Frills 'n' Spills

We have been spending a lot of time recently trying to explore our local area and I always forget how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the country. Considering how close Cheltenham is to  the rest of the Cotswolds, it seemed too good an opportunity to waste. Cirencester is only half an hour away from home for us but shockingly I have never been, so it was top of the list of places to visit when Mark suggested a mini break. We managed to get a really good deal at The King's Head and it was the most relaxing weekend (and the perfect start to my birthday week of fun!) I was so relaxed and it was so nice to spend time together exploring somewhere new.

Everything was super snazzy and I could happily have moved in permanently, if only I could be a lady of leisure all the time...

The bathroom was humongous and everything was very sleek...

We were originally planning to eat in the restaurant but as there weren't any reservations until half nine we went for room service instead. This burger was amazing although I was so full afterwards!

The hotel was right in the centre of town so we were able to start exploring straight away the next morning... 

It was absolutely pouring with rain though so we ended up sheltering in doorways and running between each stop. It really is a beautiful town though, even in the rain!

I was determined to visit the Corinium Museum and I was glad we did as it was super fun. Cirencester is best known for its Roman history but the museum covers from the Neolithic era, right up to the present day. Clearly a lot of the museum was focused at children (it would be a great family day out) but we definitely had more fun playing with all the exhibits than any of the children there!

A reconstruction of the south chamber of the Hazleton Long Barrow- all of the stones are original which is pretty cool!

I really liked the fact that everything felt quite spaced out, there's nothing worse than not being able to move around without fear of damaging a priceless artefact!

The 'Roman Garden' was beautiful, I just wish it had stopped raining long enough for us to go outside!

Mark dressed up as a Roman soldier whilst I serenaded him with a lute...

The Orpheus mosaic was laid in the 4th century AD and was so detailed. Mark and I had a lot of fun making up the puzzle too, who says it's just for kids?! ;)

I told you that there were a lot of mosaics! The Seasons Mosaic was discovered in Cirencester in 1849 and depicts the four seasons and scenes from Roman mythology. It is absolutely stunning and so huge!

A 'sator square'. These are such interesting artefacts and I advise that you read this fascinating article if you have a few minutes spare. 

We also tried writing our names using the Roman alphabet, I told we had you had a lot of fun!

There were so many cute cafes and restaurants to choose from but LB's at Swan Yard was our choice for a hot drink and some shelter from the rain ad we couldn't have picked a nicer spot. Very reasonable prices and such a friendly welcome too, I would definitely recommend it :)

We even got the chance to wander around the park. It was so beautiful, especially with all those gorgeous autumnal colours!

It's been a shamefully long time since Mark and I last visited Manchester but we headed up at the weekend to catch up with Mark's brother and pay a flying visit to one of  our favourite cities. You can see just how excited we were by these photos, we both really love Manchester and could happily live there, we did see some lovely flats too, I just need to find a job up there! 

Wearing my Seasalt coat (necessary for the rain!), H&M striped top and Mac Impassioned lipstick. 

Manchester Central Library is awesome and I could have spent all day in there, how beautiful are those windows?!

We also made a brief stop in Chinatown to try and find some Chinese figs but to no avail :( I love this archway though, the colours are gorgeous!

Takk Manchester is a super cool Icelandic inspired coffee bar/restaurant in the Northern Quarter where I felt very uncool, this was hipster inspired dining at its best! ;)

This amazing mural was by Nicholas Chaffe (@nickchaffe) and I absolutely love it. There are so many little details in it and I keep noticing new things every time I look at it. Now I just want one of my own! 

OK, so the food and drink at Takk was amazing! I had the avocado, bacon and tomato sandwich on sourdough bread with a flat white (check out the genuine graffiti-covered school desks! ) which was absolutely delicious. Mark had roast potatoes, shallots and pan-fried chorizo with scrambled eggs and sourdough which I was super jealous of! 

This was the first time I had visited the Northern Quarter and I loved it- the rickety fire escapes and quirky shops felt very Brooklyn to me, I may have to pay another visit to keep my New York cravings at bay!

The exhibits on Manchester's textile industry were so interesting, just look how complex this machines look!

I mean wowee! 

This thistledown coat was super cool- a must have for every fashion blogger I think ;)

They also had an exhibition on 3D printing which was brilliant, I loved how brightly coloured these all were!

