Manchester… let the games begin. Hi ho!

My dad arrived in Manchester to begin his 6 week jaunt through Europe, after a week of gluttony in Kuala Lumpur of which I was tres jealous, with his luggage still in London. Well played BA. And his arrival was just in time for the worst weather on record. Nothing but rain and gloom. Worst possible scenario for tourism. So we resorted to watching Casino Royale (third time for me).

But we did manage to see a bit of the town and checked out the Urbis, which despite being a tiny modern art museum was actually quite interesting, especially the exhibits about the Manchester bombing and interactive installation covering the history of Manchester and its landmarks. We also stopped by the Christmas market for a cheeky bratwurst and headed out with the basketball crew for a pub crawl (I use that term extremely loosely since it really only involved one pub) and a visit to the Curry Mile. That very night, while we were dining in Lal Haweli (which portion wise, was a little disappointing) there was a shooting in Rusholme. Ah, it really makes you feel safe when you hear a policeman say, “Don’t worry, there’s just been a shooting, we’ve closed off the road”. So the only feasible way home was a cab through Moss Side – arguably it would have been safer to chance it with the gunman.

The next night was much better, with a special mention going to the eight courses of deliciousness at Juniper, in Altrincham just out of Manchester. Most interesting dish was a fillet steak cooked to perfection with a chocolate tart on the side. And of course, there was the excessive cheese platter. After filling our stomachs to the brim, the next morning we rolled on down to London.