Manchester - A home away from home (well sorta)

As I walked with Mary-Lou and Lama away from the snaking path that led from [Manchester Piccadilly Station], I was filled with trepidation; would Manchester's [inner city] sights and sounds be a match for my [London|home town]?

I had been to Manchester twice already. The first time made me homesick, you see on our way to the company's "[Curry Night]" we came across a [flyover]. This flyover was a [dead ringer], a [doppelganger] for the [Paddington Green] flyover which intersects with a derelict car park¹ and Paddington station. I go under this flyover everytime I return to London, it is a welcoming sight to let me know that home is just a fleeting distance away. It's close to our [family friends] the Matta family. At the time I wanted to get out of the car and start walking over and visit them before making my way to the [parental unit]'s [domicile].

Who would have thought that a [poxy] flyover would induce a [yearning] for a heavily [polluted] and [congested] [capital]?

And when we reached [Rusholme], whose name at the time was mistakenly thought of as "Rushmore", I had conjured up images of [Mount Rushmore] with its presidents past looking outwards to the future of a fledging country. Well duh... I feel stupid now (see Document History). But at the time I thought it was a cool image to have flash into one's mind.

The part of [Oxford Road] that runs through Rusholme itself is best described as the [Las Vegas] of the North (forget [Blackpool]) with an [asian] influence. The bright neon lights whose [seductive charms] won't leave you [flat broke and penniless] but instead filled with a [curry] flavoured satisfaction.

The second time I visited the fine city I was really disappointed because the closest it could bear any semblance to my town was a [dual carriageway] that leads to [Uxbridge] and further still to [Oxford]. In short it looked nothing like my town.

So here we are back to present time, the here and the now. As we walk down towards the city centre I come across the neon lights of a hotel. Already this place was taking on look alike properties again. At which point Lama pointed out that this was "[Piccadilly]" after all. We then started to note the many similarities² in names of places between [Manchester] and [London].

Manchester I could only guess was a [fledgling] city with the [foresight] to realise the [potential] of the [automobile]. Unlike its older [London|sibling] whose [claustrophobic] road ways choke it like [cholesterol] blocked [arteries].

My night's festivities passed with dread of Monday's [repercussion]s as my co-workers would recall my drunken actions in great detail. On the way to the station I got a chance to admire [the architecture of the city] which is really quite [exotic], a sort of [post-modern] meets [gothic]. I regarded what appeared to be a buried [park hut] which was the [source of great amusement] for the rest of the bus journey.

I'm sad to report that unlike Las Vegas "[The curry mile]" (Oxford Road) [in the cruel light of day] is the mistake that you wake up next to in bed after a night's drunken escapades - it looks so plain.

For some reason I had a panic attack in the bus; I thought I was about to miss my bus stop so I jumped off. Of course I got off at the wrong stop, I was at "[St. Peter's Square]". Getting lost is usually a bad thing for me but it was [Sunday] the city was still [sleeping off] its [hangover] from [Saturday night's excess], so I figured what the hell, I'll go exploring. I would now get a chance to further [imbue] the city's architecture, this time [by foot]. Something I immediately noticed was the streets, they were [wider]. To get across safely would require [your average] [London] [jay-walker] to step up their usual [nonchalant stroll] to a [healthy canter].

It's so like London and yet so like [a big American city]... I think I'm in love.

¹ I'm pleased to inform you that the derelict car park is now being developed into a series of apartments and offices towers overlooking the canal (which is part of the "[Little Venice]" district). Yay for redeveloping my broken down town!

² Which seems to have evaded me.... oh let's see they're both cities, they got people and cars! Wow! They practically twins

Document History
[February 3, 2001|03/FEB/01]: [pjd] has confirmed it's [St. Peter's Square]. Per his advice (and a quick check on [google] I've amended Rusholme drive to just Rusholme.

[October 11, 2001|11/OCT/01]: [Stealth Munchkin] has advised me that the "curry mile" is infact a part of [Oxford Road] that passes through the [Rusholme] area. Furthermore I've made my own changes to the wording and updates such as the derelict car park.

[February 18, 2002|18/FEB/02]: [Albert Herring] gets props for noting that "intrepidation" don't exist.

Manchester (place)