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23 May 2010

Day two of my Paris trip, and we start at Liège metro station, changing trains at Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau station, before exiting at Châtelet station, which is a short walk from the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, famous as being the focal point of Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel, ”The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.

Across to the left bank the river Siene is the Quartier Latin. This is a lively area with lots of bistros and bars, and in the area are many educational institutions, including the Université de Paris, which was founded in the mid-11th century. Today, it is actually 13 autonomous universities.

The Pantheon is a neoclassical building, the façade of which was modelled on the Pantheon in Rome. It contains the remains of distinguished French citizens.

The Jardin du Luxembourg is a large park in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It is the Garden of the French Senate, which itself is housed in the Palais du Luxembourg. This is one of my favourite parks in the world. It is absolutely beautiful and so calming to walk through. There are tree lined walkways, statues, a lake, and lots of activities like tennis and basketball courts and merry-go-rounds.

A bronze model of the Statue of Liberty used by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi as part of the preparatory work for the New York statue is in the park.

Leaving the park, we walk along Rue de Rennes towards Gaite Metro Station. I cannot remember the name of the little street with all the shops, but there were a lot of varied shops as you can see. One of the things that I love about Paris is that they appreciate good food. Quality and taste is important, and there are independent stores all over the city, selling specific types of produce and products.

Pont Alexandre III is an amazingly ornate, grand bridge across the river Siene. It was built between 1896 and 1900 and named after Tsar Alexander III who concluded the Fraco-Russian alliance in 1892.

Across the bridge on the northern bank of the Siene are the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. They were built at the same time as Pont Alexandre III, and are of the same architectural style. The Grand Palais was built as the exhibition hall for the Paris exhibition of 1900, and the Petit Palais was built for the Universal exhibition of 1900.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is arguably the most famous avenue in Paris. It is full of luxury shops, cinemas and cafes and is quite amazing. It is one of the most expensive streets to rent along in Europe and runs for 2 kilometres, from the Place de la Concorde in the east, to the Arc de Triomphe in the west.

The Place de la Concorde is the largest public square in Paris and contains many statues. The obelisk in the centre was donated by the Egyptian government in the 1833, and used to mark the entrance to the Luxor temple in Egypt.

To one side of the Place de la Concorde is Rue de Rivoli, another famous street in Paris, which is home to some of the most high end brands in the world.

Le Marais has a strong Jewish population, and more recently has become known for its gay community. It’s quite a vibrant area, with lots of cafes, restaurants and bars.

As I mentioned in my last Paris update, I love getting food from this part of Paris. This roast beef was simply divine.

Paris: 12 November 2009

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16 May 2010

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I was looking through some of my photos and realised that I never posted anything on here from my visit to Paris in November last year!

I took an absolute truckload of photos, and it was the first time that I had used my new camera so some of the photos are not quite as good as they should be, but they show something that I want to share so I will still post them in any case. Given the large number of photos, I will split this update into three over the week, with a post for each of the three days that I was there.

Paris truly is an amazing city. It is the only city in Europe that I have visited multiple times, and I always want to go back. The food is absolutely amazing – quality and taste are clearly at the forefront of French cooking, and with centuries of intricate technique to draw up, it is no wonder that French food has the reputation that it does.

As for the city itself, it is such an amazing city to simply wander around and lose yourself in. There is so much beauty and atmosphere.

As for the French people, well yes it is difficult to communicate as an English speaker but as long as one makes the effort to know a few phrases and at least try, I find that the Parisians are just as accommodating as anyone else. I think it is perhaps the French attitude that turns people off. They have an amazing culture and history, and are very proud. They do things their way and if you don’t like it, they don’t particularly care. If you appreciate the attitude of the French within this context, then you’ll realise that it’s not necessarily a bad thing!
We start at the Rome Metro station. Nothing particularly special about this station, it’s just close to where I was staying.

Next is the Trocadéro Metro station. The name comes from the Palais du Trocadéro, which used to stand on the site until its demolition in 1937. Today, the Palais de Chaillot stands on the site. It is where the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, and was the first NATO headquarters.

