About 45 minutes outside the town centre is one of my favourite places in Manchester - Salts Mill. An old mill that has since been turned into a very modern art gallery, restaurant and artist space, it was originally built by Sir Titus Salt, a factory owner who made his fortune in the wool industry. Despite his wealth, he was also conscious of the welfare of his workers and built around the factory a village called Saltaire.
(more information - http://www.saltsmill.org.uk, pictures sourced from google)
I could spend hours in Salts Mill, just wondering around the different floors full of art materials, paintings, photographs, conceptual furniture and books. There is also a whole floor dedicated to the work of David Hockney, an artist who i particularly admire (and a good friend of the owner). Unable to resist, i bought myself a beautiful style/fashion book and some postcards - one a dark brooding photo of Hockney himself and the other of him surrounded by other artists including Andy Warhol.
We had lunch in the cafe, Salts Diner, where the food is as delicious as the mill is breathtaking. I enjoyed a mushroom tagliatelle and yummy bakewell tart for dessert.
After a bit of a rest, one good meal was quickly followed by another. A tradition of visiting family in Manchester for me has always been going out for Chinese. The restaurant has changed over the years, but the quality of Manchester's Chinese food remains almost unbeatable. A table filled with a variety of dishes from duck pancakes to dumplings to seaweed steadily disappeared into our stomachs.
Still yet to experience Manchester's nightlife, J and I went out to see what it was all about. Unfortunately we had obviously picked the wrong time of year, because all the uni student were at home for the holidays, and the place was rather deserted. We ended up having a few quiet drinks in the Moon on the Water (a pub), chatting about what we thought the rest of the trip would hold for us.
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