2014-03-05
In the afternoon we headed to Frankfurt/Main. Due to the usual commuters and lorries, it took us nearly two hours to get there. Luckily we reached the airport with enough time to spare to grab a bite before check-in. Boarding started twenty minutes late as we had to wait for a stand-by crew.
We arrived at Manchester airport after 10 pm, decided to take a cab to get to the Days hotel. Check-in was quick, and I got a charger for my smart-phone without fuzz – I really appreciate this uncomplicated service. Thank you very much, dear Days Hotel Manchester staff – we had a great time at your place!
Days Hotel Manchester
Incredible timepiece in the hotel lobby:
Whitworth Gardens / Sackville Gardens
The Beacon of Hope
The Tree of Life
It must be spring…
Alan Mathison Turing Memorial – I am an IT nerd, remember? 😉
2014-03-06, Birthday lunch at wagamama – you might remember the seaweed salad… 🙂
My very special thanks to the manager – she will remember what it’s all about.
Printworks – impressions
Help! They shrunk my husband! 😀
We had a Brahma (smooth – perfect for Wolfgang) and a Brooklyns (darker, not black and pretty spicy – perfect for me)…
2014-03-07, York
Inside the train station
The ‘Spinner’ (will be featured in an upcoming short story)
The Flying Scotsman
After two hours as serious museum visitors interested in everything railway, we met the author David Coles and his wife Jan at the restaurant – to talk books, writing, reading, blogging, reviewing, jobs, an interview, Jack Everett, his partner in writing, York, etc. We had a great time with you, Jan and David – we would love to meet you again and chat.
When we parted, I was given a signed copy of Postponing Armageddon by Adele Abbot.
After our meeting, we strolled through York, and even had a little trip on the river Ouse.
World’s largest Gothic minster north of the Alps
River Ouse
This was a nice trip on the ‘Captain James Cook’… And the captain did a great job on our Ouse tour!
At the Yorkshire Terrier, we had a ‘Yorkshire Terrier’ (smooth – perfect for Wolfgang) and a ‘Ghost Ale’ (darker and spicy – perfect for me)
Burgers at Wilde’s Wine Bar (I even had a veggie burger – it was delicious!)
Afterwards we headed back to Manchester.
2014-03-08
Public transport in Manchester is pretty awesome
Metroshuttles
Metrolink
And this is for our friend Markus – the third O’Shea’s Pub for our collection – this time in Manchester:
As you can see, this was a great birthday trip – without snow, this time… 🙂
My train of thoughts on... 
I was in Manchester for a stag party in January. Didn’t see much of the the city but went to a Man United game and drank loads. Was great fun!
You can have lots of fun in Manchester. Great pubs, and lots of fun stuff to do.
I also had a great time in manchester, It was nice, even though you were there.
H K X W.
Thank you so much. Always a pleasure.
Ditto.
It was great to meet you and Wolfgang for our chat and, certainly, we hope to see you again. If you were to come to York a second time, we’ll do our best to introduce you to the pre-20th century city. And I see alcohol figured fairly high in the scheme of things.
It’s been some years since I’ve been to other than Manchester airport, sounds like I need to visit the city again.
Likewise, David. This was definitely not our last visit to Manchester and York. Indeed, next time I would like to spend several days in York. There is so much to see and to learn. I tested several coffee shops and/or cafés for their latte macchiato. When waiting for the train that evening, I had to switch to a hot chocolate with chilli – a seventh mug of coffee would have been overkill. 😉
Manchester has some nice places as well. Our usual plan to get to know the city better by taking the metroshuttle worked well. Saturdays in Manchester proved to be a little to crowded for my taste.
Nice to see York again. I spent a lot of time there whilst researching locations for my debut novel and grew very fond of the narrow streets and ramshackle shops. 😀
Thank you, Andrew. We had a lot of fun in York. Next time, we will hopefully spend more time there. 🙂
I spent some of my childhood near Manchester. Nice to see the place looking so prosperous (and clean). Glad you had a good time
Manchester proved to be a great experience. There are some major construction sites. It will be exciting to revisit after the building measures have been completed.
We truly enjoyed every minute of our trip.
WOW! Stunning photos! It looks like it was a really fun trip. 🙂
Thank you very much, Rachel. It was fun; and it was certainly not our last visit. 🙂
happy belated birthday! loved the buses, how cool. 😉 thanks for sharing these photos.
Thank you very much! 🙂
The buses are great, each line passes by in 10-minute-intervals. It is fun and useful if you want to get an overview before setting off on your own…
Wow, sounds like you had a lovely time! Lots of fun looking through your pictures as well, and it’s great to have you back. 😀
It was a lovely time, indeed. We ‘scouted’ Manchester by cruising with the free Metroshuttles, first. Then we set off to some places of interest. 🙂
Thank you, Topaz! It is great to be back in action. 😉
Your ’10 Statements’ will be online this evening (CET time – between 8 pm and 10 pm)
One day I’d like to visit as well. 🙂 And that’s great – can’t wait to see it!
There are so many beautiful locations! Regarding Manchester and York – I will be back! 🙂
Super interesting post…Looking forward to reading more about this trip:)
Thanks, Carol. Part of this trip is covered in the ‘Interview – David Coles’ post, another part will be shown in my upcoming short story ‘Potatoes at the Museum (http://inasmallcompass.wordpress.com). 🙂
I’ll be sure to check it out:)
Well you packed lots into your visit including a trip to Wagamama’s! Glad you had a good time and a new book too!
It is incredible what you pack in three days. There were only three must do activities: birthday dinner at Samsi (this didn’t take place – we were to stuffed from our lunch at Wagamama’s), visit the NRM, meet David Coles.
The book review will come, I cannot yet guarantee a date, though.
Looks like you had some fun!
Absolutely! It was an inspiring trip!
Great photos! It looks really beautiful there! 🙂 xoxo Roxy & Tigerlino
Thank you very much, Roxy & Tigerlino. It was awesome – even before the spring (weather) set in… 🙂
Long time since I was in either York or Manchester. Remember the trains though. Looks like you had a fantastic time.
These were three very intense days, indeed. We’ll be back – hopefully for a little longer…
Looks like you had great fun 😀 Great pics.