Monday 23 July 2007

Manchester, A Different Angle.

A couple of weeks ago Peter and I went into Manchester and generally hung around like a pair of disfunctional teenagers. First we went to the Buddhist centre, and had lunch in their wonderful vegetarian caff. I had split pea soup, bread, a mince pie thing and a freshly made veggie juice and Peter had two bowls of soup, bread and a veggie juice.

We had intended to go to the museum to look at the Egyptology exhibition, but as we wandered into the shopping area, I spied the Manchester Eye. Pleeeese, pleeeese can we go on it? OK, he sighed wearily. We took our place in the queue and a little later we were sitting in our car waiting for it to begin. We were told to press a little yellow button if we wanted to get off. Fat lot of good that would have done if we were at the top of the wheel. I noticed there was also a red emergency button. I wondered what would happen if I pressed that.


On our way up.


Oooo! There's Harvey Nics, The shop that Patsy hangs out in. Patsy, from Ab.Fab. is one of my role models. The other one is Jo Brand.


Going up a bit higher. This is the glass dome of the Corn Exchange that collapsed during the Manchester bombing. On Saturday 15th June 1996 during peak shopping time, a 3,000 lb IRA bomb exploded injuring more than 200 people and ripped into the main fabric of the city centre shopping area. Because of this bomb, the centre of Manchester was closed off for goodness knows how long. The buildings have been replaced with architectual wonders and delights, and now Manchester is a vibrant and lively city says Peter.


Up higher and a good view of the Cathedral and the Shambles Public House. Although fairly cloudy it was warm and a lot of people were sitting outside having their lunch.


This is the view to the South. The glass dome is on top of the Royal Exchange building which is now one of the best theatres in the country. We get top rate actors here and I have personally drooled over Tom Courtney many a time. The large building still under construction is the tallest building in Manchester. It is so tall that I can see it from the Canal and Lyme Park when I take Badger for her walks.


Looking towards the Lancashire hills in the far distance. We had three rounds on the wheel before we were removed. I didn't press the red button or the yellow one.

We wandered around Manchester and was dismayed to find Muji had shut down. Oh well, I'll just have to go to Tokyo for my bits and bobs! Marks and Spencer was a nightmare. It's so big with so much choice, I started getting panic attacks, so we left to have a coffee in the Royal Exchange cafe. We meandered back to Piccadilly
Station, taking in some of the boutiques selling expensive clothes and grumpily tut-tutted at the extravagance of those who bought such things. Came across a Food Market in St Anne's Square and bought three exotic pieces of cheese and a loaf of olive bread. Amazing how tiring shopping is. I was glad to get home.

On Saturday Maalie paid a visit. He wanted to break his journey back to our childhood haunts of Essex and Canvey Island. He will be doing a blog on that in due course or so he assures me. All his bluster about cats actually didn't stop him stroking Scaredy, and then look what I found:



After forcing a vegetarian meal down, he fell asleep with Badger. Very unfocused picture as I was also falling asleep and a bit unfocussed too.



I lost Scaredy yesterday. He changes his 'favourite place' regularly. I searched and searched until I heard a little tinkle from his bell and I found him curled up in the bottom of the wardrobe amongst all the flotsom that accumulates there.



I tested my broken toe yesterday by trying to take Badger for a walk. I wore thick woolly socks and a pair of Wellies. It took me an hour to walk around the field that usually takes about fifteen minutes. Today my foot is telling me I didn't listen to it yesterday telling me not to even try. The toe and foot is swollen and painful again, but I might try going out on my bike later.

42 comments:

Ash said...

Interesting images!

Unknown said...

The Manchester Eye?! Can you tell I've not been back to the UK for two years? I had no idea such a thing existed. A bit of a shameful confession for a Macc lass. (Why does nobody tell me about these things?)

