Sunday 12 May 2013

Manchester, McFly and My Dad.


The time has come my little friends, to talk of many things, of shoes, of ships, of sealing wax, of cabbages and kings... Actually i'm just going to tell you about my weekend in Manchester last weekend but I wanted to open on a bit of a dramatic note. 

So Last weekend I went to Manchester with my friend Hannah to see McFly; no judging. 
Photo: McFly were amazing!!!
I'm not even sorry, they were MINT. 
So it turned out that Manchester is the friendliest city I have ever visited, just about everywhere we went people either gave us free or discounted stuff. We decided before the gig on the friday night that we would go into Revolution as it was really close by and we didn't really have a clue where anything else was. As soon as we walked in we were given a voucher for a free drink at the bar and 25% off any food. BARGAIN. Then we decided to be fancy and have a cocktail, which turned out to be buy one get one free. Score. 
Source: http://www.ipoll.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/I_LOVE_FREE_STUFF.jpg
A quick word on the gig, any band that will don hats and get the entire crowd to do the YMCA is a winner in my book, also the bar was empty as we were among the 10 other people over the age of 18 which made getting drinks very easy. 

So then I won't lie, we didn't go out partying once the gig was over we went back to the apartment and had a few beers and watched Pitch Perfect. Remember what I said about judging. Still stands. 

So the next day we decided to go explore a bit of Manchester, we headed up to the Northern Quarter and came across a little bar that was open for breakfast called TV21.
Source: manchersterbars.com
Massive recommendation for this place! The food was yummy and really reasonable, free tea or coffee too. I got what was essentially a posh bacon sandwich with eggs but the bacon tasted barbecued which to me is AMAZING because there is normally only one place I get a barbecued bacon sandwich and that's here... 
At a music festival! 
We then saw something that actually blew my mind. 
 I just, like. What. I do not understand what i was looking at to be honest, he wasn't sitting on anything, at one point he put one leg over the other and he moved the umbrella. 
Source: http://weedposts.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/mind-blown-sharp-535x240.png?41ed4f
Here are some other things we saw. 
Tennis Ball Chewing Gums
Some Gin with a worm in 
I took this for the I heart MCR that is barely visible. 
After traipsing around Manchester exploring all day we decided to head back, decide where to go for dinner and eat some cake. 
OM NOM NOM
Then eventually after about two and a half hours of sheer indecision we finally decided on a place to go for dinner. 
Source: http://www.highachieversnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/indecision.jpg
Another recommendation  - Solita, Really yummy food I got the classic burger and upgraded my fries to sweet potato fries and it was SO GOOD. Get yourself there if you are reading this and live in Manchester. Seriously. (i'm nearly done with this blog I promise, i do realise i'm banging on a bit now but hey whatyagondo). 

So from that point we headed in a round about way to a pop up bar called Kahlua. I've never actually tried it before but it looked like a cool little place so we decided to head in for a cocktail. Got to the bar, "Two black Russians please", "ok no problem, they are buy one get one free tonight"... Ref second blog pic. FREE STUFFFFF. 
We got chatting to the barmaid who explained that there was a permanent cocktail bar upstairs that did awesome things. They weren't buy one get one free though so we stayed downstairs. Let me at this point say Kahlua is tasty, which I did not really see coming. Anyway about twenty minutes passed and a man came up to the table holding a tray of really fancy drinks. 
He placed them down on the table and explained that they were closing the bar upstairs and the barmaid had mentioned to him we wanted to try some cocktails, so he had brought us some, for free. Free. FREE. The one that looks like a cup of tea, had peppermint something and kahlua in and the small pail of milk was actually milk infused with vanilla and a shot of vodka. The tall one next to it was Kahlua, vodka and tequila (i think) with coke and chocolate ice cream. Whilst I realise that sounds gross (to some people) it was so gooood! It was like the fanciest Coke Float you have ever had. Biiig shout out to the people at Kahlua for looking after us so well. Super friendly and generous. Thanks!! 

Whilst we're on the shout outs. Big thanks to my two lovely friends: 
Sal
 
And Angie
I asked them for recommendations of places to see, drink and eat at and they truly out did themselves my providing me with enough things to do for my next three visits. Much love to you! 

Fantastic weekend filled with dancing, drinking, eating, giggling and exploring. Can't wait for the next one... :D
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Just on another very quick note, my uncle Steve had a really bad accident last week and ended up in hospital. He seems to be on the mend now though so just to let you guys know from us lot in the UK, we're thinking of you and feel better soon. 

Also 

On the 9th of May was the anniversary of my Dad's death. Always in our hearts reminding me of the fragility of life. Everyone has so much love for him, even now which I think gives a true reflection of the kind of man he was.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand done. 

Hope you have had an excellent weekend! I have. 

Lots of love, 
Nat x

Instagram: @natfurlong 
Twitter: @nataliefurlong 
Tumblr Natfurlong.tumblr.com

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