I love Manchester

I’m now on the train back from Manchester after an eventful and enjoyable week visiting Davie and Chanel. Since I set off, Covid restrictions have been tightening again due to the rise of the new Omicron variant. As the train set off from Manchester a police officer made his way through the carriages, checking that everyone is wearing a mask (or is in possession of an exemption certificate.) 

So, Manchester - what a fantastic city! Davie and Chanel took me to the Christmas market in the city centre and it all felt very festive. The market consisted of attractive stalls with much food, drink, Christmas ornaments and crafts, and it was situated along several of the pedestrianised shopping streets. I like the way the old traditional buildings in Manchester, built from red brick or red sandstone, coexist harmoniously with the brand new glass-fronted buildings. I noticed this throughout my stay.  On my first day Chanel and I went to a Spa whose owners had kept the bricks and beams of the interior of the old building alongside the new swimming pool and gym equipment. We had a lovely and relaxing spa day and Davie made dinner for us when we got back to the flat. The day that we went to the Christmas market we went to a very old pub called “Old Wellington” which was half-timbered with little mullioned windows, it was so traditional with great food, and it sat comfortably alongside smart new shops and offices. As well as visiting the centre of the city we went to Salford Quays to see Six the Musical at the Lowry Theatre which was brilliant. Salford Quays is a development located in what used to be the docks area right on the Manchester Ship Canal. It has a mall, outlet stores, restaurants and businesses such as media - the huge BBC building is among the modern, edifices overlooking the water. I would like to return in daylight to explore it further. I loved Six the musical although it was quite short at one hour and twenty minutes without an interval - I wished that it was twice as long!

Another place we went was the Trafford Centre, an impressively large shopping and leisure centre with lots of places to eat and a cinema, where we watched House of Gucci, which we enjoyed very much. The Centre was all decorated for Christmas with a life size Santa and his reindeer flying across the domed ceiling. 

During the days when Chanel was at work, David and I did some Christmas shopping, went to an Escape Room (great fun!) and visited Bridgewater RHS gardens, which were very interesting to visit even in the winter. 

David and Chanel were great hosts and I had a fantastic time - I can’t wait to visit Manchester again.