I seem to be getting all over the place recently: India one week, Normandy a few weeks later, and today finds me in Manchester. John suggested a trip up here when I got back from France last week, and I can never turn down a good voyage of exploration. Even though I was born and grew up in the north west, the truth is I don’t feel I have ever really explored Manchester; I don’t know it like I now know London. Moreover a further truth is I’m starting to think about places I can move to after London: almost ten years in a vast metropolis can be quite wearing. Thus I want to get a feel for how Manchester compares in terms of infrastructure, public transport etc. More to the point I want to see how much fun there is to be had up here.
My first impressions are broadly positive. After just a couple of hours here, Manchester strikes me as quiet and clean. I’m eager to give the tram system a try, but compared to the tube it’s probably a doddle. Yet what I am struck by most is the size the place, and how small and compact Manchester feels. City my arse!! Manchester is just a fairly large town with metropolitan pretensions. Or perhaps Manchester just still retains an intimacy and feeling of community which urban sprawls like London seem to have lost.
We’ve just met on the tram and it was lovely to talk to you! 😉
Madi with Baby Elle
LikeLike