Dublin, Dundee, Humberside...

Just back from Manchester and Liverpool, my whirlwind history-of-medicine tour of the North, and all is well. This little corner of London that has adopted me is really home, and it's a relief to be back, however briefly, and unencumbered for a bit.

I walked around Manchester yesterday with a friend from my Yorkie days who is now Dr. Such-and-such, a post-doc at the Wellcome Institute, and toward the end, he transitioned from 19th-century history to "that church is in a Smiths song", which then brought a slew of them to mind. Manchester really just feels urban, and very new, but I've heard it can be grey and pretty grim as well. The buildings are taller, and downtown is more compact than I expect with British cities. And they have an Abraham Lincoln memorial (photo TK), which is sort of out of place and strange. He looks like Disney's Goofy. And the plaque commemorates the support, despite hardship, of the Manchester textile barons for the Union cause. Which is apparently not exactly true...

Liverpool, however, sort of sprawls its way up these big hills from the docks, which makes for a nice walk around, really. The seagulls really sound like the sea, rather than out of place, and it's a great jumble of architecture. It was a sunny day, and my archive there was...in the basement of the library. The fire alarm we had halfway through the afternoon was, all things considered, a nice welcome break from being inside. Kolz and I will have to go back someday, if nothing else because there is apparently a Beatles bus tour actually called "the magical mystery tour".

The train ride home re-invigorated my love for train travel and working on the train. I found a seat, with nice table and electric outlet, on the quiet car. All cars should be quiet cars. The people there were just nicer. And flying along at a good speed just makes you feel like you're really working.

Less than 48 hours left in London, though - but little substantive work to do, just tieing up loose ends and buying a year's supply of tea!

p.s. and there was only a little panic on the streets of Manchester -- the talk went fine.