Day 150: Exploring Manchester

Time to explore a bit of this city, finally! Because of family history, in some ways it's probably the closest I have to a spiritual home in the UK, and it's still a bit weird that I've never explored it. So it was high time for a look around.

Caught the bus into town and met up with my mum and stepdad where we had a coffee to escape the drizzle, then headed out for a wander around the town. Lots of impressive old buildings - not super old, mostly Victorian era, but it gives you a real sense of when the city grew and built its wealth (post-Industrial era).

Had a look around the town hall, the library and a few other areas as well - all very interesting and impressive. Decided to head to a particular pub for lunch, but it started raining and we weren't allowed to sit inside with Schnitzel - very annoying! Eventually the rain passed and we grabbed some lunch at an outdoor market. Had another coffee overlooking Piccadilly Gardens before my mum and stepdad had to depart - they had a concert to get to tonight and needed to rest up in advance.

We considered staying in the city for a bit longer but with the inclement weather and a soggy dog decided to head home as well. We settled in for the evening and just watched movies and did work!Read more