Manchester.A weekend and the best things to do in Manchester.
Manchester
A weekend in Manchester
After the Scotland trip, i was busy settling down my life. In between i travelled to India for a two weeks vacation. Two weeks was nothing. Being an expat i can't wish for more. Its been a while i haven’t been to anywhere. I was really busy with my job change and had trouble following it . But i am glad that the choices I made were correct. Now am happy and enjoy my work. lately, i had quite a few days off in a row and my dearest friend is getting graduated this summer in Newcastle. So gathered all the information on the destination and booked the ticket. We planned three days in Manchester and four days in Newcastle. I have been to Newcastle last winter for my Graduation but it was just a day.I couldn’t explore much. So i recon this time i have plenty of time. As the day started,a usual thing in England at the moment is rail strikes and walkaways on pay increases. Our booked train was cancelled. But with the same ticket, we can travel the next available train to the destination. The alternative train for the cancelled one took more time than the booked one. So things were delayed and we didn’t get reserved seats. We have to wait for a while to get seats.
One of the largest cities in the UK and the unofficial capital of North England is Manchester. There are plenty of fun things to do in Manchester. Its residents have every right to be proud of their city's industrial past and how it shaped the music industry. Oasis, The Chemical Brothers, The Smiths, and Stone Roses all got their start in Manchester, a city with a storied musical history.
We reached Manchester Piccadilly by noon. My friend Sahad was living in Manchester. Just because of him, we saw Manchester as a local . We didn’t spend time planning and fixing places. We stayed at IBIS budget Hotel on Pollard Street. It is a 15-minute walk to Manchester Piccadilly. But the check-in time was at 15.00, so we kept our luggage and started touring Manchester. Manchester city centre is like a mini London. With high-raised buildings and people rushing.As it was the weekend the City was at its best. It's not a tough task to find accommodation in Manchester. I booked through booking .com. You will have plenty of options with different budgets. Try to take accommodation in or within walking distance of the city centre.
First thing first. We set out to have authentic Yemeni Mandi . Hadramout Restaurant in Welmer street east offered authentic Yemeni Mandi. I did some research about what to eat before boarding the train. An added advantage was my friend in Manchester joining. And this street indeed looks like Eastham of London more over like North India. I can see Jewellery shops and north Indian restaurants. I thought in my mind, how lucky is my friend, that he can eat good Indian food. In Eastbourne, we don’t have many options for Indian Food. Post lunch we took a day bus pass for £5 per adult. With that ticket, we can travel unlimited by bus for 24hrs.
Our first stop was to visit John Ryland Library. As it is closed on Sunday and Monday. This afternoon was the only chance for us to visit. We took a day pass for 5£ so it can be used for unlimited bus travel for 24 hrs. John Ryland Library is free to enter. No time slot entrance is required. At first, from outside this building look odd. Hats off to the organization maintaining it. The inside feels like in a Harry Potter movie. John Ryland, Manchester's first multimillionaire, amassed his textile industry wealth. The library was established in his honour after his death in 1888 by his widow. This library, one of the city's most attractive structures, features tall windows and a stunning vaulted roof that give it the appearance of a cathedral rather than a library.
From the library, we took a bus and had a quick stop over at Salford University. Manchester is also famous for its universities. It had the most divested student population of the five universities. Manchester to international students is a low cost of living and its accommodation than London. Manchester University is one among that .It had a vast area and lots of buildings for various department. My friend the one giving us the Manchester tour is studying at Salford University. Salford University emerge its connections to Mediacity for its students with access to TV studio , filming equipment,its news stations and rooms. It is a privilage to study in such Universities.It is a lifetime experience.
So from Salford University, we wend to Trafford Mall. This mall doesn’t look like something in England. It looks and smells like UAE.I visited Dubai back in 2015 and this mall reminds me of Dubai Mall. A huge mall with plenty of retail shops. It has variety of brands and plenty of restaurants. It is massive and we need an entire day to roam around. There was sale going on in some of the clothing store. The Trafford Centre is one of the biggest shopping destination west to Manchester. Reaching here is quite easy even if you are bus ,car, tram,bike or foot. This place has parking space for more than 11,000 plus vehicles.The Trafford Centre has almost all famous brands. It also had Legoland, Sea world, and Island golf.A complete package for a fun day out. I really wanted to shop there but there was no space in my luggage for more dress.
We took bus back to city center. It started pouring and we were stranded in the street for a good ten minutes in rain. We shop some snacks and cup noodles for next days breakfast. We came back to hotel and slept. Next day morning we started late. Started from the canal and walked through Northern Quarters to Manchester Piccadilly. We took picture throughout the way. Our first stop was China Town.Manchester’s China town is the second largest in UK. I felt like
We roam around China Town in search of Noddles. There are plenty of restaurants and they good thing is that they display their menu card outside which is good to decide . And after a good ten minutes walk we fixed Oriental Dragon Chinese's Restaurant. But our food was a disaster. Disaster in-fact this is not what we expect. The food taste yummy and the ambience was good. But we expected something else by chow mein and the staff doesn’t speak English. After lunch we headed to Old Trafford to visit Manchester United Stadium. Old Trafford Stadium is the world-famous home of Manchester United. Manchester is known for its contributions to football, as every sports enthusiast knows. The world's first professional football league was founded there in 1888 and is home to two top-notch stadiums and some of the best football teams in Europe.
If you visit on a non-matchday you have plenty of to do. Everything depend upon your interest. But i will recommend doing at least one stadium tour. It is a shame visiting Manchester without visiting Stadium. I am joking.It is upon your interest and time. So after the stadium visit we walked to the Quayside and we crossed bridge to Salford. It is when again it started poring . We still walk around the Mediacity and took the tram back to Manchester Piccadilly. This is the first time i am travelling in a Tram, had seen one in Croydon but have yet to have a ride.We came back to city center and started roaming around for dinner .We visited Arundel Manchester Mall but its shopping store was closed by then. We still walk around and take pictures. We also had a drink from Tim Hortons. Took a takeaway from KFC and went back to our Hotel.Next day post lunch we are leaving Manchester to Newcastle.
The next day by 12 we check -out from the hotel and started strolling through Northern Quarters and Piccadilly Street. We had some shopping at JD Sports in Arundale Mall then had our lunch from Kokoro and had my favourite bubble tea from Sipcha and we left to Railway station. Everything was in walking distance.It started pouring so our friend Sahad said goodbye and he left. Our booked train was on time.We had a refreshment and started our journey to the City of Seven Bridges.
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