Beeps, Elbi and Mahou are slightly less fearful of Maalie now they've seen how Scardey tamed him. Although I still think they're thankful there's a thousand odd miles between him and them.

somepinkflowers said...

thanks for the sky tour
through the eye...

think i DID spot Patsy
in one shot.
she was buying cigs
and a leopard skin mini skirt.

love that girl,
and eddy and saffy...

:-)

ps--NEVER press the red button

TCA said...

Peter had veggie juice eh?

What other types of juice did they have?!

lorenzothellama said...

TCA: they had all sorts of mixtures like beetroot, carrot and ginger, beetroot. apple, carrot and celery, carrot, aubergine and cucumber, lettuce, tomato and cheddar cheese, Branston pickle, peach and raspberry, strawberry, dandelion and nettle, and many, many more. I'm going to try some out of Maalie!

lorenzothellama said...

Just wait until there is a Macclesfield Eye!!
Glad the kits are less fearful of Maalie. I think his growl is worse than his bite!

Martin Stickland said...

Gosh what a wheeze! Looks like you had fun, I hope that poor little tootsie is getting better! How did you break it again? or did I miss that part?

Break a leg! No! Don't do that!

Anonymous said...

L - Love the enthusiasm about all the local stuff. Manchester is only half an hour away, and yet you obviously 'went at it' like a day in London. Makes me realise how unappreciative alot of us Poynton Yokels are, of the culture on our doorsteps.

Speaking of high-culture, dont forget your camera for our 'shot with the Simpsons' opportunity at the flics next week. That plastic sofa with life-size Simpson models on it, wont be there forever you know!

bigbikerbob said...

Hi, you are a lot braver than me I dont mind heights as long as I can decide when I'm high enough or have had enough.Our poor old border Collie Mojo is 14 now and very very bad on her back legs other wise she woulb be with us.
I enloyed the visit will call again.

Reader Wil said...

I made a mistake in my first comment, deleted it and left another which I wanted to delete but cannnot. Anyway, thanks for your comment on my blog. The photos were taken from a calendar. I saw your photos of the Manchester Eye. Is it as high as the London one? This was made in Holland at the end of 1999. I wrote about it last week.

Anonymous said...

Interesting blog.

I was quite disappointed when I went to Manchester for the first proper visit in two years. It seemed that in it's frenzied effort to try and keep with first-rate world cities by opening lots of posh shops it had lost some of its vitality. I preferred Stockport with its endless charity shops, people eating pasties and haggard grandmothers blowing cigarette smoke into their grandchildren's prams!

Jack

Anonymous said...

Yeah the weather is very unstable and I wrote something about it on my other blog. http://reader.efx2.com
I feel very sorry for you guys in Britain.

lorenzothellama said...

I agree with you Jack, hence my criptic 'says Peter'.
Manchester is getting too sophisticated for it's own good. There's nowt like a Stocky lass, except a Macc lass.

Halfmom, AKA, Susan said...

What in heaven's name is a Macc lass? Your poor readers from the other side of the ponds are quite lost!!

My stomach dropped a bit looking at your pictures for I don't like heights - or rather, perhaps, they don't like me! It was fun to see the picture though - so many places in the world that would be lovely to visit and so little time - so it is lovely to visit at least by photo!

Your friend, underwater clay

Unknown said...

A macc lass is a female someone who hails from the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire (UK), which is not too far from Poynton (or Manchester).

There´s a band from said town called the Macc lads (don´t bother listening unless you like songs with such lyrics as ´ get weavin´ in Macclesfield, get weavin´ and get y´knackers feeled´) which has prompted a more common usage of the terms Macc lad and and Macc lass.

Barbara said...

The boat day was great. You can check it out on my blog. It was not a Thames barge though but a canal barge.
Did not realise that Manchester had a wheel. Although my husbands head office was in Manchester and I am a Liverpudlian I have not been to Manchester in a long time.
Wonder what happens when you press the red button.
Loved the cat on Mailiie's head.

Shammickite said...

