After spending a few months living on separate continents, Chuck and I arrived in England from Nigeria to meet up with my sister Sherri and her husband Gerald who flew in from Canada. We decided to spend a weekend catching up and catching some footy in Manchester, England.
Before Manchester though, we met in London, at the train station to be exact. Where we came across Platform 93/4 and stopped to take a snap before getting on the insanely busy train to Manchester.
Booking a train to Manchester from London on a “Bank Holiday” (I think England’s way of saying long-weekend) was a bit foolish on our part. The trains were CRAMPED! We were squished to smithereens on the train from Sheffield to Manchester. Pretty sure all of England was travelling that weekend…at least our crushed bodies felt that way.
Once in Manchester we were BUSY. We discovered the city had a lot more to offer than we first thought. And it was an utter delight discovering a bit of it.
We hit up many pubs. We shopped the markets and malls and discovered the weirdest/coolest place called Afflecks Palace (pure insanity). My sis and I went for high tea in the grandest of hotels. We dined at a fabulous and hip restaurant called Gaucho. And we ended it all going to Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat restaurant before heading back to Etihad to watch Man City take on Arsenal and experience the most insane sports experience.
Man City Stadium Tour
As soon as we set foot in Manchester, we headed over to Etihad stadium to go on their behind-the-scenes tour. This is Chuck’s “football mecca.” Man City is, by far, his favourite team in all of sports. To me, it felt a bit like we were in a Ted Lasso episode.
Here is Sherri, Gerald and I goofing around in the locker room while Chuck went Man City NUTSO. He was like a kid in a candy store during the whole tour. Or, like Lisa Simpson going “I am the Lizard Queen” after she drank the water at Duff Gardens. 😉
Afflecks Palace
The oddest large-old-building-full-of-random-tiny-stores that I have ever seen. I mean, I don’t think I’ve seen any other building like this, but if there is, it gets beat by Afflecks, hands down! I’m still kicking myself for not picking up that Larry David shirt. lol
High tea at the Grand Pacific
My sister and I decided to go for a proper English high tea while in Manchester. We found a very lovely one at Grand Pacific Manchester. We left the boys in the pub as we dined on the most delectable bite size sweet delights and sandwiches. The tea wasn’t bad either. Or the espresso martini for that matter.
It was a lovely moment to share with my sister after not seeing her for so many months. It was also one of those moments where we both commented on how much our mom would have loved it too. She’s never far from us when we are together. ♥️
Watching an EPL Match
“Pull yer bloody shorts down, dickhead, pull yer bloody shorts down!” Just one of the many heckles we heard at the Man City vs Arsenal match at Etihad stadium. (The player being yelled at was supposedly pulling his shorts up too high — too much leg showing — for the the fans.) 😂
To say seeing an English Premier League match live is a frenetic ball of fast moving excitement is a complete understatement. It just flies by! And everyone is singing and chanting and heckling and swearing and you just can’t help but join the ride. You start off singing “Hey Jude” at the top of your lungs with thousands of others and by the time it’s all over you also can’t help but want to go to every match.
The three gentleman who were sitting in the seats right in front of us started making noise as soon as they arrived. They were chanting, singing, bitching and yelling out their “game strategy” at the top of their lungs. We couldn’t get enough of them. They made the game that much more fun and intense.
During halftime, we got to talking to them and one offered us a Werthers candy and then yelled at his friend to share his meat pie with us. Literally shouted, “pass yer pie around, Jerry, don’t be stingy!” We politely declined partaking of his half-eaten pie. 😂
Although the match was a draw and we didn’t see how the crowd reacted to a goal, we couldn’t have had more fun. Oh, and fun fact, you cannot drink in the stands. And once you see how the mostly sober crowd reacts to the ref’s calls on the pitch, you can see why — they might not make it out alive. 😂
It had been months since we last saw each other so it was extra special to meet up and spend a weekend together exploring a new place and catching up.
After the weekend, Chuck and I picked up a car and started our UK road trip while Gerald and Sherri took the train to explore France. ♥️
