Manchester, June, 8, 2014.

The highlight of Manchester was meeting our friends next door neighbours Ray, Mary and Kate in New Mills. It was good to see the smiling faces of our friends. Mary grew up in New Mills and showed us around to a boat show on the canal and very economical pub. So we drank beer and ate crisps. We tried to catch up on the events but we only had a couple hours and there are more than a couple hours of stories. We look forward to hearing more about their trips to Mexico and suffering through the longest winter ever. We have a few stories of our own to tell as well. 

Al was just geting over a cold and catching a new one to replace it, so even if Manchester was the nicest town on the planet, he wouldn't have found much to like about it. While we were there, the Parklife 2014 festival was on, featuring Snoop Dog and a whole bunch of bands We had never heard of before. It rained but it didn't seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the concert goers. The standard attire for concert was  rubber boots, raincoats and little else. In some cases very little else. It was odd to see so many dressed in that fashion walking through the train station and the center of town to get to the concert venue. Even odder was their apperance on the way home a day and a half later, tired, covered in mud, hung over and still dressed for success.

Somehow, we manage to miss the bicycle race in the nude, a yearly event that attracts a big crowd. We saw pictures  in the news paper the next day. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, otherwise, we would have witnessed and taken some photos of the event.

Manchester was the heart of the industrial revolution because coal was made cheap by the canals that were developed to service the city. The price of coal droped by half when the canals were opened so manufacturing took off. Being the heart of that particular revolution didn't really leave a legacy of outstanding architecture, but there were some interesting examples and the big factories from back in the day are cool in thier own way.  

At one of the best and largest library in Europe. The John Rylands Library.

The architecture is amaizing.

The library made us feel like we were in a big church. Instead of saints, the statues were famous philosophers and the stained glass portrays images of famous masters.

The library is istill in use, one can research, study, read or simply take a complete tour of the place.

This is St Mary's Cathedral

Inside of St Mary's Cathedral.

This window glass is red and the shadows behind it are trees. From the distance, it looked like flames.

Glad we made it to Coronation Street. Too bad the big corporations have taken over.

Cool glass building.

China Town Arch

Nice building for the Fire Station.

A canal in New Mills, Derbyshire 

It was a community of long boats selling all sort of nice trinkets.

One can not lean on the boat.

The little sign says "Warning Mind the gap"

The sale continues.

A dog for sale or this dog is selling herbs, or garding the boat. 

This train was pleasing all the little kids.

Even adults have their picture taken.

Al and Ray

There were several birds of pray on display.

This birds are trained and put on a good show around the country during festivals like this one.

Hangin out with our friends.

The end of the line of long boats.

We had the time to smell exquisit roses during our walk and enjoyed every minute of our visit.

Their first beers at the pub and our last beers at the pub. 

After our walk, we stopped at the pub by the canal.

Oh, we had to leave New Mills.

So long, our friends.

A view from our hotel.