My friend Dr. David Rickels, who is a music education professor at The University of Colorado at Boulder, came out to visit for a week during his spring break (about March 23-30)! We had a great time and saw so many things! It was really nice to have a friend from the US come to visit! Dave went to Ladybridge High School with me and we walked around Manchester and had some great drinks and food. We also went to Liverpool for a day. Our big trip was that we took a train to stay in Edinburgh for a couple of days. We really packed in a lot in a short amount of time!
These are our pics in and around Manchester. We went to a cool bar called Wolf at the Door. Spent some time in Manchester's Gay Village, which has some fun bars and restaurants, as well as a statue of Alan Turing.
A bit about Alan Turing because it's noteworthy
(Paraphrased from Wikipedia): During World War II, Turing worked for Britain's codebreaking center. He devised a number of techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers. Turing played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers in many crucial engagements during WWII. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted hormone treatment through a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration, as an alternative to prison. Turing died on 7 June 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An investigation determined his death was a suicide, but it has been noted that the known evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning. Following a public campaign in 2009, the British prime minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for "the appalling way [Turing] was treated". Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon in 2013. The term "Alan Turing law" is now used informally to refer to a 2017 law in the United Kingdom that retroactively pardoned men cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts. Turing now has a major legacy with statues of him and many things named after him. A 2019 BBC series, as voted by the audience, named him the greatest person of the 20th century.
Here are some pics from when we were in Liverpool. Of course we saw all the Beatles things and I think the architecture between old and modern is so cool, much like in lots of British cities.
And finally, here are some pictures from the beautiful city of Edinburgh. These are pics from around the city, including the beautiful streets, the Greyfriars Kirkyard which is a cemetery in the middle of town, Giles Cathedral, and Mary King's Close.
We also saw Edinburgh Castle, which I thought needed its own set of pictures. These are some pics of it, and some from it.
Dave and I also took a day trip to visit two whiskey distilleries: Glengoyne and Deanston. We saw the Falkirk Wheel, which is a rotating boat lift, as well as Loch Lomond on the beautiful drive around that part of Scotland.
There is so much to see and do in and around Edinburgh. I hope to spend some more time there later this semester. But this was a great couple of days to see a lot of it.
I just can’t believe how much of the world I’m getting to see on this amazing sabbatical trip. It truly is a once in a lifetime trip and I’m so grateful to the friends who are able to come visit me on different parts of it!
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