Larry at Disney Store 789

The morning after the night before, still very tired Katie and I were awake early at around 5am as Katie was not feeling well. We dozed for a while and quietly chatted until a more respectable hour when we decided to get showered and ready for breakfast.
We met with the girls at 10am to go down for breakfast and there was a delicious variety of food to choose from. I ate some cooked breakfast followed by fruit and yoghurt washed down with apple juice and obligatory tea.

Once we had eaten we packed up and checked out but not before we spent some time watching the Bupa Great North Run from our hotel window. The race was going right past the front doors of the hotel and we had fun spotting people in fancy dress.

After one heat of the race had gone through we managed to make a break for it and cross the road. We all walked back to Piccadilly Gardens where we said goodbye to Katie, she went to catch her train as she had a family BBQ to attend in the afternoon.
The rest of us headed to the Arndale Centre for a bit of shopping.

I eventually wound my way to the Disney Store to see if I knew anyone working. As it was my first Store I always have a pang of nostalgia when I visit. To my pleasant surprise Larry was working and we had a lovely catch up hug. Larry used to work in the Dublin store and transferred to Arndale a few months ago, he is on a gap year from Canada and chose to work in two cities during his travel time.
It was nice to see him and see how he likes my first store. As it turns out he prefers living and working in Manchester and he hopes to return to Canada once his visa runs out, stay home and save for 6 months then apply for his Greek passport to move here indefinitely.
He seemed pleased that I would be moving to Manchester as he knew I had applied to Trafford Centre, obviously I didn't mention Harrods to him, but either way when I come home to Sheffield or visit Manchester I will certainly visit him to catch up. We enjoyed a quick photo opportunity with Cinderella (my princess character from last night) before saying goodbye and I headed back to meet the girls.

We did a last bit of shopping in New Look before making our way to the train station. We all bid each other safe journeys home and looked forward to seeing everyone again at the wedding. I caught my train to the airport where I had a fair wait until my flight. I enjoyed looking at the sunshine through the windows, as it was pouring with rain once I landed in Dublin!
Luke met me in town and we walked home together whilst I re-told the stories and events from my weekend away.

Today I am grateful for catching up with a friend who I found to be unexpectedly delighted to see me, it gave me that warm fuzzy feeling.