Flew into Manchester from Bilbao and spent two nights in the Crowne Plaza. The hotel was very close to the town centre. We also had access to the club which provided complimentary snacks and drinks from 5-7pm each evening. We found a nice Indian restaurant nearby and dined there both evenings! Not a tapa in sight. On Saturday we walked around town, played board games in a bar and had a laugh. The boys went to Ethiad Stadium to see Man City play Crystal Palace. I checked out the shops in the very busy downtown.
Next day the boys went to the Soccer Museum and won the cup! Both Premier league and FA cups in fact. They also saw lots of football jerseys and memorabilia (including George Bests car and Robbie Savage’s hair 😳) and played some interactive games.
Two weeks in Derby were jam packed with activities. Mark and I had trips to Loughborough, Burton, Barrow on Saur and Belper.
We had two theatre trips to see Frankenstein and The Croft and we had a great night out at the Flowerpot with Simon and Su where we saw the Choirboys.
The boys left the sanctuary of their bedroom a few times. We had lunch in the Clock Warehouse and the Harrington with them and Nana and Grandad and they joined us for a walk in the muddy grounds of Alvaston Castle.
We also had a few trips to the trampoline park and a rock climbing wall. The climbing centre at ‘Altar Rock’ was a big hit. It was in a former church where the pillars and memorial plaques were still visible alongside the various rock walls.
On January 29th we celebrated Eoin’s 11th birthday. We had a lovely morning opening presents and then went to the Lodge for lunch. Eoin got a collection of books, Nintendo Switch games and Derby Co football gear. His two big presents were in the smaller packages, an invite to be the Derby mascot at the next game and tickets for Harry Potter, The Cursed Child.
The match was on Friday night against Stoke in Pride Park. We got there an hour before the game and picked up a program to check out Eoin’s photo on the mascot page. He joined in training on the pitch with the team before the game. Then he met the players and had photos with them as they headed to the dressing room to prepare for the game. Then he joined the two captains, Derby’s Wayne Rooney and Stokes Ryan Shawcross, and the referees for the coin toss and a photo. At the half time break he did a penalty shootout with Rammie the mascot and got a rammie soft toy. Shea and I met Rammie too as he walked around the stadium. It was a great evening and the icing on the cake was that Derby won 4-0 and his two favourite players scored, he really did bring them good luck!
A few days later the professional photos arrived from Pride Park.
The theatre tickets required a train trip to London with a two night stay. We booked first class tickets in advance and the train took about 90 minutes to get to St Pancreas station. We stayed in the Crowne Plaza in Kensington. We had a great two story suite including breakfast and access to the club lounge. The boys enjoyed spotting cool cars as we travelled across the city in a black cab.
The hotel was located near some of the best museums in the city so we quickly headed out to explore. We went to the Science Museum, an excellent museum with free entry. We left a donation and spent two hours in different rooms with information on space, technology, medicine etc and some interactive games to keep us entertained too. That evening we relaxed in the hotel firstly in the executive club with complimentary snacks and drinks and then in the Asian restaurant where we had great duck pancakes and a curry.
Next day after breakfast we headed to Trafalgar Square in another black cab. We passed Buckingham Palace on the way. We had time to run into the National Gallery to see Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Renoir’s Umbrellas and we skirted around the Chinese gate and red lanterns of Chinatown. We didn’t go too close though, the boys were scared off because of the Coronavirus. We enjoyed watching a street artist draw a selection of flags on the pavement outside the museum. A brilliant idea as people added coins to their country as they passed by. We did of course add some coins to the Irish tricolour 🇨🇮
In Trafalgar Square we popped into the LEGO and the MnM stores to see their colourful creations. We also passed a wizard shop with loads of Harry Potter merchandise for sale, the boys were amazed at the selection of wands on display.
And finally we made it to the Palace Theatre to see Harry Potter, the Cursed Child. Shown over two sittings, we booked tickets for the first show now and the second one in May. The story followed on from the end of the final book as Harry’s son headed off to Hogwarts. There was lots of magic with wands and capes flying and we enjoyed it.
The evening finished up with a stroll through Covent Garden and a drink and dinner with Stephanie in Inamo, A Japanese restaurant with iPads and interactive tables where we enjoyed good food and played some games on the table tops too.
We had one last weekend in Derby and then it was time was time to pack the bags again. On the Monday we had a pleasant surprise as snow started to fall. It stuck for a while and we got to try out our ‘Iceland’ gear. The boys built a big snowman in the garden and gave him a hat and scarf to wear. They had fun throwing snowballs and the cold weather gear was great!
We took a taxi to Manchester and stayed one night in the Hilton airport hotel. The following morning after breakfast we headed to the airport in search of a new adventure.
Hairylambthewanderyears 