Thursday 23 July
After breakfast, we said goodbye to Cardiff and hit the road for Manchester. The drive was relatively uneventful. On the way, we stopped in Gloucester for a look and explored the beautiful cathedral. After lunch in Birmingham, we arrived in Manchester early evening. It was great to catch up with Hol after so long and also to meet Nick. We had dinner and drinks at their flat that night.
Friday 24 July
The three of us (Dan, Holly and I) headed out to York mid-morning for some sight seeing. York is an incredibly quaint town with beautiful little streets perfect for wandering. Our day was spent following our nose through the meandering streets. Highlights included the minster (cathedral), Yorkshire tea and scones, our first pork pie and a walk along the wall. We set off back to Manchester mid arvo and headed out for drinks in the evening. We started at a bar overlooking the city with amazing cocktails. We then moved on to an italian restaurant popular with many celebrities (as evidenced by the photos on the wall). After a tasty meal, we were given the tour of the best bars and clubs in Manchester. After hours of dancing and too many drinks, we called it a night.
Saturday 25 July
After a dusty start, we headed to an aussie/kiwi cafe for a tasty brekky, complete with a flat white!!! (very hard to come by in the UK!) Fuelled for the day, we headed off on a walking tour of the city with Holly and Nick. Highlights included John Rylands library (used for filming parts of Harry Potter https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Rylands_Library_5.jpg), Castlefield (roman ruins) and the canal and lock system. After a full day of sightseeing (in the sun might I add!) we headed back to the flat for Dan's famous paella, wine and board games.
Sunday 26 July
We woke up to a drizzly English day. After a relaxed morning, we head to the Museum of Science and Industy (MOSI). Given Manchester's influence on the industrial revolution, it had many interesting displays (we only just scratched the surface). Mid afternoon, we headed to a pub/restaurant for a traditional Sunday roast (complete with Yorkshire pudding). Very tasty indeed! We spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening making our way through Manchester's many pubs. The rest of the evening was spent chilling out with Holly and Nick in their flat.
Manchester was so much fun and a really interesting city. Definitely a highlight of the trip so far :)
