Travelling England and other stories

I have been to England - more specifically to York, Manchester and London.

Going to the UK has been a personal goal of mine for several years now, as many of my great musical idols are born there, and during my time in Australia, I have met some Brits I really started liking. Aside from this big urban metropole named "London", I had not been to any part of the UK before. This should soon change, I told myself, and thus, following some crashing plans about a trip with a friend, I had decided to simply book a flight and travel England for 10 days.

Now, aside from the flight tickets, I had not planned anything really. I had not booked any hostels, I didn't have any plans where to go or what to do. By chance, I talked to a friend who, at that time, was also in England, and who invited me to come over to York to attend some open mic sessions. The sessions didn't happen in the end, but I went to York anyway, and, being up there in England, decided to check out Manchester on my way back to London as well.

While York was a lovely small town with loads of pubs and a history that goes down 2000 years (there are Roman walls still standing at this place!), Manchester is very much a big city. While London has its rich culture and beautiful buildings, Manchester... mostly has been a labourer's city, with mostly functional buildings like factories and warehouses for cotton. Which meant: The population was rather poor, and the subculture could thrive - which lead to bands like The Smiths and Oasis emerging. But apart from these big names, Manchester has a rich history in terms of modern-day night life, with many great record labels and night clubs which, in part, are still around today.

Manchester inspired some cool pictures.
Taken near Piccadilly Basin, Manchester

I was fascinated by Manchester's Vinyl Valley, with its urban back roads, loads of graffiti and the kind of dirty industrial look that made its way through every street of this part of the city. It inspired me to take some interesting pictures.

I witnessed some mesmerising jam and open mic sessions, with seemingly normal citizens taking part and then shredding the craziest Avantgarde Japanese Cello suites or singing wonderful ballades with incredible voices. To everyone travelling to Manchester, check out Matt and Phred's, the Jazz Bar!

Some call it dirty, but in my eyes it's beautiful
Taken at The Peer Hat in Manchester

Now, London is a city everyone talks about, so I'll cut it short here: Shoreditch is a cool environment with great street art. Beer is expensive everywhere. But London does have some very beautiful corners one should have seen once in their lives.

Now, in the next weeks, my studies will start again, I will move flats and hopefully soon have a music studio again, which might mean that my music business is about to pick up again. These are my plans. Let's see where I end up.

Thanks for reading, and have a great time!

Phil

Street Art in London.
Taken somewhere in London. ahah.