Wednesday 17 April 2013

MANCHESTER: Discovering Northern England



My next destination in Britain got me a bit more north. The city is famous for its football team, Manchester United, but having had a walk around, I have to say there are more things to be mentioned:



I experienced that people here are easier to approach than Londoners. I also had to concentrate more as people have a different accent here and they always ask you where you are from. When I was walking through Manchester, I recognized a higher percentage of Asian people compared to London.

I went to see the media city right at the harbor. The BBC-owned building is huge and has an open public screen where you can always watch the news.


Right next to the media city is a big shopping mall with nice stores inside, where I had a quick look and could already find some nice clothes. Talking about clothes, Manchester has plenty of nice and cheap vintage shops!


The common transport vehicle in Manchester is the tram and it also has its faults. The trams do not always work properly and my journey was delayed several times in one day. Manchester Piccadilly is in my point of view a nice place to go.

All in all I would say that one day was enough to get to see all the hot spots in Manchester.

Saturday 6 April 2013

BRISTOL: Admiring Brunel’s Work

Britain has many pretty small cities, such as Bristol. I spent one sunny afternoon there, mainly excited to see the world-famous Clifton Suspension Bridge, which was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.


Many tourists come to see the magnificent steel construction, which is 412 meters long and stands 17 meters above the road.




Other reasons for a visit are the tiny streets, packed with small cafes and restaurants, many of which are named after Brunel himself, and not forgetting about the shopping possibilities either, for example the Shopping Quarter at Gloucester Road.



If you want to spend a bit of time surrounded by nature, Bristol has a lot of parks to offer, including Castle Park and The Downs. I went to see the huge Ashton Court Golf Course, which links to a park and is a good place to go for a walk with the dog or for a run.


I also enjoyed just hanging around the harbor, looking at the river Avon, where lots of people sit and relax whilst listening to some music played by some random bands. 


I also noticed the Bristolian dialect, which some inhabitants had stronger or not. My last stop was the Bristol cathedral, which is beautiful.