This is Manchester

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Mid-week was already upon us, so I set aside Wednesday morning to work on my thesis corrections. It was a very productive morning, so I rewarded myself with the afternoon off. Maria and I went on a walking tour of Manchester. Our guide looked (and even acted) somewhat like Bilbo Baggins and quite often went off on tangents. However, that did not detract from his excellent tour guiding. We saw the beautiful gothic-style town hall, little laneways, the John Rylands Library, Lincoln Square (where we experienced our first Manchester rain), canals, the Midland Hotel, railways, warehouses and so much more. We heard about the industrial revolution, the progress of science and meteorology, the advent of passenger railways and standardised time, political movements and massacres, and technological and mechanical firsts. This was Manchester, but only such a small slice. There seems too much to learn about this strangely beautiful city. The architecture is often interesting, particularly modern buildings that rest between the older, now converted, warehouses. I think I'm falling in love with this city, though part of me feels that I'm not supposed to.

After a rather late lunch at a bar in the gay village, I checked into the hotel in which Boz and I were to stay that evening. What a gorgeous room and friendly staff. It was nice to relax on the very comfortable bed, but I soon went back to the apartment to pack my overnight bag. I then returned to the Velvet hotel for the evening... Boz arrived around an hour later. We walked around the city, past many of the sights I had seen that day, so Boz could know the Manchester I now knew. We had dinner at a noodle bar near the town hall. It was nice and light, but not amazing. We continued walking around the city until later in the evening.

Unfortunately we had to get up early on Thursday as I had to present at the conference. I was nervous (and had been most of Wednesday too). We collected our belongings together and went downstairs for what turned out to be a rather mediocre breakfast (the only problem with the hotel). We checked out, dropped Boz's bags at the apartment and made our way to Piccadilly gardens where I caught a bus to the university and Boz met Cameron and Tim for some touristing in Manchester.

I arrived with time to load and check my presentation, which was lucky as there had been a compatibility issue that altered my formatting. I sat through and interesting presentation about health workers in South Africa and then presented on 'Pre-closings in surgeon-patient consultations' (not 'consultations' as the program suggested). The presentation went ok and I had a tricky question at the end, but managed it fairly well. I then listened to another presentation, this time on the role of community support workers for the intellectually disabled.

The conference broke for lunch and then I walked to the Museum of Science and Industry to meet with the boys. We soon wandered back towards the city, stopping at a Spanish restaurant for lunch - a large glass of Sangria the accompanied albondigas, tortilla de patatas and empanadillas de atun. YUM!

When we had returned to the city, Tim and Cameron and Boz and I parted ways. Boz and I kept walking and ended up stopping at a Caffe Nero close to the apartment to get drinks. Here we bumped into Maria, then we all walked back to the apartment. Boz and I then wandered along the canal adjacent to our apartment, taking a seat for some time to take in the atmosphere.

We then headed back to the apartment for a little while before we went to Piccadilly Station to get a taxi for Boz. Which I then hopped into to accompany him to the airport. It was just nice to spend time with him. I then caught the train back to Piccadilly, which provided me with a another view of Manchester. I then tidied for a little while, searching for some lost money. Then Maria and I walked to Piccadilly gardens and went to Kro for dinner - a delicious Danish restaurant and bar. The fish and chips with mushy peas followed by apple pie = amazing. We also indulged in rose pinot grigio, which is soon becoming my favourite wine. I really liked this place and Maria and I had a really great evening.

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