First Beer Festival

So, we went to our first beer festival in Manchester. The walk to Alderley Edge train station is approximately 4 minutes (we stopped at the AWESOME bakery on the way and picked up a few treats). Train to Picadilly Station (in Manchester) is about 30 minutes. It was about a 1.5 mile walk to the beer festival from the train station. It was a GORGEOUS day and the walk was lovely. We arrived at approximately 1:30 and it took a good 10 minutes for us to figure what the heck was going on. Huge room. People everywhere. Beer taps everywhere. Fortunately, we bought a guide book, but that didn't prove useful just yet either. We bought our glasses (2 pounds 50 pence for each) and eventually cozied up to bar #4 (not really sure why) and picked a beer in order to give us time to figure out how this day was going to work.

It was pretty awesome. By about 4:30, we thought "we'll have a couple more and then go." And then we ran into a fellow American. Really nice guy who is teaching down in Wales. He came up by himself and was staying at a nearby hostel in Manchester so we hung out with him for a while. That led to us running into people that work at AstraZeneca and we didn't leave until about 8:30.

When we first got there, we started making notations about each of the beers we tried until we met a bunch of people and it got too difficult. The notations in the book indicate we tried 20 different beers. Some were really good, others, not so much. We were only drinking 1/3 pints so it's not as bad as it initially sounds.

So, as we decide to leave, we walk outside for our 1.5 mile walk back to the train station and it's drizzling. About 1/10 of a mile in, it starts raining harder. And it's cold. We are less than 1/2 mile from the train station and I pull out the train schedule. I see that there is a train in FIVE MINUTES. James asks if I'm sure. Annoyed, I tell him he can look at the schedule and give (throw) it at him. He says he trusts me so WE START RUNNING. It's pouring rain. We get to the train station and are frantically looking at the board to find our train track. What? The train isn't for 40 minutes???? I scramble to get the train schedule from my bag, open the schedule and YES, there is supposed to be a train right now................on Sunday. And today is Saturday. Son of a.......... Sorry James :-(

Pictures are on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151384261869653.512858.755859652&type=1&l=7b074e500f

Post on Scotland coming up soon.