Manchester & Alton Towers!

Early last Saturday morning, we took an early flight over to Manchester to visit Ali & Si. Our first stop after getting off the plane was to a big theme park called ALTON TOWERS about 100km south of Manchester.

Alton Towers was absolutely fantastic. After meeting up with the rest of the crew (Alison, Simon, Ivan, Petra, Aneela, Palkesh, Quizzy, Jane-Marie & Kendra), we went straight for the FORBIDDEN VALLEY where 2 of the top 3 rides reside. It was a hop and a run all around the park for myself and the other 'kids' :-) The theme park must be at least 3 times the size of Rainbows End and it was very well laid out. There is a lake in the middle, surrounded by a nice open grass area, there is even a castle & a nice park. Some theme parks give off that 'cheesy' vibe, well this one was none of that! My favourite rides were Nemesis (you sit suspended and you go around really really fast) and Oblivion (a giant drop straight into a hole in the ground, mate! its a jaw dropper).



We then spend the rest of the long weekend exploring Manchester. Saturday night saw us out in town at a student bar - great to be student again, only this time with some money :-) Sunday was spend exploring the main city itself. Ali, Si & Ivan were fantastic tour guides! Monday Bex & I made our way to the Museum of Science and Industry - from the top floor you can see where they film Coronation Street. Later on in the day we went to the biggest coolest shopping mall ever! its called the Trafford Centre. Its a little out of town but is absolutely huge & amazing. The food court was huge and had a big screen and a stage infront of it for entertainment. Upstairs there were proper restaurants & a cinema as well... and thats not even mentioning the shops galore!! We only had about 2 hours there which was no where near enough! need at least 1 day I say.



Anyway, all in all we had a fantastic long weekend in Manchester thanks to Ali, Si, Ivan & Aneela, Palkesh, Quizzy, Jane-Marie & Kendra. Yay for summer!!