Manchester

Someone told us there was nothing to do in Manchester. I beg to differ. We arrived with the thought in mind to go straight to Liverpool to see the Beatle country but discovered there was a lot to see and is a very easy city to walk around. Just as well for that. More about that later as well. We first took a local bus to the Science and Industry Museum as the weather was freezing and seemed to be the thing to do. It certainly kept us entertained for hours and was a great insight into the history of all facets of Manchester from their achievements in Invention and in industry. A lot was hands on and recommended for kids as well so of course we had to pretend we were kids. From the depths of the sewers that we were able to walk through ..including the odd rats to the textile industry it was really interesing. Off to the John Handley Library which took us by surprise as it was very similar to the Long room in Dublin but this time we could get up and personal and look at the titles of some of the 1000s of books dating back for centuries.
The architecture of the library was awesome as well. We spent a lot of time there. As I said it was an easy place to walk around. We left a couple of things to do for the next day and headed back to our hostel just as it started snowing at 5.00pm. It snowed all night and we awoke early to find there was at least 6 inches of snow over everything. It was beautiful but of course that meant no buses or trains. The roads were mush and made walking interesting. Not icy yet so not as scary as it was in Dublin. We were supposed to travel an hour by train to Clitheroe to spend a couple of days with Julie and Neil, friends we travelled with in China, for his birthday. No luck and they could not travel to see us as the roads were closed or too icy. That was a sad moment when we realised we were not going to see them this time. We were glad to have not gone to Liverpool as we would not have got back due to the snow.
We slipped and slid around the streets in absolute wonderment at the scenery and how beautiful snow looks on buildings. It was fantastic as a tourist and we made the best of it as we probably won't have the opportunity to see it like that again. It snowed all day with the levels reaching over 12 inches in places. I am not sure how many tens of photos we took. Thank goodness for good fleeces and good solid shoes. We are hoping to get to Nottingham tomorrow by train to be there to fly out to Marrakesh on Thursday but have been told if it freezes tonight the rails might crack. Our hotel was pleased to see us again and were happy to have us stay another night. The staff had to stay here last night as they could not get home and looks like the same again. We are near to Granada Studios(Coronation Street) so they have a few people staying here unexpectedly as well. Wish us luck tomorrow if there is more snow we will be well and truly snowed in and won't be able to get to Nottingham to see Robin Hood and his Merry men. It has certainly been a fun time. The news has just said that this has been the longest cold snap for over 30 years and has been the coldest December for 14 years. Fear not though 2009 has been the 4th hottest year in the UK.