Manchester

The last couple of days I spent in Manchester, one of my favourite cities. Like Eric Cantona said, "here, there is an insane love of football, of celebration, of music".

I went to The Quays:

Saw the wrong stadium from a distance...


... went back to the city and saw the right stadium at close range...


This is the civil court building, which Mancunians call "the filing cabinet":


You can just about see the jutting out glass parts on the right that look like open drawers. Apparently, the architects are being sued, because something is not quite right with this building. If this goes to court, the hearing would take place in the building that the dispute is about. How bizarre.

Abraham Lincoln in the back, Manchester bee in the front:


I stayed at the GJS Hotel, which used to be an old school building. It is very stylish, but has one of the unfriendliest receptionists I have ever come across. And a ghost, but that was a no-show. The rooms are all individually styled. Mine was lilac-burgundy:





Before I went home, I had the hottest ever vegetable korma on the Curry Mile. Korma is meant to be mild. MILD. Should I have been warned by the triptych of a red chilli pepper on the wall of the restaurant? So, the search for the perfect vegetable korma continues. So far, the best one was served in 1997 in a place that is now called The Blue Mint. But in 13 years time, the chef has probably changed about 10 times.

Derbyshire

Walking holiday in Derbyshire (and Staffordshire, really). The White Peaks. Beautiful countryside, quintessentially English, quirky things along the way guaranteed.

The Cat & Fiddle claims to be the second-highest pub in England. We started one of our walks from there.

The water in the reservoir is normally so high it reaches the overfall (roundish building in the back). I guess, it's hosepipe ban time again.

The day off was spent at Chatsworth, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

The family loves art. This is the War Horse by Elisabeth Frink:

This computer portrait of Laura Burlington, the future Duchess of Devonshire (if they don't get divorced, that is), is by Michael Craig-Martin. The colours change randomly and there is millions of permutations, so it is unlikely that these combinations will ever show up again:

The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire is the youngest of the Mitford sisters. She celebrates her 90th birthday this year. There is currently an exhibition about her life.

Of course, the estate has beautiful gardens. They even overgrow wooden chairs and tables.

This is the BBC perparing for the filming of the Antique Roadshow the next day.

After the one day off, we were back walking through the countryside.

It seems that all paths lead to Chatsworth. We passed through the grounds, where the deer were resting as far away from the hunting tower as possible.

The white marquees are where the Antiques Roadshow was filmed. There were zillions of visitors there, lots more than the day before.

At the end of the walking holiday I said good-bye to my boots. They weren't comfortable anymore. I guess the sole deteriorated over the years. I have had them for ages. There was no point bringing them back to Germany and bin them here, so they ended their lives on an English dump.