EASTER TRAVELS

As a University student, I look forward to holidays so much. No more 9am starts for a few weeks means constant lie ins. However, I spent the first week of my Easter break being very proactive; I was up early almost every day. This was because me and my boyfriend spent the week visiting each other's family which was a pretty daunting experience on paper. Spending almost every minute of every day for a week with each other was a first for us but it turned out to be very successful, I enjoyed every minute. 

On Monday evening we made the long trip from Newcastle to Manchester on the Megabus which took a tiring 4 hours. We of course had Zapatista before we went as that seems to be our tradition. You can read my post about Zapatista here. Travelling (although I was sitting for the whole journey) is extremely tiring in my opinion. The butterflies in my stomach were really noticeable in the last half an hour of the journey as I was meeting Matt's mum and her partner for the first time. I had already met Matt's dad previously who was really nice so I had the thought that Matt's mum must be just as nice if not more and she certainly was, as well as her partner. Another hour in the car from Manchester to Widnes in Cheshire and we had finally arrived. I was so ready for bed but we had a couple of hours bonding in front of the TV which I didn't mind at all as it made me feel super comfortable as I would be living with them for the next 5 days. 

Tuesday was a day for me and Matt to recover from travelling. We had a little wander around Widnes as I had never been before but it did seem like a nice area to live and we just chilled in front of the TV whilst planning what we were going to do for the next few days. Part of Matt's family is of German heritage and for dinner that night, his mum made us goulash which I had never had before. I didn't really know what it was so I didn't know what to expect but it was so yummy. I would certainly have it again and would recommend it to anyone who likes their meat and carbohydrates. 

Wednesday was a busy day. We were up early to make the drive from Widnes to Blackburn which is my boyfriend's hometown. We spent a couple of hours at a bowling complex playing Pool and Air Hockey which I wasn't too good at. My boyfriend is very competitive so it was probably a good thing that I lost instead of him. We then went to as my boyfriend calls it 'Blackburn Zoo' which was essentially a pet shop. I have to admit it was a better pet shop than the ones I had previously been to, it even had a couple of meerkats and apparently used to have a few monkeys. I also met Matt's Gran who was lovely and very funny. We all went out for dinner on Wednesday night to Pesto which is an Italian restaurant that serves a huge range of Italian tapas. I unfortunately didn't take any photos as I didn't want to seem rude but I would go again definitely. Here I realised how much I got on with Matt's mum as we seemed to have the same points of view on a variety of things.

Thursday was the most fun day even though it was a very long day. Luckily we picked the best day weather-wise as it was pretty warm and sunny throughout the day. Getting a train from Liverpool Lime Street to Blackpool Pleasure Beach at 8am in the morning, we spent the whole day at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, not getting back home until around 10pm. I was expecting the Pleasure Beach to be small and not have very good rides after being to Alton Towers a couple of times but boy I was wrong. I saw my boyfriend turn into a kid the minute we walked into the theme park, much to my amusement. At £23 for a wristband for an unlimited amount of times on rides, you can't really go wrong. We went on almost every good ride apart from Infusion which wasn't working much to our disappointment but we didn't let this get us down too much. My personal favourite was Pepsi Max, mainly because I love the adrenaline you get from the speed and height. My boyfriend made me go to the Pasaje Del Terror with him which I found horrific! What was even worse was that my boyfriend had been before so he knew exactly what to expect. It is an interactive horror attraction where you walk through a haunted corridor which is full of different sets and scary characters that make you jump out of your skin (well mine anyway) and I'm jumpy enough as it is. The worst part was a woman having an exorcist on a bed. She even got off the bed and started chasing you which was terrifying! I was gripping my boyfriend's hand so tightly the whole time as well as screaming and jumping at most unexpected things that were happening throughout.

Although I don't look too happy on this photo, I had an amazing time at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and I actually love rides which you certainly wouldn't think from this photo.

Friday was another earlyish day for us. We spent the day in Liverpool as I had never properly been. Although it was a cloudy and grey day, I loved Liverpool. I was completely amazed at the huge number of shops. I will certainly be going there when I need to buy myself a new wardrobe of clothes. We had a look at the Docks which were stunning, it was a shame that the weather was grey as it would have been even more beautiful with pure blue sky and sunshine but the company of Matt definitely made up for this. Wandering around Liverpool, we found an Imax cinema and with Fast and Furious 7 being released on that day, we simply had to go. We found a burrito bar much to Matt's delight however, it was nowhere near as good as Zapatista. Fast and Furious 7 is truly amazing, it was well worth the money of seeing it at an Imax screen as it felt like I was in the film.

Saturday and it was Matt's turn to meet my parents and family for the first time. The Megabus from Manchester to Sheffield was much shorter than the previous journey much to my delight. It was so good to see my parents as I hadn't seen them in almost 2 months. I also got to see my sister who I hadn't seen in 3 months because of us both attending University. We visited my Grandma where Matt learned how much everyone in my family, but the odd couple of people including me, loved football. My mum made her homemade chicken tikka curry which was yummy even though I could only eat half of it. Me and Matt stayed in a hotel simply because there was no room for both of us to sleep anywhere but this meant we got a big breakfast on the Sunday.

Sunday was Easter Sunday and we were all going to spend the day at my Grandma and Grandad's as my Grandma was cooking a big Sunday dinner. I hadn't had one since New Year's Day so I was craving one and I wasn't disappointed. I was prepared to get embarrassed by my family showing old pictures of me to Matt but it was only my sister and my dad who showed him any. Phew! I finally got to see my brother and his girlfriend who is as annoying as ever. We got a huge amount of chocolate to share with it being Easter Sunday which I'm sure we will be feasting on during the upcoming nights. On Sunday night we made our return back to Newcastle where we planned on catching up on all the TV that we had missed throughout the week when we were back, however this plan failed and we both ended up passing out at my boyfriend's house from the exhaustion of our busy week. Most nights during the week we only managed to have 6 hours sleep which certainly isn't enough for either of us!

All in all I had an amazing week and even though I was knackered throughout the week, I would do it all again if I had a second chance. Now I'm back in Newcastle it's back to the reality of doing coursework and studying for my exams for the next month and a half but it was good to have a week to completely forget about University and spend the week with my favourite person. However, I am looking forward to a whole 2 weeks worth of lie ins as I seriously lack in beauty sleep. 

How have you spent your Easter weekend? Have you visited any interesting places recently?