-mANCHESTER mADNESS |
 Front Entrance, Town Hall, Manchester, England  Sculpture Hall Cafe |  Statue of an English warrior  Giovanni (Sir John) Battista Barbirolli English Conductor and Cellist |
| Just outside the front entrance of Town Hall was a large and beautiful gothic monument to Prince Albert, Prince Consort to Queen Victoria. This area was aptly named, Albert Square. |  Prince Albert |  Prince Albert |
 Turning back and looking at the building once more the large clock tower loomed overhead with dark clouds and drizzle in the background. |  Placard of the layout for Town Hall, Manchester City Council, England. |
Below are some fun things I saw on my walk to the John Rylands Library just off Deansgate.
 Red's True Barbeque |  Red's True Barbeque (front doors) |
 On the placard: "The meetings that began the modern movement for LGBT equality were held in offices of the Diocese of Manchester, beginning 7th October 1964." |  Sewing Classes |
I found a delightful little square that had a statue of Abraham Lincoln. According to a homeless man I spoke to while I was standing in front of the statue, Lincoln was revered amongst the people of Manchester because of his position on slavery. Back in 1862 when the city of Manchester was considered the textile capitol of the world, the good people who worked in those mills took a principled stand by refusing to touch raw cotton picked by US slaves. As a result, many workers severely suffered. To show appreciation for their sacrifice, President Lincoln sent food and supplies to these folks until slavery was abolished in 1865.
I gave the man $10 USD for his time and so he could have lunch. He said, "Thank you, love." Win-win!
Just in front of President Lincoln's statue was a pretty memorial to Princess Diana being "fondly remembered."
I gave the man $10 USD for his time and so he could have lunch. He said, "Thank you, love." Win-win!
Just in front of President Lincoln's statue was a pretty memorial to Princess Diana being "fondly remembered."
 Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Square, Manchester, England |  In Memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, 1961-1997 The People's Princess fondly remembered always by the people of Manchester |
 John Rylands Library, Manchester, England Soon after I found the giant Victorian Gothic cathedral'ish building and even though I was a few minutes early, the nice people minding the front desk allowed me to come in early so that I could walk around and take a few photos. At their recommendation, I decided to start on the 3rd floor and work my way down. The entry on the 3rd floor had a statue of John Rylands, a cotton manufacturer and his third wife, Enriqueta Augustina on the other end of the room. In as much as I was the only person around I had the opportunity to really experience the library atmosphere in its serenity and see the sunrays shining through the bottle windows in each lovely little alcove set aside for quiet reading. In the center of the room as you walked from one end where John Ryland's statue sat to the other end where Mrs. Ryland's statue sat was an art exhibit by Alan Birch. Briefly glancing at it, I first thought it was an exhibition of Catholic Church Icons. But then I noticed an unfamiliar saint by the name of St. Selfie and looked at the title page of the art notice. Later Day Saints! What a hoot! ;-) Check this guy out at: http://www.alanbirch.co.uk/later-day-saints-the-john-rylands-library/ |  Saint Selfie  Saint Scooterius |
 Provisioned for physically disabled people |  Bottle Glass Window |  One of the many reading rooms on the 3rd floor |
 Mr. John Rylands |  Mrs. Enriqueta Augustina Rylands who founded the library in honor of her husband. The library was opened on January 1, 1900. |
At the far end of the room near Mrs. Rylands' statue there was an interactive exhibit honoring women in celebration of International Women's Day. The information provided said that on Sunday, March 8th, the male statues (that was just about all of the statues at the library with the exception of Mrs. Rylands) in the library were to be covered and replaced by women for the day. There was an optional form to complete where you could nominate notable women. I nominated Queen Elizabeth I, Melinda Gates and Hillary Clinton. (No comments, please...if you don't like my nominees, go to Manchester and choose your own!)
I ventured further into the library and delighted in a small coin operated bank with a dragon at one end and a woman at the other having tea. The dragon yawned, the woman sipped, the dragon yawned again and the woman sipped her tea again, then the dragon snapped at the woman and she reared back while the dragon grabbed the coin. The donation went to the children's section of the library.
There was a beautiful winding staircase that had a stained-glass portico in the ceiling. Several of us stopped to take a photo.
Upstairs was an old, but working printing press which had a warning notice attached indicating that you could easily remove your fingers if you weren't careful. I didn't touch it but I did marvel at the machine. There were rooms of exhibitions where no photography was allowed but frankly the detailed Gothic architecture was simply lovely throughout.
There was a beautiful winding staircase that had a stained-glass portico in the ceiling. Several of us stopped to take a photo.
Upstairs was an old, but working printing press which had a warning notice attached indicating that you could easily remove your fingers if you weren't careful. I didn't touch it but I did marvel at the machine. There were rooms of exhibitions where no photography was allowed but frankly the detailed Gothic architecture was simply lovely throughout.
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At this point I was getting hungry so I ventured back down to the café level and on the way down noticed a wonderful exhibit about love...or maybe not.
The name of the exhibition is called "This is (not) a love poem", described as a chaotic, collaborative poem produced on Twitter in response to images from The John Rylands Library's collections. Here's how it worked: Between January 26th and February 6, 2015 the library shared certain images, one each day, on Twitter. Tweeters were asked to write a line of poetry in response to those images. The lines of poetry were collected using #jrlpoem15. On February 7, 2015, a public workshop was held at the Library. Visitors created the final poem by creating an order to the tweets that had been collected.
