Welcome to South Manchester on a slightly cloudy but sunny day, with the threat of a couple of showers later. I’m just squeezing in a post today before my holiday to Sicily. We are flying tomorrow morning (Sunday) to say hello to Mount Etna, one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe. I’ll try to keep it calm during my visit.

I have to pack later today before watching England play Chile in the Rugby World Cup. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

The silly questions are courtesy of Sunday Stealing. 

 1. What you did you do today?

While we are away in Sicily, we are having some work done on the house. We have a builder coming in, a guy we have used many times in our 21 year occupation of our house. He can do anything; he’s a builder, plasterer, carpenter, plumber, decorator and all round genius at what he does. He will be sorting out a few things for us and then painting and hanging up wallpaper. In preparation for his numerous visits next week, we have had to take up our old carpet and clear the room of all furniture, most of which is being replaced anyway. My desk is gone and I have temporarily relocated to the kitchen, where I am now typing this while listening to Deep Purple. 

I have spent the morning, pulling up and rolling carpet and underlay, something I also did yesterday as well as dismantling and removing old furniture.

I am quite tired but raring to go on holiday. 

After writing and publishing this post, I shall start packing, have a practice on the piano and then watch the rugby before relaxing for the rest of the evening.

 2.  What are the must-sees in your area?

I live in Manchester and there is a lot to see and do. Next year sees the 40th anniversary of my move to the city and I love the place. 

We have Lots of museums including the Science and Industry museum, the Imperial War museum, the National Football museum and lots of art galleries if that’s your kind of thing. 

We have two Premier League football clubs each with a huge stadium. Manchester United are arguably one of the most famous football clubs in Europe, if not the world but now we have Manchester City battling for that title. The rivalry is intense – I don’t support either but I have been to both stadiums numerous times.  

Manchester is historically a leader when it comes to music and we have lots of music venues around the city, from tiny venues to theatres and a huge arena. Also the sports stadia are used for concerts. All this means that the city is a magnet for some of the world’s most famous bands. I have seen loads of them over the years. My next huge one is the Foo Fighters next year although I have a couple of others lined up before that. 

We also are the home of Lancashire Cricket Club and we have international cricket matches every year. 

Basically, whatever you like or love, you can see it in Manchester, be it theatres, sport, music, history, museums or good food and drink.

I don’t work for Manchester Tourism – honestly.

 3. What is your favourite quote?

Here’s one of them from Winston Churchill. A woman accused him of being “disgustingly drunk”. His reply was:

“My dear, you are ugly, and what's more, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly."

4. What was the last thing you cooked or ate? 

I cooked an omelette this morning for breakfast and then I ate it.

 5. What is something you learned from your grandparents?

I used to sit with my mum’s dad who used to live next door and spend hours poring through his vast collection of books. He used to patiently explain things to me and answer all of my most stupid questions. 

One Christmas he bought me a book called “Answers to the most difficult questions”, which satisfied my young inquisitive mind. It was geared towards young children and had questions like “Why is the sky blue?” and “What is the biggest number?”. 

I loved it. I wonder what happened to it?

 6. What makes you happy?

Going on holiday to a place that I have never been before. I’ve been to Italy but never Sicily. You can imagine how happy I feel at the moment with the prospect of going there tomorrow.

 7. What is your best travel memory?

I’ve got too many to list here. Visiting the Kremlin in Moscow, living in Hong Kong for three months, spending three days in Rio de Janeiro, New Year’s Eve in New York City, the hills of San Francisco, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge (though it almost scared me to death), walking along the Great Wall of China, visiting Japan, going into the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, Wandering around Chiang Mai in Thailand, having a coffee in a café in Paris, visiting the colosseum in Rome and many more. 

Those are just off the top of my head.

 8. What’s the weather like today?

I usually introduce my posts with the weather. Since I started writing it has become more cloudy and it looks like it may rain. It doesn’t matter – we’re not going anywhere today. We’re too busy.

 9. Share an interesting fact that you’ve learned

The current king, King Charles III (or Charlie-boy as I prefer to call him) is the oldest monarch to ascend to the throne in the UK. His mother Queen Elizabeth II, was the longest reigning monarch in the UK at 70 years.

 10. What is your favourite book, movie or band!

Favourite book? I don’t have one. I have lots of books that I love.

Favourite Movie? Too many to mention but I love the last two part Avengers movies - Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Favourite band? It is probably Riverside at the moment (as Rush are no more).

 11.  Write your favourite poem or haiku?

I don’t have one, but I used to be able to recite the Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll so I will say that one.

 12. What is a local festival or tradition from your area?

Chinese New Year is always a lot of fun in Manchester. We have a fairly big Chinatown in the city and when New Year arrives, the city is taken over with parades, dragons and lots of people eating Chinese street food.

 13. What was the best thing you learned in school?

I learned a lot of interesting stuff in Physics and Chemistry but one of my favourites was about the Doppler effect. We even learned the equation to work out the frequency of the sound waves.

If you are unfamiliar with the Doppler effect, here it is: