Long weekend in Manchester

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A few weekends ago I went to Manchester. Quite a while ago I managed to book 'fun fairs' through National Express - cost me a grand total of GBP2. Yep, you read that right, 2. Equivalent of about AUD$5. Return. So I booked it. Figured I had nothing to lose.

The bus to go up left London Victoria at about 10am. Funnily enough, it cost me more to get to Victoria than it did to get the entire way to Manchester but I guess that's TfL for you. Arrived at the coach station mega-early to make sure I didn't miss the bus. Bus was almost empty - only about 20-30 of us on it, so plenty of room to spread out. We arrived in Manchester slightly later than planned and after finding a book story and buying a map and guidebook for Manchester I found my hostel easily enough. I basically had no idea of what there was to do in Manchester so that afternoon I headed to the Museum of Science and Innovation. Was a bit of a walk from my hostel. Was quite interesting and was wandering round. Place was relatively empty and it was rather late in the afternoon. Anyway, I was wandering through the 'underground' section (which was dark to start with) when the lights were all switched off. I grabbed my phone to use the light and managed to make it to the door before they locked me in. Why they didn't do a thorough sweep I don't know - but there was no announcement or anything.

Anyway, the Beetham Tower was nice and close, and it is by far the tallest building in the city, and apparently the tallest building in the UK outside of London. It is 40-something stories high. I had heard about the Sky Bar which apparently has some absolutely spectacular views - but I didn't think I could deal with having to go up there - me and heights don't mix particularly well. I wandered back to the hostel the long way, past some shops and the convention centre and some buildings and everything.

After a short break at the hostel I headed out to grab dinner and see the city at night (meaning I had to wait until after 10pm). Wandered through Chinatown and the gay district which on a Saturday night was very colourful. There were also the compulsory hens night parties - drunken groups of women wearing skirts much to short and nearly getting hit by cars when they crossed the road. Top it off with hats, or devil ears, or colourful boas, tacky central. A lot of London hens go to Manchester because it is relatively close to London, significantly cheaper than heading to somewhere in Europe and is renowned for its night life. Unfortunately it means that there are a LOT of hens that all descend on the city on Saturdays.

The Sunday morning I was up and out of the hostel pretty early. First stop was to get an all day rail ticket which I managed to do relatively easily, before heading out to Salford and the Salford Quays. Was quite a pleasant morning, sunny and crisp and I had breakfast at about the only little cafe I could find open at 8am. Eventually found myself at the Imperial North War Museum. I attempted to go up the lift onto the viewing platform and made it up. When I stepped out of the life I realised that the ground I was walking on was basically a giant grate, and you could see below you quite easily. I took about two photos and then, probably looking extremely pale (!) went back down as quickly as possible. Wandered around the Lowry and the Lowry outlet mall but wasn't in the mood for art or shopping.

From there I headed north towards North Manchester Stadium and home of Sportcity (where many of the 2002 Commonwealth Games were held). Saw B of the Bang - this odd sculpture thing that was commissioned for the Commonwealth Games and is apparently the tallest sculpture in England at over 56 metres. I just thought it was odd and spikey looking.

By this time it was still early in the afternoon so I headed to the People's History Museum - which I heard was great and definitely worth a visit. Turns out it was closed for renovations so slightly disappointing, especially given how long it took me to find the place!! So instead I went and had a browse through the shops, a walk through the city centre, including a visit to exchange square, Manchester cathedral, St Anne's Church, the Triangle, Piccadilly Gardens, and the 'famous pillar box" that 'was somehow left standing when the IRA bomb exploded a few feet away from here in 1996' (Timeout Shortlist). I also rode the Wheel of Manchester. Basically it is a mini London Eye, only sponsored by one of the local papers. I was slightly petrified again because it was considerably smaller than the London Eye and hence more like a giant ferris wheel.

Anyway after all of that I had some dinner in Chinatown (Thai food and a fantastic curry washed down with beer) and got a relatively early night.

Monday morning I checked out of the hostel and left my luggage in storage there for the day before heading out to Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club. Even though I am not a massive football/soccer fan, I figured that I couldn't go to Manchester without at least a quick visit. So while I was there I decided to do the stadium tour and visit the museum, so I spent the most part of the morning there. Was quite pleasant actually and I even learnt a little bit of history about the club. By the time I finished there and grabbed some lunch, I had enough time to leisurely make my way back to the coach station where I was lucky enough to get another almost-empty bus all the way back into London. Clearly people don't like travelling to Manchester by coach!!

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