With it being half term we wanted a bit of a break without going too far or breaking the bank. So we decided on an overnight trip to Manchester so that a) my son could hunt for different Pokemon b) we could visit museums etc. So on a frosty morning we headed up to Oxenholme train station:
It only takes 1 1/4 hours from Kendal to central Manchester but it feels a world away when you arrive at Piccadilly Station:
My son didn't waste much time in setting several eggs incubating and hunting down the Halloween special Pokemon as I navigated us through the city centre. It was a good job I took several battery packs with us as it was long day:
Piccadilly Gardens are currently being renovated with the water supply for the fountains being replaced. This meant that most of it was inaccessible but the multitude of Pokestops including Queen Victoria where all accessible:
Our first target was the Arndale Centre as my son had spotted that a Match Attax event was taking place there. It turned out to be so popular that we only went to the shop part! Then we headed off to the Museum of Science and Industry via the Halloween decorated streets:
My son was really pleased with how many Pokestops there are in a big city and all the extra ghost type Pokemon he was capturing:
He was however totally uninterested that we walked past the old Granada TV studios where Coronation Street was filmed:
He also wasn't too impressed about being dragged into MoSI:
The Manchester Science Festival was taking place and I managed to persuade him to have a go at some of the interactive events:
We did also have a good chat with a physicist about Anti Matter and how they trap the anti protons and neutrons to make energy. He was slightly enthused by the live science show:
The steam train and engines didn't hold much of his attention either! Lots of the museum is being refurbished so we won't be back until 2018 to see what they have done...
One of my favourite parts as a teen was the Transport display. I must be doing something wrong as he wasn't all that keen again!!
However hatching another Pickachu made him happy:
We then crossed over the water to our hotel in Ordsall, a simple but comfortable enough place to spend the night:
The next morning we fortified ourselves with a McDonald's breakfast with added iPad:
It was supposedly a 30 minute walk to Salford Quays but we meandered a bit across the Manchester Ship Canal and took an hour:
Along the canal there were plenty of things to celebrate Salford's maritime history and luckily for me they were Pokestops so we had a chance to check them out:
Eventually after passing Old Trafford we reached our goal of Media City:
I dragged my son round to hunt out the Blue Peter garden and its tribute to a childhood icon Petra:
We were waiting for a friend so nipped inside on the public accessible buildings to have a drink and for me to get close to some more TV icons:
When my friend and her son arrived we set off on our Pokemon hunt starting with this Pokestop:
We were hoping to find plenty of water types down along the canal. My son and my friend also teamed up to battle a gym whilst I appreciated the view:
Eventually we came back to Media City and we hadn't found any of the elusive dratini but I found bits of Salford Quays I hadn't known existed! It was a bit wet when we got back but it didn't deter the boys from checking out the benches:
After lunch I persuaded my son that popping back over the canal to the Imperial War Museum North was a good idea:
The museum is housed in a very modernistic building that leaves no clues as to what is in side:
The main exhibition space takes you from WW1 to modern conflict. My son was intrigued by this poem by Wilfred Owen:
There were some much larger things on show too:
We then caught a tram back to Piccadilly Gardens and sat next to several Pokestops which had a lure attached and a convenient cafe:
Then we caught the train back to the countryside!
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