(no subject)
I went to Liverpool yesterday. When I was thinking about moving to Manchester, my housemate Jim, a north-west boy from Preston, recommended Liverpool instead. He told me that it's proud, rough and ready, and that you can practically feel the trade unions forming around you.
I was sluggish getting up and getting out of the house - cold and rainy day, yes. I walked out of the station, blinking. I notice some tremendous old buildings in front of me, across an unattractive 6 lane road. But then I heard a noise - some drums, singing, piping. The traffic stops, and a march proceeds by. They are in lines with instruments, looking impassioned. The signs informed me it was an Irish republican march.
As they passed by I returned to appreciating the grand, almost deserted neo-Classical buildings - and hang on, what's going on here? A crowd on the stairs, waving banners, a guy shouting in a megaphone... I walk up to them, and it's a union rally, protesting the closure of a factory.
I laughed - Jim was so right! I loved it.
Still awed by these buildings, I contiuned on, and stopped, startled, when I saw two guys simultaneously jump over a wall. And then another climb up a different wall. And another doing a backflip off a ledge - hang on, it's parkour! Fantastic!
I sat on a ledge and watched them and took photos. They noticed me, but didn't seem to mind, and even played up for the camera. They had bought an portable stereo, so had the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim playing - it was infectious. One of the guys started walking on his hands, and doing movements on the ground. I decided I wanted to try and join in, so got off the wall and sidled close.
But then he stopped doing handstands, so I stood around feeling silly, then plucked up my courage and asked the lone girl if I could join in. She didn't understand me, so I repeated, and she consented enthusiastically. We started doing things together - I was a bit wussy about jumping from heights, but we did some balances, and just chatted - with a few requests for things to be repeated. Proper scouse accent, all right! She was only 14, as were most of them.
Excitingly, just the night before I'd been having a dream where I could do this capoeira move where you jump into a handstand and lower yourself into a headstand. I'm usually to scared to try because I'm not very strong so am sure I'll just land, very painfully, on my head. I enjoyed it so much in the dream I woke up with a smile. I gave it a go on the soft grass, and lo! I can do it! Can't do it too many times because it's quite full-on, but it was a great discovery.
We then moved to another site in front of the library, but were moved on by a big-arsed security guard. I just laughed, and took a photo of her, for the memories. We moved on again, and I left soon after to get some lunch. It was a shame they were so young, otherwise I would have tried to meet up with them again that night. It was a blast.
The rest of the day I did a lot of walking and appreciating - went to the Albert Docks, the Tate gallery, the biggest Anglican cathedral in the world, I think (it had a certain colossal beauty), one of the most gorgeous, proper English pubs ever, and Chinatown for dinner.
I decided I'd try a bar (Liverpool having a reputation for having a good nightlife) and was sipping a solitary drink when I saw a group with a few spare chairs. I asked if I could join them and ended up hanging out with a big bunch of skateboarders for a few hours. It was excellent, and they were all really friendly. Caught the 11.30pm back to Manchester a bit pissed and happy with my day.
I was sluggish getting up and getting out of the house - cold and rainy day, yes. I walked out of the station, blinking. I notice some tremendous old buildings in front of me, across an unattractive 6 lane road. But then I heard a noise - some drums, singing, piping. The traffic stops, and a march proceeds by. They are in lines with instruments, looking impassioned. The signs informed me it was an Irish republican march.
As they passed by I returned to appreciating the grand, almost deserted neo-Classical buildings - and hang on, what's going on here? A crowd on the stairs, waving banners, a guy shouting in a megaphone... I walk up to them, and it's a union rally, protesting the closure of a factory.
I laughed - Jim was so right! I loved it.
Still awed by these buildings, I contiuned on, and stopped, startled, when I saw two guys simultaneously jump over a wall. And then another climb up a different wall. And another doing a backflip off a ledge - hang on, it's parkour! Fantastic!
I sat on a ledge and watched them and took photos. They noticed me, but didn't seem to mind, and even played up for the camera. They had bought an portable stereo, so had the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim playing - it was infectious. One of the guys started walking on his hands, and doing movements on the ground. I decided I wanted to try and join in, so got off the wall and sidled close.
But then he stopped doing handstands, so I stood around feeling silly, then plucked up my courage and asked the lone girl if I could join in. She didn't understand me, so I repeated, and she consented enthusiastically. We started doing things together - I was a bit wussy about jumping from heights, but we did some balances, and just chatted - with a few requests for things to be repeated. Proper scouse accent, all right! She was only 14, as were most of them.
Excitingly, just the night before I'd been having a dream where I could do this capoeira move where you jump into a handstand and lower yourself into a headstand. I'm usually to scared to try because I'm not very strong so am sure I'll just land, very painfully, on my head. I enjoyed it so much in the dream I woke up with a smile. I gave it a go on the soft grass, and lo! I can do it! Can't do it too many times because it's quite full-on, but it was a great discovery.
We then moved to another site in front of the library, but were moved on by a big-arsed security guard. I just laughed, and took a photo of her, for the memories. We moved on again, and I left soon after to get some lunch. It was a shame they were so young, otherwise I would have tried to meet up with them again that night. It was a blast.
The rest of the day I did a lot of walking and appreciating - went to the Albert Docks, the Tate gallery, the biggest Anglican cathedral in the world, I think (it had a certain colossal beauty), one of the most gorgeous, proper English pubs ever, and Chinatown for dinner.
I decided I'd try a bar (Liverpool having a reputation for having a good nightlife) and was sipping a solitary drink when I saw a group with a few spare chairs. I asked if I could join them and ended up hanging out with a big bunch of skateboarders for a few hours. It was excellent, and they were all really friendly. Caught the 11.30pm back to Manchester a bit pissed and happy with my day.