From the Palais de Chaillot, is a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower. The tallest building in Paris, it was built in 1889 as an entrance arch for the World’s Fair, marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Today, it is the single most visited paid monument in the world, but interestingly, it was considered an eyesore when constructed and the plan was for it to be demolished after 20 years. In fact the only reason that it wasn’t demolished was because of its use a communications tower. Needless to say, retaining the tower turned out to be the right decision!

The Parc du Champe de Mars is the park on which the Eiffel Tower was constructed. It is named after the Campus Martius (“Mars Field”) in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war, and used to be used for military drills.

We head down Boulevard Garibaldi and some of the surrounding streets before reaching Montparnasse. Montparnasse doesn’t have much for the tourist, and contains a mixture of commercial and artistic uses. My reason for coming here was to eat at a little place called Crêperie de Josselin, which is a very traditional crêperie that sells arguable the best crêpes in Paris. It’s very local and there are never any tourists around here, which is always a positive.

Next is Denfert-Rochereau. The reason for coming here was to see the famous underground Catacombs of Paris. Unfortunately, they were closed to the public due to the continuing actions of some vandals over the prior months. Luckily I had been before but for my dad, it was a big disappointment not to be able to see them. We walked around the area for a little bit, and stumbled upon this building which appeared to be some sort of arts school.

In the area, is the Cimetière du Montparnasse. The cemeteries in Paris are really beautiful, haunting places, and some of them are tourist attractions in their own right due to famous people who are buried there. Serge Gainsbourg, amongst others, is buried here.

We then headed to the Bastille. The Bastille was a prison, and was stormed on 14 July 1789, and act which is generally considered to signify the start of the French Revolution. The site is now home to the Opéra Bastille, and the July Column.

Rue de la Roquette has nothing of note for the tourist, but it is home to my favourite boulangerie and boucherie. Seriously good meat and bread and, because it’s not in a touristy part of town, the prices are very reasonable. I stayed near here the first time I visited Paris and on this occasion, made a special occasion to head out here to get dinner each night. The food really is that good and although other great affordable places must exist in Paris, I haven’t been able to find anything of that quality, for that price anywhere else.

Finally, is the great department store Galeries Lafayette, and some nearby streets. The food hall in Galeries Lafayette is to die for, and has a larger selection of anything you could ever want than anywhere else. Some of the prices are obscene, but it is heaven to walk through. The Christmas displays in the windows outside were some of the best I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

Perth, Scotland: 5 April 2010

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10 May 2010

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About a 50 minute train from Edinburgh is the City of Perth. The only reason I went here is because I’m from Perth in Australia.

Perth, Australia, was named after Perth, Scotland, at the wish of Sir George Murray, who was in 1829 when Perth, Australia was founded, Secretary of State for the Colonies and Member for Perthshire in the British House of Commons.

The name Perth derives from a Gaelic word for wood or copse, and Perth, Scotland was granted the Royal Burgh Charter by King William the Lion of Scotland in 1210. There are banners for the 800th anniversary of the city everywhere.

The city itself was very nice and quaint. There is nothing particularly of note for a tourist in the Perth city centre itself, however Scone Palace, which was the original home of the Stone of Destiny and the site of the coronations of the Kings of Scots from 1114 to 1651, is only a 20 minute walk from the city centre. I could have sworn it was further away when I was there, and I didn’t visit, however Google maps clearly shows it to only be a 20 minute walk!

All these photos are from the very small city centre, except for the last few which are just outside. As for the photos of the three street signs, you’ll have to be from Perth, Australia to appreciate it.

Scottish Highlands: 4 April 2010

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9 May 2010

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On the Sunday, I did a Highlands tour. Since I was only up in Scotland for a short time and was by myself, I figured that a tour would be the best way to go. There was nothing wrong with the tour per se – it covered a large area and the guide was very knowledgeable, however it confirmed to me that tours are not really my thing. We would drive past areas that looked amazing, that I really wanted to stop in, and come time for lunch or a meal break, we’d stop at some token tourist spot and spend far too long there. I’d much prefer to hire a car and just explore with a few friends.

