Visiting Manchester part 1
I'm finding Manchester a really cool city. It's nice and compact - if you ignore the suburbs like I tend to. It has lots of lovely old industrial buildings, a vibrant centre that you can see has been done-over, and they are still at it.
Actually you see that there is a lot of construction and work going on in the city. Lots of road works, building works, train station renewals and what-not. I saw empty run down areas near the centre that were prime for redevelopment when they get round to it, so there is lots of room for growth.
Staying with my aunt and uncle I only had two days to myself to properly see the city, so I crammed as much as I could into those days and walked so much I did my knees in. My aunt and uncle are a bit all over the place, so the rest of the days I've spent with them just trailing after them as they do their stuff. I'm trapped in the suburbs at their house so I don't really have much choice.
So day one of exploring Manchester I had a list of places to see, so I walked all around the Northern Quarter and Ancoats and New Islington then did the Central Shopping District and Castlefield and back up to Picadilly. So I guess you can see how I did my knees in.
I saw the Cathedral, Cheltham Libary, the Football museum, the Printworks, couldn't get into the Corn Exchange because of construction work. Then I went down to the Calatrava Bridge on the Lowry and the People's Museum and the Civil Justice Centre (or whatever those two gorgeous modern buildings are called), the Museum Of Science and Industry, the Central Library (which I absolutely loved!), the Town Hall and the wheel in Picadilly Gardens. I kept on getting distracted by parks and squares and pretty shopping arcades.
I didn't actually go in to any of the Museums, I left that for the next day.
I took loads of photos with my DSLR, but can't be bothered to go through them yet, so here are some instagram snapshots I took with my phone:
[Images under cut]
The Northern Quarter
Ancoats
New Islington and the Chips building
The Football Museum
The Calatrava Bridge by the Lowry Hotel and the River Irwell
The Civil Justice Centre
Castlefield
Actually you see that there is a lot of construction and work going on in the city. Lots of road works, building works, train station renewals and what-not. I saw empty run down areas near the centre that were prime for redevelopment when they get round to it, so there is lots of room for growth.
Staying with my aunt and uncle I only had two days to myself to properly see the city, so I crammed as much as I could into those days and walked so much I did my knees in. My aunt and uncle are a bit all over the place, so the rest of the days I've spent with them just trailing after them as they do their stuff. I'm trapped in the suburbs at their house so I don't really have much choice.
So day one of exploring Manchester I had a list of places to see, so I walked all around the Northern Quarter and Ancoats and New Islington then did the Central Shopping District and Castlefield and back up to Picadilly. So I guess you can see how I did my knees in.
I saw the Cathedral, Cheltham Libary, the Football museum, the Printworks, couldn't get into the Corn Exchange because of construction work. Then I went down to the Calatrava Bridge on the Lowry and the People's Museum and the Civil Justice Centre (or whatever those two gorgeous modern buildings are called), the Museum Of Science and Industry, the Central Library (which I absolutely loved!), the Town Hall and the wheel in Picadilly Gardens. I kept on getting distracted by parks and squares and pretty shopping arcades.
I didn't actually go in to any of the Museums, I left that for the next day.
I took loads of photos with my DSLR, but can't be bothered to go through them yet, so here are some instagram snapshots I took with my phone:
[Images under cut]
The Northern Quarter
Ancoats
New Islington and the Chips building
The Football Museum
The Calatrava Bridge by the Lowry Hotel and the River Irwell
The Civil Justice Centre
Castlefield