Manchester is the second largest city in England, very old and quite nice.
It is just the right size. My niece, Shruti, is working there for a few months so I decided to visit. Since she has Monday off, I reached on Friday, so I can spend the three days with her. We missed one of the tours, so we took two others and also explored Manchester city.
Friday evening I was ready to go wandering to the city. Shruti and I took the tram to Piccadilly Garden. It is quite active there - lots of people hanging around. We wandered around town. Lots of old buildings and new ones. There was a nice tulip display in a mall as part of the Manchester flower show. The ceiling was digital and they created a lovely display that changed with time.
We went back to Corn Exchange to Mowgli, an Indian restaurant, and had a “Tiffin”. It was not that great. Time to head on home.
Saturday - 24 May - Manchester
Today we want to go and see the Manchester Flower show and just walk around. I had a few things on my map to see. It is easy to get around from Shruti’s place as the blue line goes into the city. The flower show was nice. Some really nice displays.
We went to see the cathedral next. I had a cup of coffee and lemon cake. It was good and a nice break. Next we walked to the Manchester public library. The entrance had a really interesting sculpture on the top.
I saw a free bus that went in a circle. There are two – a pink and a green or route 1 and 2. We happened to sit on route 2. It was nice. It was a little slow but went to all the key places around the city. I think Shruti was having a hard time with the motion so we got off near the Rosa Thai where we had the best lunch possible. The chili sauce was just great! Next to it was the John Ryland library where there was a huge line before but not now. We just made it inside in time before they stopped entry. It was an old library made by Mary Ryland for her husband. It was made by all the cotton trade they did with slaves working on their plantation. The library was beautiful and had quite a collection of books! Very impressive.
Then I looked at my map for the things I had highlighted to see. One was Dalton entry. What the heck was it?? Just a plaque on the road. Of course it was based on John Dalton, the scientist. The next thing I had saved was the Tower of Light. This turned out to be an interesting tower. It was a symbol of energy saving. The area around it was nice too. Anyway, it was not quite what I was expecting but okay.
That was the end of our day. We just went home, talked and watched some TV.
Sunday - 25 May - Tour To Dales and Bronte
Got up early to go to the tour point near Piccadilly. It was a Rabbies tour (booked through Get Your Guide). Richie was our tour guide. We got the second seats. Not bad. I have taken the description from the GetYourGuide website and edited it.
We started promptly at 8:30 am. Richie gave us a nice history of Manchester as it developed as an industrial town. We are heading north to visit the hillside home of the Brontë family in the town of Haworth. The drive was pretty, with hills and sheep everywhere. The valleys were lovely. We reached Haworth around 10ish. We walked around town, went into some stores, the church and the graveyard. The museum had toilets which were needed 😊.
Richie was telling a lot of references for all the shows shot in this region, but I did not know many of those shows. It definitely is a pretty area for making TV dramas. We drove through the lovely landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales. It’s a breathtaking view to be sure. Meandering hills, craggy moorlands, and romantic valleys stretch out all around you. But what you take notice of most is the limestone. From cliffs to caves, outcrops to scars, this moody rock is found at every turn.
We arrived at the market town of Grassington, often referred to as the "beating heart of the Yorkshire Dales." Apparently, the fictional market town of Darrowby is in the series of All Creatures Great & Small. I have not seen that movie. It was cold by now.
Just a short 5-minute walk from the car park was the Linton Falls. It was quite pathetic since there had been no rains. But it was really interesting to see the rocks which would have been under the river in case there was more water. By the time we got to Grassington village, we barely had time to eat lunch, which we had at . It was great! We did not have time to go to any shops.
Then we went on to Aysgarth Falls, a three-stepped waterfall that has drawn people to it for over 200 years, including the famous, from poet William Wordsworth to painter JMW Turner. Also the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, was filmed here. It was a beautiful waterfall.
Next stop was the Wensleydale Creamery, custodians of a 1000-year-old heritage of making cheese. From their iconic, creamy, crumbly classic Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese to the rich, buttery flavors of Fountains Gold, this is a cheese lover's dream. We tasted all their cheese. Sadly the shelf life is only one week or I would have bought some. Oh well! I had some hot chocolate and we walked the gift shop. There was way too much time here. I think maybe because people could take tour of the cheese company.
Finally, the last stop was the stunning Ribblehead Viaduct. It was great looking near the Three Peaks mountains, but I am not sure what was so great about it. Maybe it was huge and I just could not tell from the distance.
The drive back was fast enough in about an hour. There was not much stopping anymore. Richie was a great tour guide. He had the best music playlist and he sang along with so many songs. And his sense of humor was great. Such a perfect person for this job.
I had not taken a tour like this before. It was a small van with about 16 people and the driver was also the tour guide. He would take us places, tell us the history and interesting facts and then leave us to explore, which is kind of nice.
Good day!
Monday - 26 May – Tour Snowdonia and Chester, Wales
Got up early again today for my Wales tour (booked through Get Your Guide). Shruti has been to this one so its just me today. I am already having separation anxiety. She made breakfast for me and I am on my way.
Got there in good time to get the most front seat. It’s again the Rabbies tour. Today's guide is Peter. I saw Richie also taking another group. Today is North Wales with several stops at great locations: Conwy, Snowdonia National Park, the quaint town of Betws-Y-Coed, and the historic town of Chester.
We left Manchester on time and stopped first in Conwy. On the way Peter told us about a lot of Manchester stuff and also Welsh culture. I did not know a lot of this history. Welsh, Scotts and Irish seem to have the same ancestry. They have similar music, Celtic art and symbols with some differences. The town of Conwy has a castle, entry was included in the ticket and then of course the small town. I did explore the castle a bit. There is not much in it but it was still nice to walk around and see the views from the top. There were so many wildflowers!
Time to have some tea and the Welsh cake (really good). I bought some keepsakes and sat down to have my tea when this Indian guy, also traveling solo, sat on the next table. I invited him to sit with me. Abhiraj, from Mumbai has just moved to Manchester and is exploring the country. Nice guy. I left him to finish his cakes and went off to do some more shopping. I ended up buying a dragon! Small one.
We continued on to the winding, scenic roads of the Snowdonia National Park. The first stop was a lake near the slate mining. There was Arthur’s sword! Nice place. Would have been nicer if it had not started raining. This was just amazing park. Just wow! The mountains and streams were beautiful. Again the rain is still going on. Terrible. But it gives a mystic look to the park. So many waterfalls here and there – not huge, just small rivulets.
Then we arrived in Betws-Y-Coed for lunch. Now the downpour is consistent. Thank goodness I brought my umbrella. I just miss my other waterproof shoes. These are good too but they are starting to get a bit dirty. The waterproof spray is doing okay. The river flowing through is quite pretty and I walked to the small waterfall. The shopping was not that great, or I was just not in the mood with the rain and all. I am sure it would have been prettier if there was no rain and of course in the sun, This place was based around a church that helped postmen rest while going from one location to the other.
The last stop was Chester, one of Britain's most historically significant towns. This was quite an interesting town – so much shopping. I walked around taking pictures. Rain is stopped now. I walked to the cathedral. It was big and nice – lots of stained glasswork and a very pretty garden. I spent about 25 mins there so not much time to do much else. I walked back, had some coffee. Ran into Abhiraj, he saw a lot more of the town.
That was it. It was a great day. Came back home to a wonderful meal that Shruti cooked – missal paav. Missal was a moth daal and kala chana sprout cooked in wonderful masala.
Tomorrow is time to go to Glasgow.
No comments:
Post a Comment