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In Manchester
May. 3rd, 2008 10:20 pmWe decided on the spur of the moment to visit Manchester and our friend Nicky this weekend. So, I got two tickets on Megabus for £40 round trip (which is very good considering the normal train ticket is close to £100) and we set off very early this morning.
Victoria Coach Station is a zoo...no, it's worse than a zoo; at least the animals are in a cage. It was crowded, dirty, cramped, and the information signage was almost non existent. One thing we did note, though; the "No Smoking" signs were in English...and Polish. People were going outside and openly smoking in a no smoking area, right under the sign (I wish I'd gotten a picture).
The Megabus (a double-decker) was crowded and the toilet (always important on a 4-1/2 hour journey) was filthy and smelly (as well as not flushing). I just sat in the seat, drank very little Diet Coke, and hoped for the best.
We got to Manchester a few minutes late, and I ran for the toilet in the station; got there in time, thank goodness. Nicky met us, and our trek around downtown Manchester began.
We checked into our hotel, then walked around, taking in the downtown shopping center, the Printworks (where we finally found a seat for lunch, at Quiznos), then to the Urbis Museum, which was oddly enough, surrounded by Goths, for their Manga exhibition (quite bizarre) and an exhibit by a woman's clothes designer whose name escapes me. The lift in the Urbis is actually a funicular; it's a quiet interesting feature of the building and probably more interesting than the exhibits, I fear.
Manchester's downtown has changed quite a bit since we were here last, 4 years ago. But Chinatown is still here, a square with a decorative arch that is quite beautiful (I will take a picture tomorrow). We met Gary from soc.motss (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
besskeloid) for dinner, but missed celloboi as he had some work to do. He will join us for dinner tomorrow. We ate at a lovely little restaurant, then walked down Canal Street, where we bumped into mc4bbs and two friends, most unexpectedly. I think he'd told us he would be up here this weekend, but I had forgotten because at the time we hadn't planned to be up here. Always lovely to see a familiar face among the crowds.
We ended up at The Outpost where we had a round of drinks and met up with a lovely guy who was a friend of Nicky's and became a fast friend ofbesskeloid's, along with his Taiwanese friend. Back to the hotel, passing a pub with a bloodied victim of some fracas or other being questioned by the police. Nicky pointed out the local sauna and Clone Zone, and thus to the hotel and now to bed.
Some pics will follow, I promise.
Victoria Coach Station is a zoo...no, it's worse than a zoo; at least the animals are in a cage. It was crowded, dirty, cramped, and the information signage was almost non existent. One thing we did note, though; the "No Smoking" signs were in English...and Polish. People were going outside and openly smoking in a no smoking area, right under the sign (I wish I'd gotten a picture).
The Megabus (a double-decker) was crowded and the toilet (always important on a 4-1/2 hour journey) was filthy and smelly (as well as not flushing). I just sat in the seat, drank very little Diet Coke, and hoped for the best.
We got to Manchester a few minutes late, and I ran for the toilet in the station; got there in time, thank goodness. Nicky met us, and our trek around downtown Manchester began.
We checked into our hotel, then walked around, taking in the downtown shopping center, the Printworks (where we finally found a seat for lunch, at Quiznos), then to the Urbis Museum, which was oddly enough, surrounded by Goths, for their Manga exhibition (quite bizarre) and an exhibit by a woman's clothes designer whose name escapes me. The lift in the Urbis is actually a funicular; it's a quiet interesting feature of the building and probably more interesting than the exhibits, I fear.
Manchester's downtown has changed quite a bit since we were here last, 4 years ago. But Chinatown is still here, a square with a decorative arch that is quite beautiful (I will take a picture tomorrow). We met Gary from soc.motss (
besskeloid) for dinner, but missed celloboi as he had some work to do. He will join us for dinner tomorrow. We ate at a lovely little restaurant, then walked down Canal Street, where we bumped into mc4bbs and two friends, most unexpectedly. I think he'd told us he would be up here this weekend, but I had forgotten because at the time we hadn't planned to be up here. Always lovely to see a familiar face among the crowds.We ended up at The Outpost where we had a round of drinks and met up with a lovely guy who was a friend of Nicky's and became a fast friend of
besskeloid's, along with his Taiwanese friend. Back to the hotel, passing a pub with a bloodied victim of some fracas or other being questioned by the police. Nicky pointed out the local sauna and Clone Zone, and thus to the hotel and now to bed.Some pics will follow, I promise.
