Rest of the weekend story

[chrishansenhome]

Sorry I've taken so long to do this, had lots of little things to get out of the way.

First, here's two pictures of the Saturday night dinner.



besskeloid, HWMBO, and me on one side of the table.



Me, Nicky, and HWMBO.

Sunday morning we had a small breakfast (thanks, Novotel, for the coffee fixings and shortbread in our room), then went with Nicky to the Trafford Center. It's said to be the largest shopping center in Europe. It is certainly larger than Bluewater. By the way, that Bluewater site needs a major redesign. It looked like a placeholder web page for a minute, and not a good placeholder at that. We bought shirts, trainers (for HWMBO), shorts (for Nicky), and lunch at this restaurant. The burger was only fair and the service was, well, forgettable.

We then went to Nicky's place to meet his housemate, Martin, and see the house. It's a boardinghouse, with high ceilings and great decor. It's almost all new and is very well done. More and more of it is being done as the landlord gets time and funds. We had a coffee and a long chat, then back to Manchester, to dinner with celloboi!



I only knew Glenn from his blog, but he turned out to be a really great companion. He steered us to a good restaurant where we could eat and talk without much interruption. Then we went along to a bar on Canal St. (I don't remember the name) where we sat and talked for hours, nearly closing the bar! I haven't closed a bar in decades and this weekend I came very close. He loves music, his car, and the cello, but doesn't care much for Manchester or the UK...sob! We parted and we hope to see him again either up there or down here in the future.

Monday we got packed and checked out. The hotel kept our luggage and we walked around downtown, and walked, and walked! I was quite footsore by now. We had lunch in a restaurant called Tampopo, near the Orbis museum. Good, but the service was only fair and they charged us for something we had ordered but they didn't bring.

There is a Ferrris wheel around the corner from the restaurant. It seems that every world-class city now has to have a Ferris wheel after the success of the London Eye. There is one in Singapore, and there is about to be one in Beijing.



We also strolled around Manchester Cathedral (C of E). Quite a cute little building, squat really. Not very long but quite wide. Some nice modern stained glass.



Got a picture of HWMBO that I thought was characteristic:



Then we struggled back to the bus. We got there in plenty of time, got our luggage stowed, and sat in the empty front seat (there were lots of other empty seats but we thought this would be nice). The driver, after everyone else had gotten on, came on board and told us that we couldn't sit there. We then had to sit separately for the entire trip. Of course, after the rest stop (we at least got a rest stop here) a lady got up and moved to the front seat, and the new driver didn't say anything. I was really annoyed.

To Victoria Coach Station, where I managed to drop my Oyster card and not discover that until I had paid 20p to use the restroom. Back out to find the card on the floor, but I had wasted the 20p. Finally, home!

Comments

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

We only have carousels. (But we have a dozen of them.)

[mrpandabehr.livejournal.com]

The last picture is funny.

Did he get a free consultation?

[besskeloid.livejournal.com]

As if anything needs to be done with that excellent mane of his.

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it was closed. We want to know how to prevent his long hair from coming out during showers and clogging the drain, but doubt whether this place would be able to help much.

[airyharse.livejournal.com]

hahaha. nice pics. its rare I get to see u in real, rather than ur rather real avatar! :)

Heart the last pic. How apt and straight-to-the-point!

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

When I saw the sign I knew I had to take a pic of him in front of it.

Hopefully if you're back in Sg in September time we'll meet so u can see me in person too.

[tim1965.livejournal.com]

You wasted the "p" in the bathroom. :)

You know, this was posted just about the 114th anniversary of the raising of the first Ferris Wheel (which was where, class?).

Most male cello players are cute. I think it's a prerequisite for getting your license or something. This was this one in college, Mark... *sigh*

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Paris?

Yes, Glenn is cute as a button...

[tim1965.livejournal.com]

"P" as in "pence," but a bathroom is where you pee, and a "pence" is a "p" or a "pee" and...

Oh dear. I'm explaining my jokes, and that's always a bad sign.

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

I meant Paris being where the first Ferris wheel was set up, no?

I knew about the pee/p thang...

[tim1965.livejournal.com]

OH! No. The Ferris wheel was invented by George Ferris for the World's Fair and Columbian Exhibition in 1893 in Chicago. At the time you were seeing your Ferris wheel outside that pub, it was the 114th anniversary of the Ferris wheel's debut in Chicago. :)

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Oh dear...I suppose I could have looked it up. I batted zero yesterday.

[tim1965.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't have known, either, except that I mentioned the book "The Devil in the White City" to someone the other day. It's a prize-winning history of the 1893 World's Fair by Erik Larson. During the fair, H.H. Humphrey -- one of America's most prolific serial killers -- set up a three-story "hotel" near the fair. It's all very "Sweeney Todd," with chutes for bodies, lime and acid pits in the basement, a "surgery" which is really a killing floor, soundproofed rooms, a maze of corridors, no windows, charnel house furnace in the basement, and gassing of victims in their rooms. Humphrey killed perhaps 200 people during the Fair.