We are all tourists in this life. Enjoy it!

Coming home can sometimes be a little bit of a let down after the excitement of living in a foreign country, with its new culture, language, history, and landscapes to explore.  However as one of my

Dig the City festival

transatlantic friends pointed it out its  important to remember 'We are all tourists in this life'.  Just because in your in the place you call home doesn't mean there aren't exciting and interesting things going on on your doorstep.  I bet you haven't even explored all of your local tourist attractions or might not even be aware of what they are! Try your local tourist office website to find out what's going on just down the road.. 

That's what I did at the weekend.  I discovered that Manchester had an urban gardening festival on.  Dig in the City so I asked my dad to come check it out with me. We had a great time wandering around all the displays and talking to local community groups about their work in communal gardening projects.  We also got to have a good catch up over coffee and  a nice meal after 9 months of sporadic communication, while I was in Israel.

My favourite garden at the festival. An optical illusion.
 There was an exact mirror image on the other side of  
the screens you can see in the background

Oh I almost forgot the wedding.  The day spent with Mr and Mrs Jones was lovely.  Everything and everyone looked beautiful.  Especially the surprise arrival of the bride in a horse and cart!  The ceremony went well even if there were a few surprising tears from some people and I had a fantastic time getting drunk with the bride and grooms family and friends at the evening do.


On Monday I made a list minute trip up to Edinburgh on the train to stay at my aunts with my mum, as she was on her way home from a holiday in the Isle of Skye. As I pulled into Edinburgh station it dawned on me that I should try and see my sister why I was there!  Luckily she was not working and we had the whole afternoon to fill each other in on our lives.  Then mum came to pick me up and the three of us went to dinner together.  It was a glorious unplanned event. It's so nice when things like that just come together with hardly any effort. 

Here's a few other highlights from the gardening festival, where we also discover Manchester Cathedral for the first time!

So get out there and explore your local museums, cathedrals, festivals and general places of interest!