These are 3D-printed frames of an animation of a bear climbing some stairs, they don't look like much here but quite something 'in action'. 

My little brother was always a fan of Bob the Builder when he was little and these were the original models they used in the show (before they remade it!)

A very cool cine camera, I love the Italian stickers on the case!

The forst all-metal printing press was invented by the Earl of Stanhope, this one was made sometime between 1810 and 1830...

More cool murals...

I love the contrast of the old buildings and the uber modern Beetham Tower, that is one shiny building!

This is an awful picture but it was an amazing pie! We went to Pi in Chorlton for dinner after a long day walking around town and it was the perfect finish. I am now a fully fledged Pieminster pie fan (this was the Shamrock) I just need to get my hands on some more to try...

We went to the North Star deli in Chorlton for brunch before heading back on Sunday morning, the perfect finish to a wonderful weekend! 

Where should I try next in Manchester?

Whenever I am nervous about wearing a particular item of clothing, I pair it with old favourites in an effort to tone down whatever it is I am scared of. My Topshop wedges are a bit 'out there' and I wasn't sure how well they would go down at work but I figured that a Friday was the perfect day to try them out. I have worn them quite a few times since I bought them and they are really comfy, I think they will make perfect  dancing shoes! I can't see these black ones on the website but they have the grey and brown pairs which also look pretty nice...

This is pretty much this outfit with slightly snazzier shoes but it just goes to show, even fashion bloggers wear the same outfits repeatedly ;) I was lucky enough to visit the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery a couple of weeks ago with work (which is absolutely amazing by the way and well worth a visit!) and this necklace was a sneaky purchase from the gift shop. I love unusual jewellery and the Herbert has an amazing selection from local artists and I'm guessing most museums do. Much cheaper than Topshop and supporting local craftspeople, what more could you ask for?! 

Manchester has been on my list of places to visit for a long time now, both Mark and I have family who live there but we have never actually got round to visiting. This weekend we finally made it up there and did a whirlwind tour of the city before heading over to Mark's brother's house for a barbeque to celebrate his birthday. We only had a couple of hours in town but I fell in love with the city and I will definitely be back. Warning: this does sound like the Tourist Board have asked me to write a gushing piece about the city but I was just bowled over by the place; I mean how could you not love somewhere with more trams than you could shake a stick at?!

The Old Wellington near the Corn Exchange looked brilliant, I love the wood panelling on the eaves of the pub and it was absolutely heaving with people. Apparently there was some kind of festival on over the weekend and it was pretty busy but despite the crowds, everyone was in a good mood because of the sunshine...

The Oast House is an absolutely amazing building, next time I visit, I definitely want to go there, the food looked incredible!

I know not everyone is a fan of buskers but this guy was incredible, he had such an amazing voice! Apparently the 'Hoochie Coochie Mancunian' is the 'self-proclaimed king of buskers'- it's hard to disagree when you hear him sing...

...whereas I wanted to take home the Arkham Asylum, just look how amazing Poison Ivy is!  I have major hair envy...

In the end though I settled for a worried looking Frodo, a jazzy Wonder Woman and a Stormtrooper for Mark. Next time I go, I will definitely be bringing Gimli home with me...

The building for the National Football Museum was really cool and looked amazing in the sunlight. Apparently the museum used to be in Sheffield but not enough people visited it so they moved it to Manchester in 2011. 

Spinningfields is a 'business, retail and residential development in the west of Manchester city centre' (ooh fancy!) and it really reminded me of Canary Wharf or the Mailbox in Birmingham. How great are these flats though?! I'd love to live in the ones in the middle!

We called into the People's History Museum for a quick look at the post-1945 political posters (the perils of hanging out with two politics geeks!) and I really wish we had had more time to spend there as it was absolutely fascinating. I will definitely be devoting a full day to look round the museum next time, there looked like so many interesting collections. I especially wanted to see the one relating to Emily Wilding Davison and women's suffrage but we didn't have time :( 

Possibly my favourite poster in the collection...

Sir Robert Peel looking out over the city - I love playing guess the famous figure with statues, I had never even heard of half of the people whose statues we saw, I think I need to brush up on my history!

 

The birthday boy looking decidedly unimpressed. I'm not sure if that face was because of the chocolate cake or the insanely strong vodka jelly, who knows?! 

I hope you enjoyed my whistle-stop tour; have you ever been to Manchester? Where do I need to visit next time I go?