In any case, the scenery was very beautiful, and the pictures are more descriptive than my words could ever be.

The first stop was Callander. Nothing of note really, I guess you would say this was a transition part of Scotland, just before the landscape changes and becomes the highlands proper.

Glen Coe was the next stop. The Massacre of Glencoe occurred in the early morning of 13 February 1692. It’s quite an interesting tale, and revolves around clan rivalries and allegiances to kinds and the like. In short, Alastair Maclain, 12th Chief of Glencoe, was a day late is signing his allegiance to King James. James, not receiving the allegiance on the deadline, decided it would be a good idea to make an example of the Maclains by destroying the entire village and everyone in it. What a nice chap.

Next, is Fort Augustus and Loch Ness. I was surprised at just how un-touristy this area was. Perhaps it’s not the usual stop off for Loch Ness? In any case, the Loch itself is very beautiful, but to be honest some of the ones the bus whizzed past looked even more impressive. What I found quite interesting was the Caledonian Canal. Because the Highlands are so mountainous, in 1803 it was decided to build a canal system to connect all the Lochs of ”The Great Glen”. It also provided much needed employment in the area at the time.

The canals contain locks. What happens is that boats enter the canal , then the locks are opened which adjusts the water level to be even. This happens for a few locks in a given section of the canal, and allows boats to travel from loch to loch despite the fact that they are at different levels. Probably not the best explanation, but it was rather interesting to see.

Finally, we stopped in a town called Pitlochry. Quaint and charming, but it was late on Sunday, everything was closed and the line to the toilet was longer than the time we were stopping.

Edinburgh: 2 – 3 April 2010

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17 April 2010

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Over the Easter long weekend, I decided to head up to Scotland, basing myself out of Edinburgh. I will do another blog post with the other parts of Scotland next.

So many people that I know were always going on about how Edinburgh was such a great city. I am happy to say, that it more than lived up to the hype. Due to what can only be described as ignorance on my behalf, I had assumed that Edinburgh would be very similar to the English cities that I had visited. While there are certainly similarities, it is noticeably different – kind of like England but with more of a mainland European influence, probably owing to the fact that for much of Scotland’s history, it had very strong trade ties with countries that were nearby by boat, such as the Netherlands and Norway.

All in all, there was lots of impressive old architecture, lots of construction and a real link to nature in the city. Very, very nice and impressive.

First, is a stretch of road which leads from Haymarket down to the end of Shandwick Place and into the heart of the city. All those roadworks are related to the new tram that is being installed, which will run from the Harbourfront, all the way through the main parts of the city and to the airport. Despite the usual complaints from people about how it was going to cost too much, and disrupt the roads and traffic while being constructed, they went ahead with the project and when done, it is very obvious to see that it will be of great benefit to the city.

The first church is St John’s Episcopal Church and the second is the Parish Church of St Cuthbert. In the background are the Princes Street Gardens, and Edinburgh Castle. The cool night, falling sun and cemetery all came together to create a very atmospheric vibe.

Princes Street is the main shopping street in Edinburgh. It is impressive in that all the shops and buildings are on the North side of the road. The South side contains Princes Street Gardens, and amazing views of the Old Town, Edinburgh Castle, and the big valley in between, as well as the beautiful Gardens and its statues.

For anyone who has seen the film Trainspotting, the chase in the opening scene is along Princes Street.

Next we get to Leith Street, and a series of streets which together are known as ‘Leith Walk’. Currently in the process of urban regeneration Leith was historically been the home to the dark underbelly of Edinburgh. Crime, drugs and prostitution were the area’s hallmark and up until 2001, the police had designated it and ”official tolerance zone”. You can see how the area changes as I head further down the walk. The regeneration can be seen everywhere, from the tramline, to abandoned buildings being readied for restoration or demolition and various other things. Leith has an interesting character to it, with lots of interesting people and little stores. Hopefully the regeneration doesn’t completely destroy that.

Just off Haymarket the next day, I ventured down some side streets, past a new office area, to Edinburgh Castle. There was a Farmer’s Market set up and this had lots of tasty looking foods from local growers, farmers and businesses.

I could write a LOT about Edinburgh Castle, and there is a lot to learn by walking about there. This is a good example of a tourist attraction. Lots to see, lots to read, but all done very tastefully with proper preservation in mind. It might be the most popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh and full of tourists, but it does not feel ”touristy”. Something that the leaders in Hong Kong should have taken note of before destroying the authenticity and vibe of the Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.

The castle is built atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Humans are thought to have lived on the site from as far back as the 9th century BC, and there has been a royal castle of some description on the site since the 12th century, with many additions, destruction in sieges, rebuilding etc. occurring over the centuries. Certainly not to be missed when visiting Edinburgh, just make sure you get there early as the lines after 10 am are insanely long!

At the Southern foot of the castle, is a series of roads collectively known as the ”Royal Mile” which runs from the castle down to Holyrood Abbey. The mile is full of amazing old buildings and architecture, and also full of touristy shops. There are lots of little laneways and interesting things to discover just off the mile.

*nerd mode on* The father of economics. How exciting! *nerd mode off*

Scotland had a parliament from the Middle Ages, but when the United Kingdom was formed in 1707, the parliament was dissolved. Following a referendum in 1997, the Scottish parliament was re-established and first sat in its new form on 12 May 1999. Without going into too much detail, the fact of the matter is that the Scottish parliament can make a range of decisions without recourse to the UK parliament, giving the country a greater degree of autonomy than it previously had.

The first building below is the parliament building, which opened in 2004. It was highly controversial, but is generally regarded as a modern architectural masterpiece. An early goal of the design was to open the building and its public spaces, not just to Edinburgh but to a more general concept of the Scottish landscape, and it aims to blend in with the nearby Holyrood Park and Abbey, which form part of a greater UNESCO heritage listed site.

Holyrood Park (and Duddingston Loch) is simply amazing. I didn’t even know that it existed, and only visited it because I saw it when walking down the entire length of the Royal Mile. It is an array of hills, lochs, glens, ridges, basalt cliffs. The pictures below say more than any words of mine could.

Walking back down past the Scottish Parliament, are Holyrood Palace and Holyrood Abbey, which were both closed for some reason, so unfortunately not much in the way of photos here. I fittingly walked down Easter Road to check out the Harbour front. Up until very recently, this was part of the run down area of the city and there wasn’t much to entice anyone other than dockworkers and rough characters to the area. As discussed above with Leith (which is right next to the docks), the area is changing rapidly. Scotland, long an exporter of great seafood is starting to take its food more seriously and there are a lot of new restaurants around here that make the most of the access to great, fresh seafood. I wanted to try the Michelin Starred ‘Kitchin’ but alas it was well out of my price range, especially given my tight budget on this trip.

Heading back up through Leith, this is the end of the town that was really rough and it was obvious just walking around.

Back up to the part of Leith Walk and Princes Street from the previous night, but with a slightly different take.

London: 28 February 2010

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28 February 2010

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Today, I walked around The City of London, which is also known as ‘The Square Mile’ owing to the fact that its boundaries have remained the same since the Middle Ages, around one square mile. In Medieval times, the City was the entirety of London. Today, it is one of the world’s global finance and business hubs. I focused on the eastern half of the city, before walking through Aldgate and up Brick Lane.

Starting at 110 Bishopsgate, is the Heron Tower. When completed, it will be the tallest building in the City. According to Gerald Ronson, Chief Executive of the developer Heron International, Heron Tower will be the first “six-star” office development in the City. It will feature a concierge-style entrance and reception area, incorporating a 70,000 litre aquarium with a shark and 1,300 other fish. There will be a restaurant and sky bar – both open to the public – on floors 38-40.

