For the last 30-odd years, I have been a supporter of the Manchester United Football Club. It doesn’t matter if you like them or loathe them as a team, they have been a great source of entertainment over the years and I have enjoyed watching their matches. But, although I love the beautiful game, I have never been to Old Trafford. On the other hand, my husband has been there a lot.
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Heading to Manchester
The first thing that you need to know about me when it comes to travelling is that I am terrible. I hate to fly, I get nervous navigating around places I don’t know, and I insist on taking my time. So, getting me to the airport is always fun. For this trip to Manchester, it was just going to be me and my husband. Why? Because we wanted it that way. Besides, the plan was to run a marathon together and it can be very hard to arrange babysitting at the best of times. So, my mother-in-law took the kids for the weekend so that we could relax and run the marathon in peace without worrying about them.
Where we stayed
Because it was just me and my husband, we were able to splash the cash on a fancier hotel. We decided on Doubletree Hilton in Picadilly, and we were definitely disappointed. The room was an average size, there was a decent view, but there was no bath. Call me a snob but if I’m paying that much for a hotel room, I expect there to be a bath. Obviously, I didn’t read the information online properly, but still, the Premier Inn had a bath. This put a bit of an issue in our plans as we had planned on having a bath after the marathon with some salts to help with the sore muscles. Also, the price of the room didn’t include breakfast. Do you know how much they were going to charge us for breakfast for 3 days? £60! I don’t eat breakfast so it would have been up to my husband to do his best and I doubt he could eat that much food in the morning.
Our day trips
The only day that we really had to ourselves was Saturday so we took the opportunity to go and walk around Old Trafford. Like I said at the beginning, I have never been there even though I have been a life-long Manchester United fan. There was no football match on that day but the ground were being used for a rugby match, Don’t ask me who, I have no idea (Dragons v Snakes?) and we could only walk around certain parts. As we walked, my husband started talking about all things football, such as what the bundesliga fixtures were doing and the offside rule. For the most part, I could follow along with the conversation. However, my concern was taking photos. All around the place were snippets of history to do with Manchester United Football Club. He took great pride in walking me around and showing me all of the football-related plaques and statues. One of my favourites has to be the statue of George Best with Dennis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton. If you didn’t know this, George Best was from my neck of the woods and his funeral was on my 21st birthday.
We shopped
Let’s face it, I could come all that way and not spend a small fortune in the football shop. I picked up banners, teddy bears, footballs, and all kinds of Manchester United football gear. The only thing that I didn’t buy was a bunch of football kits for everyone. However, I plan on going back, possibly to watch a game, and I plan on kitting everyone out when I get the chance. Would I have bought more? Yes, but unfortunately, my suitcase will only hold so much so I was limited to what I could bring back as souvenirs for everyone. I knew that the kids would love the bits and pieces that they were given, and they were the only opinions that mattered to me. We didn’t limit our shopping to just football stuff because we headed to the Trafford Centre for some retail therapy too. So, between there, Old Trafford Football grounds, and eating out in Archies, my purse got quite the thumping that day.
Overall
Our time in Manchester was pretty good. Of course, it could have been better but next time I will try a different hotel and I’ll bring more spending money. We never made our way around all of the Trafford Centre and I would love to go to Old Trafford to watch a football game. Maybe next time we will bring the kids for a mini-break. As for the Manchester Marathon, that is a different post entirely.