Back in July I was supposed to go for a stag-do in Manchester, sadly work needed me elsewhere at short notice and like most things nowadays I was unable to get a hotel refund. I was however able to push the date back by up to 4 months which landed very neatly on my girlfriends birthday. So silver linings and all that.
And yes I did tell her that the hotel had already been paid for
The drive from East anglia took us massively by surprise. Five and a half hours, through the very misty Peak district. The return journey only took just over three hours, motorway all the way, so we suspect traffic or an accident.
It was getting late so we dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed for the Northern Quarter, the car park we picked happened to be right next to Chinatown so we were immediately met with neon lights and the golden archway.
With a lot of new cars parked up on the side, the colourful signs and electric cars speeding by gave the area an almost Blade runner vibe. The only thing that was missing were vehicles flying above us.
The low cloud cover made buildings like this look incredibly imposing
"I don't know who lives here but it's definitely Batman"
This building was the only one on the street that was brightly lit, making it look like a video game quest marker
While in St Peters Square my girl friend pointed out these repeating lights. I had a much more excitable reaction than she was expecting as I was aware Friendlymoose had a POB Photocontest running with the theme "repetition". We actually ended returning to this spot after our meal to ensure I got clear enough photos for my contest entry. It ended up being well worth it as I won!
At this point I felt like I was running around the city looking for pretty colours
After a walk around the city we went to a burger restaurant called Solita. They specialise in wagyu burgers. We were both starving from our long drive and walk so devoured them without taking pictures (I hate that habit anyway), but can assure you they were both amazing.
The next day we had breakfast at Tim Hortons and spent the rest of the day at Bury Arcade club. A place where you pay for entry but everything inside is free to play. There were three floors, the first had a few modern gun games and several Xbox Ones hooked up to projectors. Floor two had lots of driving games like Outrun, fighting games and PC set ups. And the third floor was full to the brim with retro arcade cabinets. Highly recommended, I spent all day inside and didn't have time to take a single picture.