Another long time between updates, but as I sit in an Indian restaurant in Kyiv (one of two) I thought it'd give me time to update you on my exploits. I've been very busy recently, which explains the lack of updates.

Let's start where I said I would: Manchester. On 28th June there was a special video-game-related event there, which was refreshing in that it focussed on British retro gaming more than foreign stuff (US and Japan). It makes a change for these things to remember that we have our own gaming heritage. Here's an example of some of the decor.



You could play some games, too, which was great. Though, to be honest, choosing Elite as a game to play is a rather stupid decision: it's not exactly a game you can just pick up and play in five minutes. I spent hours on this game when I played it before. And the instructions were on a full sheet of paper, so a bit tough to get to grips with at first.



More playable stuff. They just had emulators playing ZX Spectrum games with joypads, but if you weren't familiar it'd be nice. Though if you weren't familiar, why would you be there? Perhaps if you're a younger gaming fan who wasn't alive when the old computers were around.




They were divided up into rough sections. This, for example, is a couple of driving games. Burnin' Rubber, in front, was pretty good when I fixed the controls (me to the rescue, yay). The other game is Micro Machines, which me and my brother played quite a bit to relive the old days.




As nice as all this old stuff was, I did say to my brother, "This is just like your bedroom!" And he agreed.







This shot proves it. He said he should just charge admission to his bedroom.







This is a very notable British game for me, and it was cool to be able to see all these maps of a game I played a lot. It's here mainly because two of the guest speakers at the event were the Oliver Twins, who made the game. They said hello to us as we were playing a game, but I had no idea who they were. I think my brother did, however.



A closer look.








Some excellent material related to the best football game ever, Sensible Soccer. Shame I didn't have time to peruse it all: there's just too much!






You could, of course, play Sensi as well. Here I am making light work of Cardiff. Dynaaamo Kiiiev.







The decor was pretty cool, actually: huge blow-up reproductions of old game screenshots.







People were encouraged to draw their own game ideas. Note my brother's (borrowed) idea: Horace Goes Culling. I won't explain.







This is, obviously, the sport section. There were sections for newer games and more adult-oriented games (that's Grand Theft Auto, not what you're thinking of). The Oliver Twins did a presentation, showing off their new software and 3D glasses. It was interesting, but no pictures.




Anyway, enough of Manchester. That's that covered. On 3rd July I went to Liverpool to get an urgently-needed passport for my Eurotour. As I'm sure you're aware, that went without any real problems, so I don't need to regale you with tales of putting my application in, then returning several hours later to collect my new passport. Instead, I'll focus on those hours in between.

As we walked towards the city centre, I passed a church. I hope a Scouser can remind me which church this is, it was a while ago, and I didn't take any notes.






I believe this is the Liver Building. I hope, anyway, after just saying that. The shot is rather poor, but I blame the rather below-par weather.






I got two buildings in one shot here. It says Atlantic Tower on that one on the left, so you'll just have to live with that. I think the other one's the same church as before.






A more expansive view. It really wasn't photography weather.








Looks like one side of the Liver Building. I think.











I read that this is much hated by architects, apparently. It's certainly eye-catching, sticking out into the harbour as it does. It houses The Beatles Story. Though you can see that yourself.






Oh... bugger. Don't know.








Likewise, though I could hazard a guess. I won't, of course.








"Ferry, cross the Mersey..."








Monument. Self-explanatory.











Another building. God, I need to pay more attention.











Now I really don't remember taking this picture.








Hmm, this one's a bit easier. There's John Lennon on the left, there. This is obviously the Cavern Pub. The Cavern Club is a few doors down, on the other side.






A closer look reveals the Wall of Fame. Not just the Fab Four played here, but also the likes of Warhorse, Freddie and the Dreamers, and even Wild Mouth. Legends.






Don't worry, we're nearly finished looking at stuff I don't know.








Schoolchildren. Oh, and a war-related monument.








Ooh, that's nice. That'll be the docklands, made famous by... er, This Morning. We went to a couple of museums there, and had a drink. It's actually quite nice, I should've taken more pictures.






Not sure what attracted me to this picture. It's a bit dull.








I know where this is, but what it is... um...








That's the third shot of this bloody church, and I still don't know what it's called. Look, I'm not a tour guide, I'm a tit with a blog.










And, for good measure, as we were driving home we made sure to check out two local landmarks. This road is very narrow.







Couldn't even leave the car for this one, though.








Well, that's your lot for now. I'll do my ultimately pointless sojourn to Milton Keynes another time, but I have a trip to Lviv scheduled for this weekend, so I'll finally have something new to write about.