Made it to Manchester, UK. I honestly didn’t even know if I’d been here before. But everything was effortless for a change – no drama like in Greece or the Sonisphere/Heathrow experience. :

Bought a train ticket at the airport, was going to Oxford Road, and didn’t know what to choose “off peak”? “Regular”? What’s the difference? I took the most expensive one for £5 just to be sure not to have any problems, and £5 pounds wasn’t so bad. Turns out I had bought a First Class ticket, so the lady that checked my ticket said I was welcome to go and sit in the First Class section if I wanted to. Nah. Didn’t feel like moving, I had a good seat right where I was.

And Ronnie – if you’re reading this – the trains are STILL clean and they are running on time, so I guess that your “alternate universe Britain” is still alive and kicking, lol!

Had no idea what to expect of Manchester. I don’t have any references that I can think of, no particular memories, people I know that are from there or anything… So when I finally arrived, right in the heart of the city, it was like a mini-New York! :-)

My first impression was that it had a very young and modern vibe, people everywhere, theaters, casinos, restaurants, just a high tempo. Really nice city, I can’t wait to explore it further today. It was raining when I got here, and I was tired so I had no plans to go anywhere yesterday. It was late in the evening anyway.

My plan was to just treat myself like a queen and create my own little luxury den in my hotel room. :) THIS was plan number one:

Red wine (got two cause it was 2 for the price of 1) a few snacks…. Not exactly WeightWatchers-evening, but sometimes you’ve got to just LIVE…! :-)

Plan number two was this:

 

And plan number 3 was plain and simple:

The hotel is great. My room is the cleanest, most spotless hotel room I’ve ever seen! It’s as if it was built yesterday! I couldn’t find anything dirty in here if I TRIED – even the bath tub and sink were perfectly clean, brand new. Bed was ridiculously comfortable. :-)

Had tea right before bedtime, there’s a kettle in here – even THAT is brand new! You know what they usually look like after a year or so… Yeah. I would recommend this place to anyone, great location, great value for the money, clean, easy check-in…! And no, nobody paid me to say that, lol! Oh, it’s Premier Inn by the way.

It’s still pissing down. Sigh… Well, I knew it might, after all, this is England. So I’m prepared – brought my raincoat. :) I AM going sightseeing! And later this evening… JUDAS PRIEST! :))