Blogs from Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom, Europe

In my first post I explained the reasons for this trip, now on to the route we've chosen! The main destination of the trip is Shanghai to see French Tom - but of course the journey is meant to be fun too. As such, John and I have agreed on this itinerary: Manchester -> London -> Brussels -> Cologne -> Moscow -> St Petersburg -> Moscow -> Listvyanka -> Irkutsk -> Ulaanbaatar -> Beijing -> Tokyo -> Shanghai -> Dubai -> Manchester John will be meeting me in London, and leaving from Shanghai via Switzerland rather than joining me in Dubai. That's really just an excuse for me to fly home Emirates and avoid Heathrow during the Olympics! The planning has been split into 4 sections 1.) Getting to St Petersburg This is our first step ... read more

Welcome to my blog for my trip to China using only trains (and then a little further on planes). I've decided I'd like to record both the run up to and the actual trip for those who might be interested - and myself to look back over in the future! So, before mentioning the plan I thought I'd give some background as to why. After a number of trips around Europe using only trains I've long since decided it is the most civilised way to travel - it's not so much that I'm a train spotter (or railway enthusiast!) but more that I'm fed up of being crammed onto a tiny plane after being violated by increasingly intrusive airport security. My recent trip to the New York reminded me of just how much I dislike this ... read more

Hi All, Back to Manchester, funny I've never been before and now I've been twice in a week, to see Leanne, my oldest daughter, and Craig, her partner. We had a little walk around Manchester city centre and then after lunch we went off to find the Lowry. Now with Leanne only just moving there we wasn't sure where to go so we got off at Trafford Bar, I saw signs for the Lowry when I was at Old Trafford a few days ago, which was a bit of a mistake because that tram stop is a long way from the gallery. We did find some impressive old industrial buildings and I especially liked the sculpture of a chain near Old Trafford swing bridge. For those wnating to visit the Lowry the correct tramstop is Media ... read more

Hi All, Some photos from around Deansgate where the Youth Hostel was. A lot of the buildings and the canals were used for the cotton mills that were around here. Jah Bless... read more

Just over two weeks to go and we collectively have about 75p for our three month trip. Rosara has filled six a4 notepads with things to see. Two notepads just dedicated to spas, every spa in Aisa it seems. This time next week we should hopefully be in a better position financially, I should of sold the car or sold my body.... read more

Only 32 days to go (and 19 at work) and all set!... read more

It's now getting to the point where I can't think of anything else but: India, trains, VISAs, couch-surfing, and general travel related things. I'm sure I'm a very boring person to be around right now, but I really don't care. VISAs have been applied for, trains have been booked, jabs have been done, hostels have been booked, and a few interesting looking people on the couch-surfing website have been contacted. In particular, a man posing with a tiger. If he's not our friend by the time we return, I'll be most upset. Next up: Chase VISA application, and pack house up!... read more

And I don't mean Manchester, Massachusetts; Manchester, New Hampshire; Manchester, Connecticut; or even Manchester, Vermont. I mean the original Manchester: a city in the northeast of England. It continues to amaze me how many distinctive accents there are in England alone. Two people who grew up an hour apart can say the same sentence in a completely different way. People here can identify a person's hometown just by hearing him/her talk. The other day in a Phonetics seminar, our lecturer played a recording of a woman reading a passage. Within less than half a minute, the whole class agreed "Liverpool." It's really incredible. Getting a feel for the different northern accents means that I was able to recognize the Manchester one (which of course is completely different from the Newcastle one) and mostly understand it. Someday ... read more