This week crawled by. I spent most of it catching up on coursework and hanging out with some friends from another hall.
The professors went on strike this week, so there were no classes. They sent out an email on Sunday night warning us that professors planned to strike along with professors at about 20 other universities across England. The strike was in protest to pay cuts and bad working conditions. I walked around campus during most of the days this week, but I didn't see any picket lines or protesting, though there are a few campuses in the city that I have not visited since I don't have classes there.
On Thursday, I had a Skype call with my academic advisor from my home university to plan what classes I'll need to take next semester. It was nice to have some time to catch up on work and relax this week.
On Friday my boyfriend flew over from the U.S. to visit me. My friends were very welcoming and we planned to go to dinner downtown. First, we took the bus and walked over to Wahaca, a Mexican restaurant that I had been dying to try for a while. Unfortunately, since it was Friday night, the place was packed and the wait was about half an hour.
We walked another five minutes down Jubilee Street to Las Iguanas, another Mexican place with a much shorter wait time. The restaurant had a great drink menu and a variety of food, including vegetarian options. We shared a plate of nachos and ordered a bunch of drinks and everything was delicious.
My boyfriend and I spent most of Saturday traveling up to Manchester. First, we took a train to Victoria Station in London before catching another train to Manchester Piccadilly station. After arriving in the city we took another 10-minute ride to our Airbnb, an apartment just outside of the city. The whole trip took about 4 hours.
For dinner, we walked over to Sapporo Teppanyaki, a Japanese restaurant that was about 15 minutes away from our Airbnb. The restaurant had a beautiful view overlooking the Bridgewater canal as well as a nice bar and hibachi tables. The service was quick and the sushi was fresh. We ordered some edamame, calamari, and a few sushi rolls before heading back.
We spent most of Sunday walking around and exploring the city. First, we walked over to Albert's Shed for brunch, which was about 15 minutes from our Airbnb. I ordered the spicy sausage pizza and it was very filling.
After leaving the restaurant, we wandered over to Merchant's Bridge, an old-looking bridge over Bridgewater Canal, to take pictures before heading over to the People's History Museum which was about a 15-minute walk through the city and past Hardman Square. The People's History Museum was a great place to learn more about the history of the government and political parties in the UK. They had exhibits on the Industrial Revolution, the creation of each of the political parties, and other significant events that impacted society.
We were able to get to the Manchester Art Gallery just an hour before it closed. It was about a 15-minute walk from the People's History Museum. The art gallery had beautiful paintings and interactive exhibits. We left the art gallery just before it closed and walked around the corner to a Chinese restaurant called Jade City that we happened to find on Yelp. There were lots of options on the menu and the food was delicious.
After dinner, we walked around Chinatown for a while before taking a 15-minute tram ride back to our Airbnb.
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