ManU

It was going to take two trains and a subway to get to Manchester. It was pouring rain. Perfect day for train travel. I was running late for my Worthing train, but I made it. I made it just in time to find out my train was cancelled.  I left about an hour wiggle room to catch my train in London. I now had none. I arrived at Euston train station for my 12:20 train at 12:22. The attendant at Virgin trains was very understanding and book me on the next one. Crisis averted. The first thing I noticed about Manchester was the dark red brick the buildings were made of; the second was the liter. I made my through the town center and was impressed with the shops. I wasn’t sure what the big tourist attraction was for Manchester besides it’s Futbol team. I’m pretty sure its shopping, and bars. I joined in on a pub crawl which was fun. Met loads of people from various places. An odd amount of Australians I thought. I wasn’t expecting so many. And then I met a group of University students who came down to Manchester for the weekend for a little after finals fun. I also noticed a lot of Stag and Hen parties, which is the American equivalent of bachelor and bachelorette. Actually, in a way Manchester reminded me a bit of Chico. A college town that loves to party, and other college students like to go there to party on weekends. I was spending 3 nights in Manchester. My first full day I went out to York. A cute, old, charming little town. There is a giant wall that goes around the town center that dates back to the Roman times. Probably one of the oldest man made things I’ve seen, and walked on! That gives you an idea of how old the city is. The streets are made of cobblestone, and barely one car can fit through. The shops are made of cobblestone and old brick. I love to see the buildings and think of the history it has seen, and then see Starbucks written across the top of it.

There are some walkways throughout the town that are for people only. They are shortcuts throughout the shops and town center and remind me of a maze. To be honest I was a bit weary walking through these because I never knew who was in the corridor with me. I walked a lot around the town and checked out its most iconic sites like York Minster and Cliffords Tower to name a few. In one of their squares a band came out to play and I really enjoyed their music. Who knows, maybe they can be the next Beatles. I was still pretty tired from my pub crawl the night before, so I made my way back to Manchester for a good nights sleep. The following day I went to Liverpool. Home of the Beatles and my friend Alice who I met in New Zealand. I met her at the train station, and it was brilliant. We truly met on one side of the world and were now having a coffee on the other. I think its fantastic. She showed me around the sites, and I made a stop at the Beatles Story. Learned about how they started and how they finished. Just a couple of young boys from Liverpool England. It was amazing being there. I could still feel the energy of what it must of been like to see the Beatles when they were performing at the Cavern Club. I made my way back to Manchester. It was time to see London.