Well, I went back to Manchester for Christmas, got a chest infection and it all kind of ended up as a blur in my head. We managed to get to the theatre at Home MCR to see Little Women and it was great. It’s one of my favourites anyway, so I was pretty much guaranteed to like it.
After Manchester, it was off to Italy and we spent New Year in Turin.
We drove over from Vicenza and stopped off at an outlet on the way – I didn’t buy anything but we went to Venchi to have a ‘ ...
Manchester came and went in no time. I saw hot weather, freezing weather, rain, sun, blue skies, grey skies, rainbows and lots more. I love Manchester and I had a great time.
A few bits and bobs that didn’t fit.
We went to Bandobust in Piccadilly Gardens. It was nice that everything was vegetarian so we could order anything that took our fancy. We did the lunch menu, 2 dishes for £9.95 – good value and free water. It’s in a really cool space but it was cold and bench seating, so not overly comfortable. Glad we tried it, unsure ...
The Spärrows had been on my radar for ages and each time I was in Manchester, I was going to go, then ended up not. This time though, I did manage to go and I am so happy I did. Now, the food was good but the service is where the restaurant shone. I love good service, I think it’s from living in Japan so long and it is quite hard to find in the UK in a lot of places.
It’s a bit of a walk from town – I’d say more Cheetham Hill than city centre, they say ...
We’d tried going to Federal Cafe Bar in the Northern Quarter on the Sunday we ended up going to Idle Hands. There was a queue and we decided to try again on a weekday. Well, we rolled up on a weekday and there was a queue! It was also raining that day so that was our punishment for impatience. ‘Patience is a virtue I need’ were words in a song from school that I have obviously not learnt yet… We joined the queue – two groups in front of us and a member of staff came out pretty swiftly ...
I love watching a programme called Four in a Bed which is about four B&B owners going to each other’s B&Bs and rating them. A big part of it is of course, the breakfast which then when I’m watching it, makes me want a breakfast. So, I dragged my mum to Idle Hands. I think this was one of the most creative breakfasts I’ve had and I loved the greens, seeds and all the veg. It’s definitely my kind of food.
After brunch, we did some shopping. I struggle in Japan because I’m tall and have long monkey-esque arms. ...