Manchester

I'm in Manchester in the UK this week. What a change after the 48 degree heat of the Middle East. The UK has just had the highest rainfall since records were kept. It's freezing cold, pissing with rain and the wind is howling. A normal summer day here in the UK i gather.

I've never been in this part of the UK. Manchester is a very industrial city. It played a huge part in the Industrial Revolution in the 1800's. Parts of the city are very run dowm, grimy, and definitely not somewhere to walk alone late at night. but there is a revival. The old factories along the canals, long empty, are being refurbished and sold off as upmarket lofts and apartments. It's an expensive place - a two bedroom apartment (average place) goes for $700,000.

The UK has a sense of history i do not find in the US or Dubai. The pic I took of one of the old railway bridges. The bridge is over 200 years old, and still in us every day. The house? The local guy i was with thought 250 to 400 years. His own house is over 600 years old. and still standing.