Here is the lovely collaborative poem:
The name of the exhibition is called "This is (not) a love poem", described as a chaotic, collaborative poem produced on Twitter in response to images from The John Rylands Library's collections. Here's how it worked: Between January 26th and February 6, 2015 the library shared certain images, one each day, on Twitter. Tweeters were asked to write a line of poetry in response to those images. The lines of poetry were collected using #jrlpoem15. On February 7, 2015, a public workshop was held at the Library. Visitors created the final poem by creating an order to the tweets that had been collected.
Here is the lovely collaborative poem:
 |  A lovely poem from Vona Groarke |
This is (not) a love poem
The air is still with candlelight, our hands make eloquent shapes from shadows
Light and dark merge between the pages of a heartbeat shared
We were in colour, everyone else, black and white
In the heart of the dark, seek the flecks of the light
The chain has broken but here I stay for love or fear
A paged halved, veiled by years, the ghost of summer's love
My goddess, my slave. My beginning and end.
The morning after a Saturday sleepover, most of us still dozing.
The day is a big blue raindrop, takes everyone by surprise.
Thru that slow salsa of my mind, I remember, your pink dress.
We lost the language, but somehow managed to remember the words, tattered, once stolen from our tongues
We all want that strong love, that marble statue love, but hearts are paper thin, be careful how you hold them.
Light and dark merge between the pages of a heartbeat shared
We were in colour, everyone else, black and white
In the heart of the dark, seek the flecks of the light
The chain has broken but here I stay for love or fear
A paged halved, veiled by years, the ghost of summer's love
My goddess, my slave. My beginning and end.
The morning after a Saturday sleepover, most of us still dozing.
The day is a big blue raindrop, takes everyone by surprise.
Thru that slow salsa of my mind, I remember, your pink dress.
We lost the language, but somehow managed to remember the words, tattered, once stolen from our tongues
We all want that strong love, that marble statue love, but hearts are paper thin, be careful how you hold them.
Lunch in the café was delicious and surprising. I ate a wonderful pureed vegetable soup which (this is going to sound bad, but it wasn't) was a tasty baby food warmed up with several slices of hearty bread and Earl Grey tea with milk.
Here is some more fun stuff I saw on my walk through the lovely city of Manchester.
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Afterwards, I decided to walk through St. Ann's Square (up Deansgate and then on to the Arnsdale shopping center. At Aspecto I purchased a couple of t-shirts for Sean and then over to Selfridges to look for a small gift for his girlfriend. At Selfridges, I found a cute little sterling silver fox necklace. After my big shopping adventure I found the Orange Bus that would take me back to The Station at the airport. In about 10 minutes, I was at Picadilly Metro Station where I caught the train back. By the way, the station was very easy to navigate. Just check the overhead monitors for your destination and then proceed to the corresponding platform. My train was already at the station so I hopped on and within a minute was on my way. The trip to the airport took about 15 minutes. Within 20 minutes I was in the Radisson's restaurant enjoying a lovely South African Pinotage! All in all, a very successful day.
-chocolate croissants are heaven on earth
-eurostar
-landing cards - back in london
Our last breakfast at the Sofitel was as usual, delightful. We were the only guests awake that early, 6am, and frankly that's just how I like it. No chatter! The remarkable staff at the Sofitel turn every experience into a delight. They are trained to remember you, what you like and how you like it. Almost immediately a pot of fresh coffee was presented in a French press. We savored our last chocolate croissant and helped ourselves to the freshly made greek yogurt served with fresh berries and granola. Sure it's pricier than hell, but dear lord, it's wonderful.
After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and made our way via taxi to Gare du Nord in order to take the Eurostar train back to St. Pancras in London.
The Gare du Nord train station is quite nice. A bit hectic by the time we arrived and a little confusing but better than the push and shove cattle car experience of some public transportation. Overall, I think Eurostar is excellent. For this trip we booked Standard Premier Service which is the middle tier between first class and standard. Lunch was served on board which consisted of a choice between a beef/lentil mixture or a cheese plate. I had the beef lentil. Red wine, coffee, tea, soda and water is offered as a drink.
At Gare du Nord for all inbound London trains, proceed upstairs. Just to the right of the main area upstairs is a counter on which you will find "landing cards." You will need to complete one before you proceed to passport control.
Check in for your train and go through passport control where you will hand over the completed landing card. Proceed through security and into a lobby where you will check the monitor for your train platform number.
At St. Pancras transfer to the Underground (Tube.) Take the Picadilly Line to London Heathrow Airport (LHR.) FYI, there are lots of stops from St. Pancras to Heathrow, so try and find a seat where you can be close to your luggage.
Once you arrive at Heathrow, check the monitors for your flight and proceed to the appropriate terminal and gate.
After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and made our way via taxi to Gare du Nord in order to take the Eurostar train back to St. Pancras in London.
The Gare du Nord train station is quite nice. A bit hectic by the time we arrived and a little confusing but better than the push and shove cattle car experience of some public transportation. Overall, I think Eurostar is excellent. For this trip we booked Standard Premier Service which is the middle tier between first class and standard. Lunch was served on board which consisted of a choice between a beef/lentil mixture or a cheese plate. I had the beef lentil. Red wine, coffee, tea, soda and water is offered as a drink.
At Gare du Nord for all inbound London trains, proceed upstairs. Just to the right of the main area upstairs is a counter on which you will find "landing cards." You will need to complete one before you proceed to passport control.
Check in for your train and go through passport control where you will hand over the completed landing card. Proceed through security and into a lobby where you will check the monitor for your train platform number.
At St. Pancras transfer to the Underground (Tube.) Take the Picadilly Line to London Heathrow Airport (LHR.) FYI, there are lots of stops from St. Pancras to Heathrow, so try and find a seat where you can be close to your luggage.
Once you arrive at Heathrow, check the monitors for your flight and proceed to the appropriate terminal and gate.