NO NO don't go out on the bike, Broken Toes don't like bike rides. They don't like taking dogs for walks around muddy fields either, as you found aout already. They like snuggling on the sofa with a good book while everyone waits on you, believe me, I know from experience!
I love the pics from the Manchester Eye, I didn't even know Manchester had an Eye, I thought the only big one was in London. Does every big city in UK have an Eye? Well, I have an excuse for being so ignorant, I haven't been to visit the land of my birth for 15 years... oh no, has it really been that long, time for a trip I think.

Kate said...

Wow! Amazing views! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Unknown said...

Lorenzo - I oohed and ahhed about including the lyrics, but to fully understand the cultural niceities (sp?) behind the use of ´Macc lass/lad´ you really do need to know abut the Macc Lads, however awful they are.

They are suprisingly popular tho´, as I discovered when I first moved to Cardiff in 1997 and found several of their CDs in HMV. I made it a point of checking on the CDs every now and again and they were still selling them when I left in 2004.

My overriding memeory of the Macc Lads is from a school exchange trip to France. We went by coach and were allowed to give the driver tapes to put on. Imagine everyone´s surprise when, one day, out of the blue, the Macc Lads statred blaring out. I still remember our French teacher´s face as she marched up the coach demanding to know who had given the tape to the driver. It turned out to be a very mousey 14-year-old boy who´d never say boo to a goose, which surprised us all. What was even more surprisng was that upon searching his bags for more offending tapes the teacher found two bottles of vodka - one half drunk, that he´d been sipping at surrepticiously whenever possible. Shame he didn´t share them with us, he may have made some friends then - and we would´ve told him to save the Macc Lads for his walkman.

Maalie said...

Oooh, I've never been to Manchester (or Liverpool, come to that), you should take me one day.

TCA: If it's not veggie juice it is axiomatically blood.

somepinkflowers said...

Ohhh...
had a Patsy Sighting
at WalMart the other day
and thought of you...

i was so amazed by this **girl**
with the hair-sprayed blond bee-hive...

i got excited
and thought
she might want to be my NBF!

but then i saw the 3 little kiddos with her
and
knew
straight away...


THIS WAS NO PATSY!

:-)

Martin Stickland said...

Clever clogs spotting my goof!

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I found you from a comment you left on Rook's Nest. I must admit that I was intrigued by your blog name and what an adventurous llama you are! What an interesting blog.

The Manchester Eye looks great and for once, I see a glimmer of sun over Manchester. It always seems to be dull and/or rainy whenever I pass through (usually to or from the airport).

Marie x

Maddy said...

He's almost as cute as my cats. [but then I am a little biased.]
The photographs are great, my hands would have been shaking too much to even hold a camera!
Thanks for commenting on my daughter's blog [View from a Broad] I maintain it for her whilst she's in Mozambique. She'll be thrilled to see it when she returns.
Cheers

Annie said...

Greetings from one Faye Weldon fan to another,

You are brave to go up on the Eye - and to sail on the sea. Yes, I say, brave. I wouldn't be likely to do either.

Anonymous said...

ah! the Macc Lads! The authors of such classic lyrics as 'she wore big knickers and she worked on a sewage farm'. Lorenzo's home village of Poynton is also mentioned in a rather nasty song about a gay man who 'moves to Poynton and shaves his head'.

Jack

Unknown said...

Jack, I'd not heard the one about Poynton!

Reader Wil said...

I see you also love cats. So do I! only I can't have any pets anymore
for I often am away. Since one of the children lives in Australia. I hope you aren't affected by the unbalanced weather! I wish you a great weekend.Next weekend I shall be in France.

Halfmom, AKA, Susan said...

Hello, where are you? How's the toe doing? You aren't in the hospital with an amputated foot, are you?

Alex said...

Looks like you had a great time with many interesting activities. The Manchester wheel goes pretty high! I am glad you didn't press the red or yellow buttom :-)

Sara said...

