“It’s so nice and clean!”

My boyfriend and I didn’t have to go to our rooms to escape everyone, and my friends asked to have parties at mine so they didn’t have to annoy their housemates.

So sure, I have to remember to put the bins out, and I’m the one who has to get up early to let the gas man in. There’s just me to de-grease the oven, and it’s only my fault if I forget to lock the door. But I’ve not died of loneliness. I don’t think every creak of the gate is a burglar coming to get me. I’m more than happy in my pretty little house. Where just I live. Alone.

Winter Views...

Black Swan- 5 stars *****

I was eagerly awaiting this to come out, after I saw it featured on Film 2011 before Christmas. I am a huge Natalie Portman fan, and after reading the synopsis on IMDB it seemed like the type of film I would enjoy. I'd spoken to a few people who had seen it and they all raved that it was amazing, so I had high hopes.

The story is pretty simple, a senior dancer (Winona Ryder) retires from a ballet company, leaving the top spot in need of a new star. Nina (Portman) has been at the company for a long time, and works hard to obtain the role- as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. However, despite embodying the innocence of the White Swan, she also needs to show the seduction of the Black Swan. Another of the dancers, Lily (Mila Kunis) is much better at this side of the role, and the competition and demands of the performance play with Nina's sanity. She suffers from hallucinations and becomes deluded that Lily is trying to steal her part, forcing her to undergo a complete transformation. It is the epitome of a psychological thriller, and is directed by Darren Aronofsky, famous for The Wrestler.

It sounds like an average plot, and to be fair, after the first half an hour I was getting a little impatient for it to 'get on with it', but then I must have spoken too soon. Cue lesbian sex, self-harm and masturbation scenes, coupled with frantic music and more than a few scream/ jump out of your seat moments. I honestly came out of the cinema a nervous wreck, and it is possibly one of the most traumatic films I have ever seen. This seemed to be the general consensus; as upon leaving we were all chattering away about how frightened we were and which bits were the most chilling.

Looking past the fact that it scared me witless, you have to congratulate such a bold film. It goes to places that would make the inner prude come out of the most sexual of people, and the cast are all fully committed to the roles they play. Natalie Portman is perfectly cast, as not only does she portray the temperament of the character, but she has the tiny skeletal frame that is commonplace amongst many professional ballet dancers.

I would recommend this film if you want to see something different- it is sure to be spoken about a lot this year so make sure you don't miss out! Just go prepared with a hand to squeeze and a jacket to cover your eyes!