After breakfast we checked out, leaving our bag at the hotel.
We walked down to the John Rylands Library, which was spectacular.
After this we popped in to the Magistrates Court, Shirley used to work there but it has since been demolished and rebuilt so she didn't recognise much.
Not far from this is the People's Museum, which was fairly interesting but quite political. There was a display of political posters.
We went for a little tour on the free bus, then into the Northern Warehouse which was a bit empty.
We caught another free bus to Victoria Station, and walked to the historic Marble Arch pub, where we spent a couple of hours drinking and having lunch of burgers.
We walked back into town and picked up our bag from the hotel, then went to the station. We caught an early train, which gave us over an hour to wait at Preston station so we went to the Old Vic pub for a drink.
We arrived at Curriehill station about 10.30pm and went home.
After breakfast we walked down to the University corridor and visited the Manchester Museum, which was big and very interesting.
It had a live animal section as well.
We tried and failed to find the Whitworth Art Gallery, later finding out it was much further down the street.
We caught the free Metro Shuttle bus back to town, and visited Manchester Cathedral.
Inside they've just had a brand new organ installed.
The cathedral visitor centre has a very old bridge inside it called the Hanging Bridge, dating back to the 15th century.
We then walked round the Arndale Centre, where Scott bought a pair of shoes in Marks and Spencer and Shirley played in the Lego shop.
We went to the Waterside pub for lunch. We shared a Chicken and advocado wrap and chips.
After this we went to the Machester Art Gallery, which had a pretty eclectic mix of stuff.
We went back to he room to chill for a bit.
We went out in the evening, first to the Old Monkey pub, then to the Croma Italian restaurant, which was surprisingly good and reasonably priced.
Shirley had buffalo mozzarella with tomato and basil, Scott had and aubergine and cheese bake for starter.
For main, steak pizza and and courgette and goats cheese pizza and a nice bottle of Scicilian red.
For a last drink we went back to the City Arms pub again.
Breakfast in the hotel was good, fresh fruit, yogurt, ham, cheese, croissants, pan-au-chocolate etc.
It was a cold but sunny day. We first went to the tourist information for a map, then walked down Canal Street and then along the towpath on the Rochdale Canal.
At the Castlefield-Deansgate tram station we had a good view of the landmark Hilton Hotel.
We then went to the Castlefield urban heritage park, which has some Roman ruins, and monuments.
Nearby we went to the Science and Industry museum which was huge and very interesting. One of the halls had working machinery from the textile industry.
Another was the old railway station.
Finally two halls with trains, engines and aeroplanes.
We then decided to walk right out to Salford Quays and round the quays area.
We caught the tram back into town, and went for a snack at the Wetherspoon Piccadilly pub - chips and onion rings.
After this we visited the Town Hall, we couldn't see much there other than the ground floor. The outside still had its Christmas decoration.
Nearby was the circular Central Library, which was very interesting.
We then went back to the hotel room for a rest and a drink before going out for the evening. A few places were closed given the time of year, including the tapas bar in the Northern Quarter we wanted to go to.
So we went for a drink in the Millstone which was a real laugh, basically we were gatecrashing an OAP's party! We checked out a few restaurants on Tripadvisor, and decided on the Cane and Grain because it had a 50% off offer on food. We had barbecue food, cheese fries and some strong craft beer.
For a last drink we went to the Castle Hotel, then home to bed.
We got the 13.28 train from Curriehill to Haymarket. There we waited for the Transpennine Express to Manchester. After an uneventful journey we arrived at Manchester Picadilly station about 17.30.
It was only a 5 minute walk to our hotel, the Ibis Styles Portland, which had been a bargain it £40 per night including continental buffet breakfast.
It had a quirky weather theme to the decor. The corridor carpets had an autumn leaf pattern, with piles bunched up in the corners.
The doors to the rooms had letterboxes and knockers.
And the rooms had various weather-related pictures.
After unpacking we went out, first to the trendy Northern Quarter just up the road. We had a drink at the Port Street Beer House.
For dinner we walked down to Chinatown, which was only 5 minutes down the road.
(This picture taken in daylight the next day.)
We went to the Happy Seasons restaurant, where we had mixed starters, followed by Special Chow Mein and Chicken with Ginger and Oniion for main courses.
After dinner we walked to the City Arms bar for a drink, then back to the hotel and bed.
