Day 1 and 2, Flying and Blackpool

We finally made it to Blackpool.

The trip started out with a 7:30 flight from Boise to Chicago, a 4 hour layover, then a 2 hour flight to Philadelphia, and then waiting for 2 more hours, finally boarding the plane for Manchester at 10pm (8pm Boise time). We were 1 hour and 30 minutes late leaving (plan technical problems, and then there was miscommunication on the ground and some of the bags almost didnt' get loaded.. But we were off. I decided to buy a head pillow for the long flight. I am glad i did. My seat was not with Ira and Jake to begin with, but there was an extra seat (it had to be fate) next to them, so I switched and moved up with. I sat next to Tracy (from seattle) who is originally from England, but has lived in the US for almost 20 years, she married a guy in the military and so she is stateside mostly.. It was fun to hear her accent. We chatted off and on for the 6 hr flight. Around 11:30 pm, they fed us dinner and then it was sleepy time. I got about 4 hours of sleep and then it was time to land. Went through customs and then met part of the group at the baggage claim. The other group had already gotten there a few hours earlier so they were already in Manchester.. The 2nd bus was waiting for us and so we got on, and it was an hour ride to Blackpool.. Got settled and took a 4 hour nap.. We then hit the town, found the ATM and went and found the "best fish and chips" in the world, (the guy on the street told us so). Walked along the pier with our food and then found our way down to the beach and walked along the beach, looking at all the sealife..

Blackpool isn't what I expected.. I was thinking "resort town" but I guess you have to remember that it is a very OLD city and so it is going to look old. But i love it.. The streets are tiny and curve around the buildings. The hotel/flat we are staying in is 200 years old and is a few blocks from the ocean on a small little street. I can hear the seagulls from our open window. As we walk down the street, I keep having visions of "colonial times" People in petty coats, horse and buggy and just the hustle and bustle of a little town village. Most of the buildings are the originals, with reconstruction inside of different stores.. I wanted to take a picture down every street..

The group we are in has the whole flat (5 floors). Very unique looking.. Picture below.. Jenny, the front desk woman, was very nice (loved the accent) and very personable.. Overall, there are 80 people on the trip, parents and kids.






The Preston Temple from the "motor way"


As we left the airport, one of the bus doors below wasn't shut and we lost some luggage. Luckily, someone saw it and we were able to turn around and go get the luggage..





Our bus driver. I can't remember his name, but he had some fun music playing as we boarded.. Anytime I hear "Stay'in Alive" I will always remember driving through Manchester.

Our hotel/flat. 200 years old.

We made it.. Finally, a bed to sleep on.


I was going to post more pictures, but my camera battery just died..Maybe tomorrow.