A DAY IN LIVERPOOL

Ask any of my friends, I'm very proud to call myself a scouser and it's something I'm not ashamed to bang on about while surrounded by southerners at uni in Exeter. So when my friend from Essex came up to visit the other day I was delighted to show off Liverpool in all its glory and I thought it would be nice to document this and share in case anyone fancied a cheap cultural day out in Liverpool.

I decided to show off some of the best art we have up here in Merseyside so firstly we headed up to Crosby on the train, we got a day saver ticket for well under £5 and this served us well right through the day. My friend was keen to see the Anthony Gormley installation, Another Place which is 100 identical cast iron statues left along the beach. I've been to the installation more times than I can count but I never tire of it, it's so changeable depending on the weather, tide, time of year and your company. I've been before when the statues were surrounded by thick snow but this time the weather gods blessed us with glorious sunshine (throwing my friend's fears that she would be subjected to eternal greyness for her entire trip out of the window) and we got there when the tide was right out so we got to get up close and personal with the more sea-weathered statues.

After about an hour wandering about in the (slightly sticky) sand we were ready to jump on the train back to Central. The train out to the beach couldn't be easier, it's just under ten minutes walk right onto the beach.  It was lovely to show off the outdoorsy side of such a big city to my friend.

Back in town we decided it was time for lunch so I took my fellow vegetarian friend to one of my old favourites, The Egg Cafe, which was a bit of staple to my teenage weekends. We both had what is definitely the best cheese on toast I've ever eaten and homemade lemonade for about £7 each. Full of veggie goodness we then wandered down Bold Street, calling into the charity shops on the way before heading down to the Albert Docks. No trip to Liverpool would be complete without seeing the River Mersey and the Three Graces so we had a quick photo stop on the Pierhead and were both pleasantly surprised to see the class ferry across the Mersey revamped into a 'Dazzle ship'.

After this we headed over the main docks and ambled around the Tate Liverpool until it closed, we were lucky enough to catch the Matisse exhibition (for free!) which was so interesting. I also loved the thought process behind the collections as they were all inspired from one or two central piece so it was interesting to think how the art works were connected.

At this point our feet were tired, we'd be out for a long time and we were in need of sustenance so stopped off briefly for an iced coffee and fruit cooler before traipsing up the hill to see the Cathedrals (plural!), with a mini detour to see the Chinese Arch. Unfortunately we didn't get up there until after 6 so both cathedrals were closed but being the edgy kids that we are I dragged my friend around the Anglican Cathedral grounds to look at the old graves (not sure she was really a fan of this bit and our conversation did veer into morbid territory). We then walked along Hope Street to see the Catholic Cathedral (known locally as Paddy's Wigwam) before dragging our tired feet back to the station and heading home.

Managing to cram a trip to the beach, lunch, a walk round the Docks, an art gallery and two Cathedrals into one day really reminded me just how much Liverpool has to offer and I think my friend fell a bit in love with it too. This day out cost us around £15 and we managed to squeeze so much into it, I'd highly recommend anyone who isn't already in love with this city pay it a visit, we're a friendly bunch.

FEBRUARY #2

So I didn't document this month, I failed on that front. BUT, I didn't fail at February, I loved basically every moment of it. So here's an unnecessarily long recap of the month I was determined to enjoy that no-one but me will read.

This month I wanted to DO MORE, that meant seeing friends and getting out as well as getting on with uni stuff and I think this was generally a success. I'm yet to get out in Devon much or take the trip to Bath I'm dying to take but everything else I'm working on.

Here's a break down of my wonderful month with my lovely friends. The month kicked off with Don't Walk Boogie, a funky disco night at Cavern full of glitter and terrible dancing and plenty of indie kids.

4 year dream of a nice club photo finally achieved

my lovely housemates

indie night with Alfie

The week after this was fairly average, I can't remember anything amazing happening but the week ended on such a high as I found out I got my first choice study abroad placement so I'll be studying at l'Université libre de Bruxelles in September!! This exciting news was followed by a lovely, lovely weekend. After work on the saturday (6th) I headed to my friend's house to make cakes and prepare for the oncoming week (more to come on that) which was just such a chill way to spend a lazy saturday afternoon. In the evening I went to my other friend's house with my friends for predrinks with her brother who was visiting and then headed to the indie night at Cavern (back again) which was fun. Any night that ends with You Can Call Me Al is a success in my eyes. The next day we went out for brunch at the cafe on the corner just up the road and then I did a bit of work on campus before finishing the weekend with some intramural netball (fully out of my comfort zone). Such a blissful weekend.

cutest cafe

The next week was probably my most intense week in Exeter yet: sabb election week. My friend Lucy was running for VP Welfare and Diversity and asked me to step in last minute to be campaign manager which meant campaigning up and down the hills on campus from 8.30 to 5 all day every day, a fair bit different to my usual week to say the least! Lucy might not have won but throwing myself into this and putting myself out there for a whole week is something I'm so proud of doing and the week was genuinely such a rewarding experience. To top off the intense week I worked as a French ambassador a school in Torquay on the Wednesday morning which meant a 6am start to catch the train! Special mentions for this week as well goes to my housemates for providing me with an evening of domestic bliss as we ate pancakes to our hearts' content and watched Matilda on the Tuesday and to my friend Sarah who came over on the saturday (Galentine's day!) to cook brownies and chat for five hours with me and Hope.

i'm a star campaigner, wouldn't you know  

After this hectic week the next week was pretty chill before my weekend away. On the Friday lunchtime me and Hope headed up to Birmingham to see Foals, something we booked months ago which slowly crept up on us. We dumped our stuff at my friends' house, who trusted me with their keys even when they weren't there and we went out to pizza express before the gig. Suffice to say, Foals were well and truly worth the trip, they're yet to disappoint. Yannis has such star quality and him and the others worked their way through a setlist from all 4 of their albums masterfully. The next morning Hope hopped on a train back home and I went off to London for a family weekend. 

monument with the family

Straight off the train I made my way to Westminster for a Camp America recruitment fair and got offered a place as a horse riding instructor and general councillor at a camp in upstate New York! I'm excited, nervous, scared, unprepared, you name it I feel it. After this I met my mum for a wander round the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery before meeting the rest of the fam for tea. The real reason for the trip was to see Book of Mormon, which was what we did next. I can't really settle on an opinion about this but let's just leave it at uneasy and maybe I'll come back to that another time. On Sunday, after much deliberation (read: almost arguments) we settled on having a touristy day of climbing monument and tower bridge before having some of the best tapas I've ever eaten for lunch. A lovely weekend all round.




The last week of the month was one I completely threw myself into. A reunion-turned-bar crawl with my old flatmates on Monday night, a tapas and salsa night on Tuesday, pub trip with feminist friends on the Wednesday and a night out on the Friday. My bank account and my liver won't thank me but it was worth it.

a typical friday night

ladies who salsa

I then ended the month with a perfect Sunday with Hope and Sarah. We set off down to the quay around 11, rented the most beautiful bikes I've ever ridden and took them out for a ride down the river, stopping only for some quick pics (because if you don't document it on every form of social media what is even the point). We rewarded ourselves afterwards with a roast at Firehouse, the stuff of dreams. Heading home we all managed to get tickets for a summer ball at the end of the year and rounded up the weekend with take away pizza and a film, bliss.

This February gifted us with an extra day, and although I might have had to spend it at pointless lectures and in work, a last minute invitation to tea with Helana meant that the month ended on a high note.

So all in all, a top month that I'm glad I decided to make the most of. I've felt so smugly content this month, everything just seems to be going well. Work is fine and it's nice to be earning money, uni is actually going ok, me and my home friends are closer than ever and not a day goes by where I don't thank my lucky stars for my uni friends. Thanks February, you can come again.

FEBRUARY

(I meant to post this yesterday but in typical fashion- I forgot.)

I've decided that this month is going to be GOOD. I'm going to make this month mine.
This doesn't mean getting up at 8 everyday, eating a green smoothie and going for a run- i'm not an #eatclean kinda gal. It doesn't even mean getting on campus on time every day and slaving away for hours in the study rooms. What this means is that I'm not going to let this month pass by without really taking it in, i'm going to relish and savour it.
I'm (quite depressingly) viewing February as my last 'fun' month in Exeter for as long as I can imagine. March will start and end well but before we get to the glorious end of term I'm going to have year abroad meetings and planning, committee AGMs, two essays, formative assessments and French exams- the joy of a dual honours degree! I don't want to overwhelm myself in March so I want to focus on powering through the aforementioned work. In April I'll be home and hopefully travelling a bit, but I'll be out of Exeter. Then it's straight back into revision, exams that actually count towards my degree, a few fleeting moments of freedom before it's summer and I'm (hopefully!) off to America. After that I'll be heading on my year abroad, which is simultaneously terrifying and thrilling, partly because as of right now I have no idea where I'm going to be studying and I haven't even started to look for jobs yet. so February, you're going to be a good one.

I'm going to do as much of my work as a can (realistically that 900 page Dickens novel might have to stay on the shelf), and I'm going to enjoy working on a degree that I genuinely enjoy. I'm going to see my friends as much as possible; lunches with course friends I never see outside of grammar classes, actually going to the parties I'm invited to rather than turning them down for another evening lying in bed on tumblr.

I want to get out of Exeter more, the beach is literally half an hour away and I STILL haven't been this year. Bristol and Bath aren't much further along with all the other towns round her. I love Exeter but the south west isn't going to be on my doorstep forever!

I'm going to document this month and I'm refusing to let it just pass by. The month got off to a lovely start with a lecture I genuinely enjoyed, an alright shift in work, dinner with my lovely lovely french friends and then a night out full of glitter and funk.

introductions

Hello,

I've never been very good at small talk, it bores me and I don't enjoy making polite conversation with strangers so I'll just dive straight in.

I've decided to give this blogging thing a go, mainly as a way to procrastinate doing any work for my degree but also as something proactive to do rather than spending all day in bed on tumblr (written from my bed with the tumblr tab open). I'll hopefully be writing about feminism, politics, ootds, holidays and personal diary type stuff. Who knows really, I'm just giving it a whirl.

Currently reading: nothing of note
Last film watched: In her shoes (a classic!)