In my current focus on all things interesting and/or quirky in Tel Aviv, I had forgotten that few do eccentric as well as the British. I was reminded of this on my short visit to Manchester this past week. As an example (one of several), I give you the Cat Cafe. This is a pretty, couch-filled, establishment where patrons pay a flat rate of 6 pounds (about 11 dollars) for 30 minutes of tea, coffee and the opportunity for a bit of feline therapy with the cafe’s star attractions…(if they are in the mood to snuggle up and be friendly…they are cats after all). Deborah, this is the city for you.
It is a novel twist to the usual cafe culture, and it is very popular. My nephew, a cat lover, recently was given a 30 minute session as a gift, and he was in heaven. It takes the British….
And then there are the pub names: The Ape and Apple, The Crafty Pig (also the Blue Pig, and The Blind Pig), the Tipsy Toad, the Lazy Toad, and the Slug and Lettuce, this latter being quite a large pub chain which features food that is hopefully better than the name implies. You could write a book on the peculiar pub names in the UK, and someone probably has. Tel Aviv has its comically named meat restaurants, and the UK its pubs.
And as for plain speech, although the British are notoriously polite, they can also be quite to the point; for example, here is the first place you see when walking through Manchester’s gay village:
Of course I was not in Manchester in search of the odd and quirky. I was there to meet my sister on the first leg of my trip to Guernsey, and in order to get to Guernsey you have to fly from England. Since my nephew is at university in Manchester, and I had never been there, we decided to meet there and visit him (and the city) before heading on to the island. That turned out to be a good call. Manchester is a great city, lively, interesting, and very walkable.
My sister, Chris, is a brilliant travel organizer with impeccable taste, and true to form she booked us into a wonderful hotel. Since she had originally touted it as a boutique hotel I was expecting something small, vaguely modern, and uber- cool, but what I found was a huge, gorgeously renovated former insurance company, called The Principal.
This beautiful lobby also features a very large statue of a horse. This is a tribute to the period when the Refuge Assurance premises were first built in 1889; what is now the lobby was then the “turning circle” where horses and carriages would enter and drop off their occupants.
The hotel has gorgeous rooms, many with 2 storey high ceilings, and several bars and restaurants, including a beautiful winter garden where we had lunch and tea. If you ever go and stay there, (and if you are in Manchester you should), ask for the Whitworth wing; it is quieter and the heating/cooling system works better. (i.e. It does actually work.)
But not to be outdone by the Cat Cafe or the pubs, this stately hotel is not without its particular personality. For one thing, dogs are outright welcome. (Equal time for all pets.) And for another, take a look at the room signs. I did not notice them until I was leaving, and then I confess I took them both with me. I hope they are readable if you are using your phone. For a Canadian, these are just perfect.
Having settled into this palatial spot, we set out to explore the city.
Manchester is a vibrant and pedestrian friendly city that is busy transforming itself from its industrial past to a modern, young, alternative to London. Being from Toronto, I was immediately struck by its handsome red brick buildings, so much like those in our old downtown, albeit a bit grander. There are also plenty of contemporary buildings, as well as hybrids of the old and new. Some of these are very beautifully done.
With 4 universities and 100,000 students, a focus on job creation in a variety of sectors, and a relatively sane real estate market, Manchester is becoming an attractive place to live and work. However it is possibly a bit under-appreciated by some of the people who live in the area; on my flight up from Tel Aviv, my fellow passengers seemed quite perplexed that I was actually going to visit there…on purpose. “Visiting Manchester are you? Really? Why?” (Mind you, this person was from Leeds.)
Its mascot is the bee, in a proud nod to the “worker bee” label that used to be applied to its citizens. Since the tragic concert bombing of May 17th last year, the city has leaned heavily on the bee symbol to raise morale, and in a show of solidarity many people wear a little bee pin, or decorate their buildings, as below.
We also went to the University where we met my nephew Patrick, who is a music student there. It is, like the city itself, a pleasing mixture of the traditional and the modern. It has an art gallery, which is free to the public and which has some lovely exhibits inside and out:
There are an impressive number of places to eat, drink, or to have a proper tea at the university, among which is this little kiosk which I insert for Mike’s benefit, since he has spent a lot of his year on this very topic:
But among the prettiest places is this library cafe where we had tea, complete with a tea-making gizmo that I took to immediately, and which I absolutely must have!
From my description, you might think that we spent a lot of time eating and drinking. This is true. And I have not even mentioned the beautiful hotel bar where we had pre-dinner drinks with my accomplished young nephew and his charming girlfriend, the restaurant we then went to, “The Hawksmoor”, with excellent meat and fish, and “Tattu”, the exquisite Chinese fusion restaurant we visited the next day. (I did say my sister knows all the good places.)
There is much else of interest in Manchester: quaint shops, artsy neighbourhoods, a stunning library, cultural venues, and even more to come, as the old riverfront is restored, and textile mills are transformed into condos and stores.
After two days, and having done enough damage to my waistline, we set off for Guernsey. But that is another story.