The Mancunian Way

The last couple of days in London where much more chillaxed. I decided to go into town one last time to explore the beautiful city and to check out the National Art Gallery. The Gallery building stands grand just above Trafalgar square in the heart of downtown London. The interior of the building is somewhat royal with large rooms, high ceilings and intricate panel design. The walls are lined with thousands of great works of art covering vast periods and styles. Although I am no art critic, I was impressed by the quality of many of the works which included artists such as Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gough, Picasso and Rembrandt.

On the way back to my host family I decided to explore the Edgware shops, home to many Kosher Cafes. I had a donut and cappuccino at Grodzinski's, a kosher bakery/cafe chain that has been running since 1888.

That evening I returned to the JLE in Golders Green to hear a shiur by world renowned Rabbi Tatz. The Rabbi was an excellent speaker and his class was very thought provoking. After the class there was a coffee social event where I got to meet many of the local London Jewish young adult community.

On Thursday morning I went out for Breakfast with my Dad's cousin Anthony and his wife Tania. We went to a local Kosher brunch venue in Edgware. It was lovely to meet up with family and I much enjoyed.

Around lunchtime I jumped on a high speed train bound for Manchester. This was the first time I have ever been on such a train so I was surprised at the speed, quietness and the amount of tilt as it turns corners! Upon arrival I was greeted by my old school friend Daniel Leigh. We used to be good friends while I lived in Manchester in the late 1990s. His family have been kind enough to host me for the week I spend up here is chilly manc-ville!

Just before Shabbat I went out to the local Kosher shops and to my amazement I was transported to mini-Mea-Shaarim!! Not only were there large numbers of Charedim but they were all speaking Yiddish! One place I went into serves all kinds of Shabbos-friendly food for takeaway such as Kugel, Cholent and Gefilte and also caters for events.

My mate Daniel is into the music scene and helps organise and run jamming and drumming events around Manchester. After Shabbat on Saturday night, we went down town to a small underground venue to watch/participate in a jammin event that consisted of freestyle m-c-ing, drumming, beatboxing, rapping, singing, poetry and even monologues. It was truly an energetic experience - witnessing genuine mancunian hip hop and grime accapella fresh and performed right in front of me. Between the sets were opportunities for audience members to have a go beatboxing, freestyling or drumming - good times!

Today I went out to visit my Aunt Vanessa who lives not far from where I am staying in the Jewish area of north Manchester. I was great to see her and catch up after all these years. We went out for lunch at a Kosher upper-class restaurant called JS and later we perused through old and new photos.

Later I went back into town to check out the local sites and take photos of the historic Gothic architecture. I visited the beautiful Manchester cathedral which houses impressive stain glass windows, magnificent altars and scary gargoyles to ward off evil spirits. I also went to check out the town hall built in a similar Gothic design and constituted a large clock tower, not dissimilar to a smaller big-ben. I also had a wander through Afflecks palace (a quirky indoor market - kind of like cosmic corner on steroids), Piccadilly gardens (the centre of town with a water fountain and space to chill) and the Arndale centre (a huge shopping mall located in the middle of town). I also saw the Manchester ferris wheel, a rip off of the London Eye in downtown Manchester. Although I did not bother to pay for the ride, it does look impressive at night shadowing the old Victorian and Gothic buildings that lie in the background.

Tomorrow I am off for a day trip to Liverpool. There is still heaps to do in Manchester - hopefully I do not run out of time before I leave to Amsterdam!

Oh and btw - I am going to the Man Utd game on Tuesday - look out for the little spot at the top of the North stand :)