Trip to Manchester

This last friday my friend Katie (who is an American from Maine) and I decided to blow this popicle stand that is Lancaster and went on a weekend trip to Manchester to check out the sights and get in our first bit of travelling before the semester really begins to get hectic.

On friday we had a meeting as to where we would go and what we would do, and where we would stay. We decided that we would leave on saturday at 8:30am. So bright and early Saturday morning we caught the bus into Lancaster and headed for the train station. Once there we bought out Student rail cards (which gives all students 1/3 discount on all train ticket prices). On the weekends trains don't run through Lancaster so we had to catch a coach to Prestion Station. Once there we caught out train to Manchester. We arrived in Manchester around 1pm, we decided to get our accomidation first, so we could dump a few of our things off in the room and then get on with our sight-seeing.

We decided on the "Manchester's Backpackers Hostel and Guest House" so we got onto the trams and rode it way out into some god-forsaken suburb looking for this specific address. After a few wrong turns we finally found the address, but all we found was a house that was for sale! so we headed to the nearest pay phone and called the phone number (we got all our information from this travel book "Lets Go: Britain and Ireland" that my parents had left with Mike and Hilary last year when they made the treck to England, Thanks Mom for leaving it behind! has proven to be very useful) but alas it was no longer in service. so we just decided to cut our losses and headed back downtown to stay at the Burton Arms, a quaint bed and breakfast just off the main square the the city. if you facor in the exchange rate it wasn't exactly cheap, but 20 pounds per person was fairly reasonable.

we toured the sights in Manchester for the day before we got our room. we went to the town hall and Public Library (which, according to Lets Go, is one of the largest libraries in England!) then we walked over to the museum of Art and spent a few hours wandering around getting cultured and shit.

We then went to a Chinese buffet in China town which was just a block from the museum and ate way too much! Later we made our way to our hotel. we had no idea where to go so we went back to the town hall and got out the travel book and, like a couple of tourists, used the map to find our way. we stood there on the street with our tourist book our trying to find our way. After getting lost once we finally made it to Swan st. and to the Burton Arms. Once there we had a nap and watched Jurrasic Park and a documentry on Krackatoa (an Island volcano that blew itself into oblivion in the late 19th century) on the BBC. the we got ready to go out and try the Oldham St. Stumble (a bunch of bars that are all within walking distance of our hotel)
we went to The KIng for a pint of Cider, then to Simple, a very posh bar for a glass of wine and Guiness for me, and then finally to Matt and Phred's for a night of live jazz. At Matt and Phred's we met some Spannish immigrants who were in Manchester to learn english. Juan and Nefferette (i believe that is how she spells her name) they were a lot of fun. Katie chatted with Juan and I with Nefferette. we were there until 2am when the bar began to close. after that we went for a walk practically all over the downtown area! we walked back to the Main square "Picadilly Gardens" and then into China town we even passed through the Gay Village, which was...interesting (awkward) but we couldn't find another club that was open so we decided to part ways with Juan and Nefferette. They got onto the bus and we walked back to our hotel.

The next morning (this morning) Katie and I didn't rise until 11am and left our hote at 12. we did another walking tour of the downtown area (this time sober) but it was not as eventful as the day or night before. once you know where you are going, all the adventure is taken out of the journey! so around 2pm we headed back to the train station and headed back to Lancaster.

It was a really fun trip and i met a lot of great people. Katie and I had fun, and I am looking forward to my next day trip to York this comming Saturday. But afte this next trip i think i am going to take a break and let my wallet recooperate and actually get some school work/learning done!
Rob.