Hi Lorenzo, thanks for your comment and query. Thought I'd reply here on yours. I believe you can order a dvd re the making of Dawn Chorus, but I'd recommend checking it out in Bristol.

Here's a link to the promotion site and I think they'd be the best people to contact also regarding an apparent live performance at the Arnolfini. Though I'm not sure how that would work?

http://www.picture-this.org.uk/current/marcus2.htm

Nice to meet you on the blogosphere!

Dave said...

Hi, its a few years since I have visited Manchester, so all this is new to me. So where abouts in Cardiff where you born then?..... by here, or over by there????
Thanks for the comments, and hope you managed to get out on the bike. I'm off on mine tomorrow. Cheers.

Olivier said...

cette grande roue permet d'avoir une vue imprenable. les photos sont superbes. j'aime bien votre grande roue pour le chat ;o)


this large wheel makes it possible to have a unspoilable view. the photographs are superb. I like your large wheel for the cat ;O)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous photos.

I have carved this black slate, marble and granite. Of the three I like black slate and then marble. I have only carved figures in sandstone.

I never had a problem with chipping in slate of any kind. And I usually do a lot of curves.

Thank you for visiting and I fixed the link. Or just click on this one to read my story about the dog tags and see the photos too. When you get there, you will find a link there to go to the place where the tags are available.

About Dog Tags

Melody said...

Great photos. I especially like the one which has the shambles in it... Manchester looks as if it has grown in to a big fancy city! I am not one for big crowds so I understand about the M&S thing. Thanks for the tour.

Anonymous said...

Lovely blog, though I got the heebie jeebies when you were describing Marks and Sparks and drinking coffee in the Royal Exchange... reminded me a little of the month long entrapment in my little wooden cabin with only socks and finger puppets for company. Those places were where I would dash for a drink and a wee when the coast was clear of potential customers.

I am still in Mexico, though we{re thinking about fleeing for Guatemala again. It{s been a lovely sunny day here today, though it pissed it down yesterday, and quickly the situation demanded kayaks or stilts in order to maintain dry feet. We didn{t have either, I knew that I made the wrong decision when I chose to pack an extra pair of knickers over the kayak. Still, made me think of good old sunken England.

Will write again soon Mum, bloggy love to anyone that knows me.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

lorenzothellama said...

Oh Little Fair Trader!!! I'll certainly pass your love to all bloggy friends who know you. Went to see The Simpsons last night and I think I might just do a post on it!
Love Mumlorenzo. xxx

rauf said...

Hope the toe is fine now Lorenzo.
There is no age limit for having some fun. i have seen some comeddies about the ride. i remember Mr. Bean taking a ride on one such things. You have taken some very good shots Lorenzo.
Please give a pat on Badger for me.

Merisi said...

If you want me to die, put me on the Manchester Eye. Oh gosh, just looking at your pictures makes my run scared. Last year I got from the Mirabell Company (which makes that famous Mozart Chocolate Pistacchio Ball) a free ride in a hot air balloon. What's the deal, I asked myself, I can hike over mountain cliffs why not a little balloon ride. Well, at 50m I looked over my should and that was it. I asked them to please let me get out. Right that moment. Nevermore!
Maalie and the cats look like old pals. :-)

madretz said...

Sorry to hear that your toe is still bothersome. :(
Great pics from the great big Ferris Wheel. I'm a little bit afraid of them (altho I love fast roller coasters) but will eat my fears in order to get a bunch of wonderful photos like those you took. Thanks for sharing the fantastic sights!

Tortoiseshell said...

Hi - I had to skip over this blog as I have yet to see the cinematic event of 2007. Hoping to take my mate Rhodri next week - K's not so keen.

PS I've just put a runcible comment on Maalie's most recent post...

Kiwi Nomad said...

Hope that broken toe is not catchy. I don't want any of that thank you, ruining my winter romps along muddy sodden tracks!