A Trip To Manchester
Harrogate is a pretty town and the surrounding countryside is really beautiful. We feel so fortunate to be living in the middle of one of England's most scenic counties. But every once in a while I really get the hankering for a big city. Going to London or Edinburgh is a wonderful big-city adventure, but not one we can afford to make that often. We've been to Leeds a few times and, well, it just doesn't satisfy that big-city yen for me.
Today, in Manchester, I got a nice dose of a big city and it was not that far from home or that difficult to get to. The drive from Harrogate took a little under one and half hours. We left rather early to avoid traffic and to assure getting a parking space. Mind you, today is about the busiest retail day of the year -- were we crazy to go to Manchester, or not? Anyhow, it was really nice to get such an early start to the day and, as it turned out, the city was not too crowded or hectic after all.
Once we hit town we began to walk through the city center. We saw lots of grand old Victorian buildings and a tasteful smattering of modern architecture as well. Manchester seems well served by public transportation. We saw trams and lots of buses and I believe they also have a subway system. The weather was a bit blustery today. Quite windy and the clouds rolled in and out and in again. We would get rained on by a heavy shower which would last for about a minute. Then the clouds would part and we'd see blue skies and sun. A little while later we'd be caught in a light sprinkle. The weather followed this schizophrenic pattern all day long. We are told this is typical for Manchester.
This weekend was the last weekend of the European Christmas market, staged in Albert Square. The wonderfully neo-gothic memorial statue of Prince Albert presided over all the stalls from many European countries. Germany was by far the most represented country and we both enjoyed delicious bratwurst. The crafts and foods on offer were superb. This market was much better than the one we attended in Leeds last year.
There were three other Christmas-related markets on offer this weekend and we visited every one of them. We also browsed through shops and large department stores. Many of the shops are ones we see in Leeds or Harrogate, but there were a few retailers we've not run across before.
We had been advised to be sure to visit the Castlefield district. It is an area that had recently been derelict but has been revitalized. Maybe it was just the weather or maybe it was because we were there off-season, but Castlefield looked a bit gloomy and still on the derelict side to us. We popped into the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Not one of the best organized museums and the exhibits were a bit uninspired. It was fun wandering through the Air and Space hall, though, viewing the vintage aircraft.
I took a few photos with my film camera. It felt rather strange in my hands and I kept looking at the back of the camera after taking a shot, expecting to see the image displayed on an LCD. We popped into a couple of camera shops and I took a look at a couple of digital cameras I am considering buying.
By the time 2:30 p.m. rolled around we were pretty tired and decided to head back to Harrogate. After all, we'd been on our feet all day. Besides that, we wanted to get home before dark (which is about 3:30 p.m. at this time of year!). Again, no problems with traffic, and Brad took a new and better route home around Leeds. We think we will definitely return to Manchester. There are a few other museums I'd like to check out and it would be nice to go shopping outside of the mad Christmas rush.
Today, in Manchester, I got a nice dose of a big city and it was not that far from home or that difficult to get to. The drive from Harrogate took a little under one and half hours. We left rather early to avoid traffic and to assure getting a parking space. Mind you, today is about the busiest retail day of the year -- were we crazy to go to Manchester, or not? Anyhow, it was really nice to get such an early start to the day and, as it turned out, the city was not too crowded or hectic after all.
Once we hit town we began to walk through the city center. We saw lots of grand old Victorian buildings and a tasteful smattering of modern architecture as well. Manchester seems well served by public transportation. We saw trams and lots of buses and I believe they also have a subway system. The weather was a bit blustery today. Quite windy and the clouds rolled in and out and in again. We would get rained on by a heavy shower which would last for about a minute. Then the clouds would part and we'd see blue skies and sun. A little while later we'd be caught in a light sprinkle. The weather followed this schizophrenic pattern all day long. We are told this is typical for Manchester.
This weekend was the last weekend of the European Christmas market, staged in Albert Square. The wonderfully neo-gothic memorial statue of Prince Albert presided over all the stalls from many European countries. Germany was by far the most represented country and we both enjoyed delicious bratwurst. The crafts and foods on offer were superb. This market was much better than the one we attended in Leeds last year.
There were three other Christmas-related markets on offer this weekend and we visited every one of them. We also browsed through shops and large department stores. Many of the shops are ones we see in Leeds or Harrogate, but there were a few retailers we've not run across before.
We had been advised to be sure to visit the Castlefield district. It is an area that had recently been derelict but has been revitalized. Maybe it was just the weather or maybe it was because we were there off-season, but Castlefield looked a bit gloomy and still on the derelict side to us. We popped into the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. Not one of the best organized museums and the exhibits were a bit uninspired. It was fun wandering through the Air and Space hall, though, viewing the vintage aircraft.
I took a few photos with my film camera. It felt rather strange in my hands and I kept looking at the back of the camera after taking a shot, expecting to see the image displayed on an LCD. We popped into a couple of camera shops and I took a look at a couple of digital cameras I am considering buying.
By the time 2:30 p.m. rolled around we were pretty tired and decided to head back to Harrogate. After all, we'd been on our feet all day. Besides that, we wanted to get home before dark (which is about 3:30 p.m. at this time of year!). Again, no problems with traffic, and Brad took a new and better route home around Leeds. We think we will definitely return to Manchester. There are a few other museums I'd like to check out and it would be nice to go shopping outside of the mad Christmas rush.
posted by lenora at 12:28 PM
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