Just a short walk from Heron Tower, is 30 St Mary Axe aka the Swiss Re Building aka the Gherkin. The site was, from 1903, home to the Baltic Exchange Building, which was Grade II Heritage listed, and was considered one of the finest examples of Edwardian architecture in the world. In 1992, the building was heavily damaged by an IRA bombing. A lot of pieces of the building were put into storage but, after years of trying to negotiate though complex regulations, the owners gave up on rebuilding, the heritage listing was officially removed, and what was left of the building, including its famous trading hall, was dismantled piece by piece and put into storage. An Estonian businessman bought the pieces a few years back and the building is going to be rebuilt, piece by piece, in Tallinn.

The Gherkin itself opened in 2004 and was widely considered as the best example of modern architecture that year. It is currently the 6th tallest building in London.

122 Leadenhall Street is currently a blank development site. The old building there, from 1969, was demolished in 2008, to make place for 225 metre ”Cheese Grater”, an unusual, wedge-shaped tower. With the onset of the global financial crisis, construction was put on hold. In the background is the Lloyd’s building.

This site was originally home to the mighty East India Company. It was one of the most powerful corporations in the world during the British Empire’s peak, and had a monopoly on trade with India. It was the company’s armies that became the armies of British India and the company played a pivotal role in converting the language of the region from Persian to English.

The Lloyd’s building which now stands on the site was completed between 1978 and 1986. The building was innovative in having its services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside, leaving an uncluttered space inside. The twelve glass lifts were the first of their kind in the UK.

The Leadenhall Market dates back to the 14th century. It was closed today but in any case apart from the beautiful and ornate architecture, the market retailers are a mixture of clothing and food chains, the same ones which are found all over London. Nothing inspiring and the use of the word market is rather misleading.

After I saw all the buildings that I had aimed to see, I just wandered around Fenchurch Street and headed to Aldagte, on the eastern border of the city.

I thought this was funny, those who aren’t aware of 90s Australian pop music will probably be scratching their heads.

It is quite amazing that only a stone’s throw away from some of the most amazing buildings and headquarters of some of the most influential companies in the world, lie dirty back streets and council flats. This is in Aldgate, right on the border of the City and Tower Hamlets, officially becoming ”East London”. Inevitably, signs of change are evident here though. There are several empty sites where new office developments and apartment complexes are going up. It is surprising that, given its proximity to the city, this part of London has not been cleaned up and become expensive sooner.

The Romans built a wall around Roman London. The name is derived from Ale-gate, literally open to all, because, unlike at all other city entrances, no tolls were exacted at this gate.

Having walked up Whitechapel road, we come to Brick Lane. I have already discussed this area in one of my earlier blog posts, but will use this opportunity to show the area at night, as well as focus on some of the street art (and not so artistic graffiti) in the area.

This place has a reputation for having the best Pakistani sweets in London. I can’t say that I disagree. Lots of sweet, colourful, syrupy goodness to be had.

Mr. Katz came back to find what was once a Jewish neighbourhood somewhat changed.

The Sunday Up Market sells a variety of food, clothes and the like. It has a good vibe, but I’m not convinced about the food. The Asian selection is the usual beef and black bean, sweet and sour etc. Even though I don’t know much about some of the other foods there, if the Asian food is unauthentic, I would suggest that the other food is too. In any case, it’s packed and people are enjoying themselves and that’s all that matters – just don’t ask me to eat there!

This place is practically an institution. The food is cheap, there is some good variety, it tastes great, and is open 24 hours. What more could one want? Plain Beigel with cream cheese for 90p – can’t go wrong.

London: 1 February 2010

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1 February 2010

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Today was one of those days that just called to be taken off work, so I slept in, played some Xbox 360, then headed out for a wander. I was only going to pick up a few things from the shops but it ended up turning into a full blown photo walk.

