Lincoln Square, Part I

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Manchester was the world's leading textile manufacturer in the late 19th century and imported most (if not all) of its raw cotton from the souther United States. As such, the American Civil War had a tremendous impact on the Manchester economy and contributed to the Lancashire Cotton Famine from 1861 - 1865. There is a memorial to Abraham Lincoln in a small square not far from City Hall. What I have copied below is from a plaque on the statue and is an extract of an address "from the working people of Manchester to His Excellency Abraham Lincon, President of the United States of America."

Free Trade Hall Public Meeting 31 December 1862

"...the vast progress which you have made in the short space of twenty months fills us with hope that every stain on your freedom will shortly be removed and that the erasure of that foul blot on civilisation and Christianity-chattel slavery - during your Preseidency, will cause the name of Abraham Lincoln to be honoured and revered by posterity. We are certain that such a glorious consummation will cement Great Britain and the United States in close and enduring regards..."

Pretty cool. On another side of the monument is an extract of President Lincoln's repsponse to the people of Manchester. Stay tuned for Part II.

This one's for Dad and Danny

One of the most famous hotels in Manchester is the Midland Hotel. Its a beautiful old building, not too far from where I am staying. It's claim to fame is that it was the site of a meeting between 2 gentlemen: Charles Stuart Rolls and Fredrick Henry Royce in 1904. This meeting led to the formation of the now world-famous Rolls Royce car company. There are 2 plaques outside that commerate this event (if you look closely, you can see my reflection in one of them as I took the pictue!).

Pub Night

Back in college, "Pub Night" was generally Thursday nights. That's because, by the time we were old enough to drink (legally, that is), we were seniors and had pretty much arranged our class schedules to have Fridays off. A three-day weekend - EVERY weekend? Those were the days. Here in England, ANY night is pub night, but I guess the Friday night following payday is an especially popular pub night. And since most Brits get paid at the end of the month, tonight was the night. However, the non-smoking ban has not taken effect in Britain yet (I am told it is sometime this summer, although exact dates differ by who you ask), so I was not prepared to come back to my room smelling like an ashtray. :-(

However, I had a good excuse for leaving early, as my good friend Sherry has promised to give me a call tonight and I can't pass up a good chat fest from home. Especially since the only ringing phone I hear these days is my wake up call each morning!

Somehow, I feel quite confident that next Friday will be a "Pub Night," too.

Virtual Stitch

Among the many things I miss at home, is the opportunity to attend "Stitch Night" at my friend Cheryl's with the girls. It is sometimes the only opportunity I have to work on my cross-stitch or needlepoint projects (plural - there are always more than one!) and I have the added benefit of catching up with old (and new) friends from Talbots. Sometimes Cheryl's husband Bill cooks dinner and then I get to add a home-cooked (delicious) meal to the evening! What could be better? So, since Stitch Night is usually on Tuesdays, I have implemented "Virtual Stitch Night" where I will do my stitching from my hotel room and send them pictures each week with my progress. We'll see how that goes. At the moment, I am trying to find a needlework shop in Manchester so I can see what the English have to offer. No luck yet. I know there are some in the surrounding towns and certainly in London, but I need another project like I need a hole in the head. :-)

My magnetic personality

The room keys at my new home are imbedded with microchips (as opposed to the credit-card like strips that are found on most US hotel keys). You need a room key to access the elevator (or "lift" as the Brits call them), which is a nice safety feature. The other cool thing is that, once you enter your room, you place your room key in a small box on the wall right inside the door. The main purpose of this is to turn the lights on and off (the other purpose, I am sure, it to remind you to take the key with you when you leave). I think this is a great energy- saving feature and should be more widely adopted. Of course, it does not prevent me from sleeping with a few lights on (occupational hazard - I have, on occasion, woken up in the middle of the night and had absolutely NO idea where I was. Quite terrifying, I assure you).

Anyways, what does all of this have to do with my magnetic personality, you ask? Well, since checking in last Wednesday (I have now been here a week and a day!), I have had to have my room key re-keyed or replaced six times. The front desk is baffled and it has become somewhat of a joke. The best my friend Paul and I can determine is that my magnetic personality must be decoding my room key. What other explanation could there possibly be?????

My home away from home

I thought you might like to see where I have taken up residence for the next few months. This is a picture of the outside of the building; if I can remember to take some pictures of my room while the bed is still made, I will. Maybe this weekend.

Just in Case

On my way to and from the officce each day I pass the following storefront. I guess it's a good to know where you can find one of these services....... just in case! ;-)

Tuckers 24 Hr Criminal Lawyers (the sign's a little hard to read)

Ooops....

So my favorite 11-year old brought to my attention that you could not add a comment to my blog unless you were signed in..... Looks like I had a setting messed up. I have since changed it and you should be able to add comments now without an issue. Try it out - I would love to hear from you. :-)

PS - still raining today.

Mom always said....

to look both ways before crossing the street. That was never more true than here. Whereas we American are conditioned to looking left, then right, then left again before stepping out onto the street, that methodlogy would surely get you killed over here. Unfortunately, there are exceptions to every rule and Manchester seems to have more than its fair share of one way streets that totally negates the reverse logic of looking right, then left, then right again! So, I try to be as careful as possible and just follow the crowd (at least I will die with company, I guess!). My biggest fear is that about the time I finally adapt to crossing the street in England, I will get back home and immeadiately step in front of the first MBTA bus that comes my way.

It finally rained

I checked out the Vistor's Center and low and behold there was a walking tour leaving in 10 minutes. So, I joined in. Among the many interesting things I learned on the tour is that, during the American Civil War, many Manchester citizens wrote letters of support to President Lincoln. This is quite notable since much of the cotton harvested by the southern slaves was transported to Manchester as it was a large producer of textiles. The impact of the abolution of slavery had a significant impact on the Manchester economy. None the less, there is a statue of Lincoln in a square near the city hall. I did not get a picture of it, but I will try and make my way back and post one soon. Also, I need to post a picture of the City Hall as it is an absolutely beautiful building. Very gothic.

Today I checked out the art museum and I will definitely be going back - its free and right across the street. What could be more convenient? When I left the museum, it had rained, so now Manchester has lived up to its reputation. We will see how the weather holds for the rest of the week.

The internet service at the hotel was down for most of the weekend, which had me feeling a bit isolated at times. But, here it is 11:00 (when I should be getting to bed), but I thought, let me check one last time - and it's up. I feel like an addict getting a fix! What did we ever do without the internet??

More tomorrow.

Jolly England

Well, I guess it is best to start at the beginning. I arrived in Manchester bright and early Wednesday morning (how early depends on the time zone your frame of reference is in). For me, it was about 2:30 AM, but in England, it was 7:30 AM, so I've spent the rest of the week adapting to my NEW frame of reference.) :-)

Those famous black London cabs are also prevalent in the north of England and I had a nice cabbie named John, who took me to my hotel and chatted all the way. He was very specific in telling me that I should *never* hail a cab that is not a licensed black cab. He apologized for sounding like my father, but I assured him that my Dad would appreciate his dispensing with that critical advice.

My co-worker Paul was waiting for me at the hotel and since there was no room available for me to check into, I stored my luggage, brushed my teeth and off we went. Everyone at the client is extremely friendly and it was a pretty low-key day getting acclimated to the office, etc. I have to keep reminding myself that, over here, *I* am the one with the funny accent.

Today is Saturday and I slept in quite late. My plan is to head over to the Visitors Center nearby and collect some brochures on things to do & places to go over the next few months. I did bring my camera, so I will be posting some pictures soon.