2004-07-08

I take back what I said about Manchester’s lack of late-night shopping facilities. I’ve managed to locate a 24-hour supermarket on my route home from work, and have taken to doing my shopping in the middle of the night: of course, grocery shopping at one o’clock AM feels all weird and backwards, and naturally leads to surreal combinations of impulse purchases. Last night my basket contained two single serving containers of black cherry soy yogurt, a three-litre Tupperware container, a bag of dried figs, and a video copy of The Italian Job. And Mancunians really are a friendly lot: for two nights in a row, walking home with my groceries, I managed to flag down an out-of-service bus, and got a free ride home.

Besides providing an economical means of transporting my sundry purchases, my local bus has proven to be a hot social scene. I’ve made a friend! I got to chatting about international work visas one night with a friendly young bloke at the bus stop, and after a few more encounters of a similar nature, we exchanged phone numbers; and on Monday he gave me a brilliant tour of Didsbury. (Sadly, he is engaged, putting to rest any amorous inclinations on my part – but what young girl hasn’t dreamt of a whirlwind romance on public transport, riding off into the sunset on a city bus?)

Tomorrow I’m probably off to Southampton, catching a ride with one of my housemates; or if that doesn’t pan out, I’m going to go to the train station and buy the cheapest ticket I can find (so long as it’s not to, like, Birmingham). So bohemian of me, I know. I’ll be back Monday or Tuesday, depending where the trail of cheap tickets leads me. Ciao!