I started in Sloane Square. Sloane Square borders Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea and is an extremely wealthy area. The square is part of the Hans Town area designed in 1771 by Henry Holland Snr. and Henry Holland Jr. Both the town and square were named after Sir Hans Sloane, whose heirs owned the land at the time.

Partridge’s is an appointed Grocer of the Queen. They have a lot of great quality stuff and lots of foodstuffs from overseas. It’s expensive, but not excessively so, and I always like popping in on occasion to grab a few things that I can’t get elsewhere, like certain types of Barilla pasta and Manner wafers from Austria for example.

The Saatchi gallery is also in the area. It started 20 years ago but only opened in its current location in 2008. It is a free gallery that has constantly changing exhibits, and aims to bring contemporary art from around the world to the widest possible audience. It’s a great gallery and always worth a look if in the area.

Sloane Street links Sloane Square with Knightsbridge. Before heading onto Sloane Street, which is where all the shop front photos below are, I walked through a few of the narrow streets in the area. There are some amazing residences here – some of the most expensive properties in London. Imagine having a proper house and a garage in Zone 1! Oh well, one can dream.

Knightsbridge needs little explanation. Harvey Nichols, Harrods and some world famous shopping awaits visitors to the street. The building/s under construction are part of the ‘One Hyde Park’ development. It’s a revamp of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, plus some amazing apartments where an ugly 1960s tower once stood. If I could live anywhere in London, this would probably be it. Imagine waking up in this location, with sweeping views across Hyde Park from your window. Again, one can dream.

Just through Park Close is Hyde Park. To say that the winter keeps people away is an understatement and, while the park is certainly still well used, it is rather quite compared to the summer. Still, there is something very right about walking through such a park in London in the middle of the winter.

The Serpentine Gallery, which holds various small, free exhibitions. I had completely forgotten about the current exhibition which I had wanted to see, so I was lucky to stumble upon the gallery today. Design Real was the name of the exhibition, and it focuses on ‘real’ items all conceived in the last decade: mass-produced products that have a practical function in everyday life. Very cool.

Walking across the road is Kensington Gardens, which is really an extension of Hyde Park. The Royal Albert Hall is across the road, and in the park itself directly across from the Hall, is the Albert Memorial, which was built to remember Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert.

Finally I ended up on the other side of Kensington Gardens, and at Kensington High Street.

Time to get something for dinner! Whole Foods Market is great and is two stories full of organic foods. It is, in sticking with the theme of this post, more expensive than the average supermarket, but I like to come past and grab a few things every now and then. Unlike the unattainable goal of owning one of the homes discussed earlier, something like being well of enough to shop at a place like Whole Foods Market all of the time is perhaps a more attainable goal 🙂

Liverpool: 19 September 2009

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31 January 2010

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Four months late, but here are some photos from my visit to Liverpool back in September. Being from Australia, I found it fascinating that only 45 minutes from Manchester, one can be in a completely different city, where people have different accents and their own identity. In Australia, you’d still be in a suburb of the same city! Sometimes, I thought that people were foreigners but after closer listening realised that they just had really strong scouse accents. I was also amused at the excessive use of “erm” in sentences and “like” at the end of each sentence. I always thought that people were exaggerating when saying that people from Liverpool spoke like this, but it’s true!

Liverpool’s maritime heritage is very evident throughout the city. There are warehouses and old dock buildings everywhere. If you’re from Western Australia, think a larger, grittier version of Fremantle. Unfortunately, Liverpool felt, to me, like a city that is very much past its prime. There were lots of abandoned buildings everywhere and a lot of the city felt like it was in a state of disrepair, even in the main parts. Saying that, the potential for recreation and rejuvenation is huge, and there are certainly a lot of old warehouses being converted into apartments and bars and the like, so hopefully the city can continue to do this and reinvent itself as a cultural/arts centre (it was voted European capital of culture in 2008).

