Date: 5 March 04 PM / 7 March 04 Adventures of Gamblegirl: Manchester Let me start of by saying that well searching for pictures of Manchester is bloody well damn hard. I thought hmmm maybe might find something for Old Trafford (Man U's home ground)- surely there might be something I can copy and paste and create a picture of. Nope. I've googled to my frustration ran out and then decided to go for the next bestest thing. Becks who played at Man U - okay I confess, it's a piss-weak excuse to stick a photo of Becks on my website okay!!!! So it was another road trip for Andi and Gamblegirl, this time it was another double header to Manchester and York. And wasn't that a fun trip up to Manchester!!! I had a half day at work, so we took off down the M whatever - don't ask, they are all the same to me. Long boring stretches on blahness. There's nothing to see or look at and would have to be the most boringest stretch of motorway I've ever seen. Except for on the way to York when finally there was some really pretty scenery to look at and guess what no where to pull over and have a look. Go figure!!! It seemed like everyone else was on the motorway because it took us at least 5 hours to get to Manchester. Bloody Birmingham - I knew that place is evil. And ugly as well. However did manage to amuse myself by: a) freaking out about how many of those ugly Ka's were on the road. I hate those cars, they are so ugly and irritating, b) counting how many ASDA trucks past us (ASDA is a huge supermarket chain that's really cheap if you by in bulk). Total number of trucks seen for the weekend = 14 c) creating a new driving game called punch Ka or ASDA truck (yes Dyl, it's the new Grinspoon t-shirt drinking game!) d) Getting my phone-photo taken by this really smiley truck driver e) Singing badly to some great tunes Finally we got to Manchester which by that time, I was more then glad to be able to crawl out of the car. After dumping out stuff it was off to meet up with some of Andi's friends for a drink at a great pub. Already score some points for Manchester - great pubs and bars. The variety of them is brilliant, there is definitely a thriving nightlife in town and we were lucky in that our hostel was centrally located, which meant that we could walk everywhere. To me Manchester is famous for the following things, Man U and Beckham, great 80's / 90's house music, Joy Division and from it's ashes the ever so influential New Order, everybody's favourite white trash thugs Oasis, Canal Street from Queer As Folk and the Commonwealth Games. Hmmm knowledgeable am I!!! So I was curious to see what is was about Manchester that everyone loves. My travellin' pal, Andi used to live in Manchester and she loved it, so I'm thinking what's so great about Manchester that makes it so liveable. And to tell you the truth, it's a great liveable city. Easy to get around, there's trams, great bars and THE SHOPPING!!! But will get to the shopping a bit later. So on the Sunday, we went out and about to see the best that Manchester had to offer. Manchester has heaps of locks (ie water canals) which makes it rather pretty to look at and one of the locks Deansgate is hyper-trendy. Kinda reminds me of Southbank and what they have done with that. Would be a really cool place to just enjoy and meal and a chat while in a trendy café. Biggest bummer was that nothing was opened when we were around there because I am sure that Andi and I would have stopped for coffee and a bite to eat there. One place we did go visit is Castlefield. One thing I love about the UK is amongst all these "modern" offices is well chunks of history that have just been left there. Like an odd piece of wall that's centuries year old and Manchester is no different. Castlefield is a Roman fort that was built in around AD 79. Yes - that's older then all our parents put together! Around it, is all pubs and a science museum and then there's this chunk of fort wall. Because like as you do!!! After having a look at the ruins, had a wonder around town. Manchester's a bit like Melbourne in a way. Easy to get around, has trams, has a bohemian part (like Fitzroy) in the Northern Quarter and great pubs and bars. Had a look at the Town Hall which is quite impressive and there's even a bit where Manchester's created their own version of Picadilly Square. Naturally had to head out to Old Trafford - although Andi threw me when she asked which one? ME: "There's more then one?" Andi "yeah, there's the football stadium and the cricket ground." Riiiiight. Okay well I want the football stadium. I guess going to Manchester and not going to Old Trafford is like going to Melbourne and completely giving the MCG the miss or Sydney and giving the harbour bridge a miss. It's just something that you have to go see. It's a huge stadium and if anyone can answer the question - how many people does it seat? I'd be curious to know. We went into the "Gift" shop so to speak. Wow! If you were a Man U fan, you'd be in heaven. Mind you it's a bit in your face with all it's merchandise and something's that they've manage to turn into merchandise is a bit disturbing. Mind you, if it was a St Kilda shop, I would have been in heaven. Also good to see that any sniff of Beckham has been removed. Not a hint, a reference, nada!! But one thing about Manchester is that it's a shopper's dream. They have the biggest Marks and Sparks in the world, a Boots that would make Myers weep for it's space, shopping malls that for once are quite decent and then there's the Trafford Centre. Think Chaddie and double it. It's huge. Massive. You'd need a map, a comfortable pair of shoes and packed lunch to get thru it. And finally a shopping centre that's got a half decent food court. That's one thing that they don't have - food courts!!! And the decor. Wow!!!!! The outside looks like some kind of Turkish Mosaic, the inside looks like a Greek Temple and then there is sections that wouldn't look out of place in Chinatown or in New Orleans. It's amazing. It brings a whole new meaning to shopping. And Andi spotted one of the chicks from Atomic Kitten (mind you they all the look the same to me!!!), so good work. But my final comments on Manchester has to go to their dress sense. Or perhaps for some, the lack of dress sense. While I am no Susannah and Trinny, there are some dodgy dressed people in that city. Very dodgy indeed. Fashion Police - ASAP!!! Gamblegirl