Blogs from Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

Well the journey has started. We are in the lounge at the moment in Manchester Airport and I already am stressed. When they checked my bag through they did not put priority sticker on - does this mean that it will not arrive in Sydney with me - who knows! The worst part is Mike did get the priority sticker on errm not fair or what. We should touch down in Heathrow at around 8ish and then on to the Sydney bound plane at 9.55 and then the real journey starts as we do not touch down in Sydney until Monday at 7 am (Sydney time) - long time on a plane or what. I have just thought by going to the cinema a lot recently this could be a bad move as will need to ... read more

Geo: 53.4807, -2.23451We are staying in a modern flat in Stalford Quays, near Media City where the BBC is located. From the living room we overlook one of the canals, damn good view to enjoy from the balcony. We went to the IWM (Imperial War Museums), which was very interesting and free. So definitely worth a look. We also keep being told that the Science Museum is very good but we don't have enough time to go there.Saturday night we decided that we needed to experienced Manchester night life and thus after diner and some cider (from Ampleforth) we headed toward the town center. Neither of us had any idea where to go so we asked few people. We got off the tram at Picadilly and went to the Northern Quarter. The first bar we went ... read more

Geo: 53.4807, -2.23451We awake early. All the bags are packed and all that remains is to make sure that the villa is spick and span for when the owners arrive later that morning. We nip to Denny's for our final breakfast of this trip. Peter has his usual 'Grand Slam Slugger' and I have my favourite 'Moons over My Hammy' and return to the villa to gather the last of our things before heading out. We do not need to be at Sanford Airport until at least 2pm and so we decide to do some last minute shopping instead.We head up I-4 to the Mall at Millennia which we class as a 'posh' mall as it has a Tiffany store. Peter had been rather jealous of my Ray Bans that I purchased earlier in the week ... read more

Geo: 53.4807, -2.23451Stage 1 - Manchester to OrlandoWide awake at 3am. Why? We don't need to leave until 7.30 for our 10.50 flight. No worries, just roll over and go back to sleep. Little voice in head."Did you remember to pack that thing"? "Yes, shush now"."What about that other thing"."What other thing"?"The thingamajiggy you need to use the other whatchamacallit"?"Oh that thing, yes I did...at least I think I did".And so on for the next hour or so.We left a little after 7.30. As it was Friday there was rush hour traffic to contend with but we were soon at Terminal 2, Meet and Greet Valet Parking. Arrived at Terminal 2 to a sea of people all stood outside. An emergency evacuation was in process but no one could say why. 10 minutes later and we ... read more

Richard Frost - Manchester I'd forgotten how cold it gets in Manchester. Or maybe I just preferred not to remember. After 6 months living it up in South America, we've arrived back in the UK wholly unprepared for the ice-cold chill that greets us. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake to go straight from Rio de Janeiro to Manchester. More than that, to go straight from Brazilian summertime to British wintertime - a 30-degree temperature difference. But even though I'm shivering like no-one's business, at least I can comfort myself with the memory of being roasting hot on Copacabana beach. And even though I don't have a job anymore, and I'm crashing on friends' floors till we find somewhere to live, at least I can comfort myself with the memory of what we achieved. Like ... read more