I started at Lime Street, just up from the train station. This area is full of neo classical heritage listed buildings that were constructed when the city was at its economic peak in the mid/late 1800s. The area is known as the Willam Brown Street conservation area, after William Brown, local MP and philanthropist, who in 1860 donated land in the area for the building of a library and museum. The main focus of these photos is on St George’s Hall, the Walker Art Gallery, and St John’s Garden.

Radio City Tower in the back ground (second tallest structure in Liverpool).

Next we move on to Victoria Street, ‘The Cavern’ and the general network of small streets and alleyways in that area. This area requires no explanation. It’s all about the Beatles, and they let you know it. A lot of tacky stuff as to be expected, but still a cool little area, and good tunes blaring onto the streets.

Moving down to St John’s street and the surrounds is a completely restored area of the city, full of new buildings and lots of shops. The official Liverpool FC and Everton FC stores are in this area.

Moving closer to the waterfront, is Duke Street, and the general docks area. This is a very interesting part of Liverpool and the area where I can foresee massive change occurring in the coming years. There are lots of ruined and abandoned buildings here, but you can see that there is a real creative vibe, with street art, creative businesses and studios, and new apartments in warehouse conversions. The area is still very run down, but it’s only a matter of time before it all changes. Hopefully they can improve the overall area without gentrifying it too much.

There was an unusual ”suburban” type area between the warehouses and the waterfront. It really seemed out of place.

King’s Parade, Albert Dock, Tate Liverpool & the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The Tate was very good and had some really interesting exhibits and the Maritime Museum was very informative and interesting, with an excellent display on slavery and the darker aspect of the city’s prosperous days.

Close by and heading back into the ”city” is Nelson Street and Chinatown. It is a very small Chinatown, but I managed to find an awesome Asian food superstore that was better than anything I have found in Central London and a great little place that did a good, simple roast duck on rice and dry noodles. I go all the way to Liverpool and still can’t shake my obsession with Asia!

The Liverpool Cathedral is a beast of a structure. It opened in 1910 and is the largest Protestant church in the world. Very impressive.

Heading back towards Lime Street Station, down Roscoe Street & Renshaw Street. This area confused me. Location wise it is very central and seems like it is one of the main parts of Liverpool but it was very run down, and there were abandoned buildings everywhere and a general sense of depression about the area.

Craven Cottage: 19 December 2009

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19 December 2009

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About a 10 minute walk from my flat is Craven Cottage, home of Fulham Football Club. I decided to head down there during the Man Utd v Fulham match, which I unfortunately was unable to get a ticket to (although after seeing the result, perhaps it was best that I didn’t get a ticket!)

Craven Cottage is located next to Bishop’s Park on the banks of the River Thames. ‘Crave Cottage’ was originally a royal hunting lodge and has history dating back over 300 years. You can see the original cottage which has been retained inside the stadium.

Manchester: 18 – 20 September 2009

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6 December 2009

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This is somewhat of a mega post, covering three days in Manchester. I was debating whether to do one post or a few smaller ones, but meh, everyone has broadband these days so it should be ok.

I didn’t really know what to expect from Manchester and came away very impressed. The fact that, apart from a small part of the trip, I got to experience Manchester with bright sun and clear blue skies was helpful!

The city actually reminded me a lot of Melbourne. Given that both Manchester and Melbourne experienced big periods of growth around the same time, this is not completely surprising. A lot of old factories and warehouses that have been converted into apartments, mixed in with lots of new, exciting architecture and a very different vibe to London. Unfortunately, Manchester does not share Melbourne’s food culture and the selection of exciting food was minimal to say the least. I did get an excellent Lebanese meal in the Northern Quarter and a great sweet pineapple bun and bubble tea from Chinatown though – and much cheaper than in London. Overall, Manchester is definitely a city I would go back to.

First, we start at Old Trafford. I am a huge Manchester United fan, and this was the first thing that I had to do. The stadium tour was brilliant, and we were pretty much shown all the areas of the stadium, rooms etc. that were of any relevance to anyone. Very thorough, and utterly impressive.

