Village People

My first stop in Europe is Manchester, England.  Greg and I flew on Thomas Cook Airlines direct from Calgary.  Our flight was an hour early and we arrived at our hotel at 5:30 am.  Needless to say we slept for a few hours to help adjust to the time change. 

Later that morning, we walked around Manchester (M'cr) and saw amazing ancient buildings sprinkled with very modern architecture.  A salt and pepper of history. 

Modern glass building.

Traditional English Pubs.

The old Midland Hotel.  Where's Zanner?

Tallest building in Manchester.

We had breakfast in a little Italian café sitting outside enjoying the warm sunshine.  England is experiencing a heat wave...oh darn :-)

Greg at Bella Italia.

We visited Rycroft Library and I saw Persian books written in 1029 and  an original Isaac Newton manuscript.  The number of old books was tough to comprehend - scientific tomes dating back hundreds of years lined the walls of room after room.

The Rycroft Library, old section and new addition.  How the two styles blend is very artistic and innovative.

In the MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) we learned about how M'cr was the heart of the industrial revolution with the cotton industry being at the forefront of innovation.   I love being in a museum full of engines with Greg the Engineer.  I learned a lot!

Huge engines!

The presence of industry circa the 1800's remains in Manchester.  We found a clothing store in an old textiles warehouse.  The walls were lined with hundreds of Singer sewing machines. 

Sew...a needle pulling thread...

The Printworks is a large set of warehouses (prior print shops, newpaper publishing houses) that have been converted into shops, restaurants and bars.

The nice thing about M'cr is the museums and venues we enjoyed were all free. This left us with some money to  attend a show at the Opera House.  The world premier of the musical "Ghost" was playing.  Hearing "Unchained Melody" in such an amazing venue was breathtaking.  The special effects were fascinating - they stole the show.  And what a love story - I cried big kindergarten tears. 

Manchester Opera House.

Ditto.

After the show, we went for dinner in Chinatown. 

It made for a late night.    Midnight on Thursday in Manchester is equivalent to a Saturday night/Sunday morning at 2am in Calgary.   Luckily we were not far from Chinatown as our hotel was one block away, in the Gay Village.  Needless to say - Greg and I stood out!  We were spotted from a mile away.  An overtly cute, inebriated couple, obviously regulars in the area, approached and  asked us "Excusth me, do you knoah wheyah the Gay Veellage isth?".  I informed our new Mancurian friends that we arrived that morning, and all we know is that there are some cool pubs on Canal Street.  After chatting about being from cold Canada, they told us how cool we are.  I think they thought the conservative Canadians would freak out with their approach.  We passed their little test!

The following day we enjoyed 2 pints and a pizza in the gay village on Canal Street.

The train system in England is amazing.  You can connect to pretty much anywhere in the country for a surprisingly small fee.  We hopped a train to Liverpool where the Beatles originated.  Our hotel is called the Village Liverpool. This time though - it is a regular village!