Autumn Travels

I have to apologise for the lack of blipping and commenting over the past few days. Since we arrived at son's house in Bicester last Friday it has been all go with little time to blip, far less try find a broadband connection.

Friday afternoon was spent collecting the hired van in Oxford and then getting it filled for an early start the following morning. We did manage a couple of hours off to go to the Muddy Duck in nearby Hethe where we had a splendid farewell meal of Duck Pie, Duck Breast and Pork Belly - all delicious!

Saturday was a drive to Salford Quays in Manchester where son and his girlfriend have rented a flat. It was then a hectic rush to unload the van and get it returned to the hire company at Manchester Airport within the 24 hours allowed. Made it on time and then back to the flat to help the girls finish unpacking all the boxes and preparing the beds ready for sleeping on. Fortunately, I had already booked a restaurant in Eccles for dinner so it was simply a case of getting changed and there for eight o'clock. Smiths is a cracking wee restaurant serving typical local food including the famous Manchester Tart, which was scrummy!

Sunday was a bit of a lie in before going for a run round Salford Quays. Like many of our large cities, the old docklands have been transformed into wonderful residential, leisure and commercial areas that deserve to be explored. After a quick shower it was off to Ikea for a load of furniture and fittings that took the rest of the day to assemble. The day was rounded off with a splendid meal that son cooked for us and we ate at the table and chairs put together shortly beforehand.

Today, it was an early rise and car journey to Glasgow where we caught up with our own shopping and visited a friend in hospital before getting back to Carradale this evening. Think we might take it easy tomorrow!

This is one of the few blips I had time to take in Manchester and is the view from a window of the flat.