An Impartial Opinion

Today we get up early and again battle the oddities of train travel to head to Manchester again. This time to visit the University with Daughter for their Postgraduate Open Day, as she contemplates continuing her studies.

The route of the train takes us through Sheffield where she gets on and joins us. Although she can’t sit with us because of the peculiarities of the booking system. We were forced to book seats and are supposed to sit in them. Her tickets didn’t require a seat booking but if she requested one, there was no way of requesting it to be near ours. Then to take our seats we have to invariably move someone on, which we do. Then each time, both outbound and inbound, Daughter manages to find a reserved seat fairly nearby that isn’t being used.

The open day isn’t terribly well organised, Sheffield’s are much better Daughter informs us. That’s her impartial opinion of course and I’m sure has nothing to do with the fact she works at them.

After attending two morning ‘lectures’, for want of a better word, we join a brief campus tour before discovering that the Student Experience Exhibition had packed up and finished at lunch time. At least we manage to grab a complimentary coffee before they all disappear.

Then there is a subject specific session during the afternoon, which is the most helpful part of the day, answering many of my questions anyway.

Then with everything dealt with we take Daughter to a museum because apparently we denied her such delights as a child. I’m sure we didn’t but there you go. She heads straight for the mummy which is, as the attendant directs us, straight up the stairs and left at the elephant.

Then after all that excitement, it’s the train home. 

 (Wednesday 27^th November)