An eternity ago we were in Saskatchewan, sleeping in an uncle’s parked trailer by Wakaw Lake.

And this past week, while we hiked the Dales Way, we slept in quaint English inns and guest houses, a couple of them built in the early 1600’s…a time when people were short and had one shirt.

Which meant, that like the week spent in the Canadian trailer, the space in all these rooms was, to be polite, a tad smallish.  This was most evident when we arrived at our final guesthouse in Windemere and, after festooning the tiny room with our dripping clothes and sodden boots, left no room to actually get from the bed to the door.

I assure you there would be no swinging of cats in any of these spaces.

But we are about to start the next leg of our journey to Finland and felt the need to make the transition from the week’s hiking uniform into something a little more civilized. Hence the stop here in Manchester before tomorrow’s flight to Helsinki.

We have tucked into our very large and spacious room at the Manchester Hilton. I have had a long soak in an extra large tub, a genuine luxury after the tight shower stalls of the past few days. Next, we’ll be heading up to the 23rd floor to have a cocktail at the Cloud 23 bar and take in the view over the Manchester skyline. As you do…

It is said that life is in the details. Let me just say that the details to be found in this room (like whacks of space, a poufy duvet, space to hang up anything we want, great view, and oh…did I mention the size of the room?) are leaving me feeling quite content.

Now if I just had a cat.

(Room provided courtesy of Visit Britain – gushing accolades are sincerely my own).