Salford Quays is an area basically across the river from where Old Trafford is. This area was run-down for ages, but in recent years has undergone a massive transformation. There are shops and apartment towers going up everywhere. There are photos of this later on.

St Peter’s square is one of the main squares in Manchester. The tram network in the inner city is being extensively upgraded, so this was the end of the line and my starting and end point when going to the city centre.

Down Cross Street, through King Street and onto Deansgate. A lot of shopping in this part of town.

Just off Deansgate is Market Street and the Arndale, a massive, modern shopping development. This area is very new and shiny and is very, very vibrant. Next to the Arndale is the Wheel of Manchester.

Urbis is a centre which has art and fashion displays, exhibitions on scenes in Manchester, stuff about the city and other interesting bits and pieces. It is basically a centre designed to show off what’s happening ”creative” Manchester. It is very obvious by walking around this city that it is trying to position itself as a creative and media hub. Edit: Urbis has since shut down and the building now houses the National Football Museum. Cool, yes. Creative and media-like not quite.

This is a sort of entertainment mega-centre across the road from the Wheel of Manchester and Urbis. It was cool, and had a very generic United States, Vegas kind of vibe (not that I have been to the US or Vegas, but it was the impression that I got). After this, I headed into the Northern Quarter, which is the ”cool, alternative” part of Manchester. I liked this part of town, and it did have a unique vibe to it. There were lots of independent clothing shops and artist spaces in little slots down random alleys.

From St. Anne’s square, we head back down Deansgate, but away from the shopping area. The big tower is the Beetham Tower, which in Manchester’s tallest building.

FAC 51. Just off the end of Deansgate are the Hacienda Apartments. For anyone who is into the Manchester music scene, this needs to explanation. Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, a host of other bands and the whole Madchester scene were all driven by Tony Wilson, who had founded Factory Records in the late 1970s. The Hacienda was the club that epitomised all of this, and was open for 15 years between 1982 to 1997. It was known as the best club in the world. In the early 1990s the centre of the music world was in Manchester, and at the centre of this world was the Hacienda. It is perhaps ironic, given what Factory Records stood for, that the site is now home to expensive apartments but such is progress. I was very disappointed that the original sign for the club was strategically placed in an architect’s office on the ground floor so that it barely possible to get a glimpse of it.

Heading towards and down Oxford Road, we get to the University of Manchester.

FAC251. This was where Factory records was run out of from 1990 until they went bankrupt. Perhaps Tony Wilson shouldn’t have bought that obscenely large and expensive boardroom table? It seems that the building was later home to a small bar which has since shut down. I looks to be unoccupied at present. There was a very indie rock vibe about this area, different to the Northern Quarter – less artsy and more rock.

FYI the original Factory Records office was in a suburban house near the university but we couldn’t find it.

Next, we walk along Whitworth Street and Piccadilly Station, before moving up Piccadilly and Portland Streets and into Chinatown.

Manchester’s Chinatown was small but had a few interesting places, most specifically a great little Asian bakery that sells sweet Chinese breads and great Bubble Tea. Also, the prices of everything in Chinatown were noticeably less than in London. The Bubble Tea was actually affordable! There are lots of East Asian students in Manchester so that probably goes a long way towards explaining it.

Backtracking to the Arndale, Canon Street, Corporation Street and Portland Street. The “Dry Bar”, in the foreground of the picture after the bridge is FAC201, and was the Factory Records bar. It still looked surprisingly cool and independent which was nice to see.

Manchester Town Hall is quite an impressive building. Further down is the Manchester Central conference centre and across the street from that is Bridgewater Hall (a concert hall). Bridgewater Hall is a great example of modern, exciting Manchester architecture.

Back to Salford Quays and the pictures that I promised at the start of this post. There is a LOT of high rise construction going on around here!

I was lucky enough to go to the Man Utd v Man City derby as my first football match in the UK. Who would have thought that it would end up being an absolute thriller and one of the matches of the season. A win for Man Utd and the perfect way to end an excellent long weekend.