Nine of Owen’s last ten birthdays have been in Italy. This year, Manchester, England. The highlight was a visit to Old Trafford, the famed stadium of Manchester United. Another great tour! We had a morning to ourselves before getting the train to the Stadium so we walked around in the rain before taking cover for tea and crumpets. My first crumpet… hmm… took about 45 minutes to come and it was like a soggy, saltless, sugarless English muffin :( I just Googled what others think about crumpets. Everything from:
“Imagine a sponge made from a mix of bread and chewing gum.” to “They are soooo delish, with butter and honey or jam.....why i just had some yesterday...yummy...you gotta try them! :))”
Sketchers take cover.
Canals & Locks of Manchester.
House boats, canoes, tour/party boats.
The pilot of this boat was sipping tea.
Every alley has kegs. This one had chairs, too.
Cool footbridge over the canal. Train tracks above.
The house boat's resident advertises her gardening services.
Old & new architecture co-exists in Manchester. The building on the left is an aviation museum which we popped in to.
Creative bench design.
This was amazing. Moss and other ground cover in between the tracks at this station. Seemingly, it was planted and cultivated.
OMG, I just Googled this... so cool. Architects are responsible for this! It is, indeed, cultivated.
http://www.enviromat.co.uk/blog/manchester-tram-stop-goes-sedum-green/
Now, on to Old Trafford!
The have the tour walk through the "tunnel" on to the field as the players do, while they play the audio of cheering crowds.
Back at home we had the birthday dinner at this pub.
A 19-year-old and his shandy.
Half lager, half carbonated lemonade (or 7-Up apparently!).
I got the ploughman's lunch. Never had so much cheese in my life!
And so ended our second-to-last night in Manchester! Cheers!