After trying to persuade literally everyone to travel with me to Manchester and Liverpool I have decided to book the trains and go alone. Trainline does pretty good deals time to time! I managed to book trains for £15 each way and it takes only 2 hours from London (Euston), fantastic.
I always try to find some cool instagrammers before travelling. With Manchester it was a tricky one, seems like no one is really into instagram over there. It's all about football. But luckily I found this amazing Kiwi living in Manchester @theginger_snap who proved me that Manchester has also some cool places to offer. I also made sure there is a gig I can go to when spending a night in Manchester and guess who was playing. The amazing Lykke Li, supported by Elliot Sumner, the ex I Blame Coco.
One Day in Manchester
I arrived to Manchester around 11am and the first thought was-I NEED COFFEE. I knew about this fantastic café inspired by Iceland I read about in a magazine, café TAKK close to the railway station. There was a table full of cool bearded blonde guys sipping on Square Mile roast and I though this is the perfect place... Later on I found out these hot guys were not locals but the band from Lykke Li. Oh well! Good start.
Thanks to @theginger_snap I knew that Northern Quarter was the place to go in Manchester. The streets full of red brick buildings, possibly factories back in '50 and graffiti sprayed walls were full of arty people on Saturday afternoon. Another lovely coffee place worth checking out is The Fig and Sparrow, little design shop (one of these where you wish to own every single piece but you already know that you'll never have enough money for) with a café inside serving Climpson & Sons.
Honestly I was a bit disappointed that it's so hard these days to stumble upon a coffee company I've never heard about (especially if you live in London).
The Northern Quarter is full of slightly over priced retro shops (Shoreditch vibe kind of) but also at least three vinyl shops can be found there.
After that I felt like I should hang around some places with more history so I walked around Castlefield and found this amazing basin. Canals in manchester are so beautiful! All the red bricks buildings reflect in the water and it's just so pretty. Only if the weather wasn't shit.
Then I obviously got hungry so I met up with my friend Wex who I stayed with and we headed to Chinatown for lunch. I wanted something healthy (sorry Chinese cuisine) and we found this Vietnamese place, the only one in Chinatown, lucky! It was alright.
It was a Saturday evening and the city was buzzing! I headed for Lykke Li quite early as she started at 9 and Elliot Sumner was playing before that and I already saw so many drunk people! I wish I got a bit drunk but when you head for a gig alone it's a bit, erm weird.
Ahhhh the Albert Hall where Lykke Li was playing was just so beautiful! It was like an old church with a round shape with all this beautifully painted windows and the great acoustic. If you'll be around Manchester, definitely check if there is any gig you fancy. Well worth that!
Lykke Li as fantastic as always, but THE STEAM! It felt like magic when she sang whole covered in steam with the red crazy lights. Really good!
The morning after I was craving for breakfast! I had a list of places I want to visit and eat at and my train to Liverpool was at 10 so I headed out after 8 am and it is just impossible to find a place open before 11am in Manchester on sunday. Very disappointing! But the weather was SUNNY so I was just walking around skyping with my mum and it was nice.
It was a great fun, check out the pictures x
basin around Castlefield
Oldham street, the best street for tourist shots
Northern Quarter
Oldham Street the following morning
Tereza in her city
