My first impression of downtown Manchester is that of a vibrant old red brick city. Not all the buildings are red brick and not all are old, but when I took the free buses that circle the core, that was my biggest impression. Most buildings max out at four storeys and they have a very solid and permanent look with some nice architectural details (see below). Things are really happening here, too, judging by the cranes and scaffolding I saw. On one street corner, all four buildings were covered with scaffolding. It seems the original modern city is getting a facelift.
I may finally be over my jet lag, having slept 10 hours last night. I'm staying at a friend's house in Openshaw, a part of Manchester, England, before heading off to her daughter's wedding in Poland this weekend.
(If you noticed my last post at an odd time, now you know the reason!)
This is an interesting trip for me. I'm combining a wedding trip with a vacation of discovering my heritage. Funny, my friend has lived here for four years, and when she moved here, somehow she ended up in the exact area where my paternal grandfather was born. Now I don't have any close relatives here since my grandfather moved to Canada around 1924. The closest relatives I might find are the children of his first cousins, if I can find any. If nothing else, I will get a sense of my heritage.
Yesterday, was my first whole day here. First, I accompanied my friend to the train station where she was taking a train to the airport. Originally, we intended to travel to Poland togther but then someone decided the bride's mother ought to be there earlier. I stuck with the original plan and that's good because I'm watching her cats until their next cat sitter arrives!
After seeing her to the station, I took the free buses around Manchester. Surprisingly, there are two bus routes circling the city center with free buses that run every 10 minutes. I thought it was a good way to get an overview and what a great way to encourage people to use public transport.
I won't be able to say too much more about Manchester as I leave for Poland tomorrow, but I will be back Monday. I also have this little problem of not being able to transfer my camera photos to my laptop over the wireless network here. I'm not sure of the reason yet, but I still have iPad photos for you.
Today, I was out for a walk in this neighbourhood of mostly two storey red brick row houses and houses. Everyone usually sees the tourist attractions first, and I will do that with my friend next week, but I wanted to see her neighbourhood and how people live here so I just did regular things. I rode the buses to downtown and, most importantly, found my way back, went to the grocery store, walked the neighbourhood path system, found a canal and foot bridge, shunned the North American chains in favour of local fast food, and in typical British fashion, I have been rained upon. I took photos for a future #walkwithme.
Did you know that when you exit the bus here, you thank the driver?
Now, an important part of getting to know a country is sampling its food. You will be happy to hear I have tried Cornish pasties and some other meat pie, several sorts of fancy biscuits, Indian food (because you all know Britain is known for its Indian food, seriously) and I finished off my dinner tonight with the provocatively named spotted dick. That's a steamed pudding (most of us would say "cake") chock full of raisins and that's its photo, above, and it was very tasty.
It's a good start.
