A Visit to Manchester

On Friday and Saturday June 8th-9th, we visited Manchester so Chris could do some work in a hospital.  Manchester is about 3 hours north of London by train.  It is a 'newer' city by European standards.  Manchester was founded in the mid- 1800's and boomed around the turn of the 20th century during the industrial revolution.  It was the home of  thriving textile mills at the time.  This modern city was built around the ancient Roman fort of Mancunian, the ruins of which we saw.


Manchester prides itself on their two pro football (aka soccer) teams, and the people love the fact that they are NOT from London.  We witnessed quite a bias against 'those rude southerners.'  The city's elevated public transit and industrial red brick factory buildings reminded me of Chicago, but the city's population is much smaller than that.  The city and surrounding areas have about the population of the Salt Lake metropolitan area.

We stayed in a unique hotel called The Palace.  It was a fantastic old Art Deco finance building that has been since converted into a hotel.  Our ceiling in our bedroom had to be about 20 feet high.  We enjoyed tiled walls, gorgeous wood moldings, and a classic clawfoot tub.  Check out the pictures.

Our cool hotel:

 The longest window drapes I have ever seen. "Is this room actually stretching . . .?"

A corridor near the lobby.

 The lobby under the dome. To give you a perspective of the enormous ceiling height, check out the size of the luggage cart!! 

 View of The Palace Hotel from the rainy street.

Yay for beans and eggs on toast:)

Matthew and his new sheep friends.