Manchester: more than a football team. Really.
Manchester is undeniably an industrial town. It's all heavy stone and hard edges. I set out a little early and headed towards the town hall. Manchester's town hall is, it turns out, a famous piece of architectural standing by Alfred Waterhouse. It is, indeed, very impressive. It's a pretty impressive edifice, really. Since it was a bank holiday, though, I did not get to tour the inside. For those of you who are wondering, bank holidays are basically just regularly scheduled national holidays for which they failed to come up with significance, so they just called them "bank holidays" which worked because banks were closed for them. Museums are generally open on bank holidays, though, which was good for me. First, I made my way to the Museum of Science and Industry. This museum demonstrates and chronicles the history of Manchester and the rise of industry there. Of particular interest: a floor of working cotton refining and weaving equipment, a walk-through timeline of the city, and an underground timeline of the development of water and sewer systems. There is also a room of engine development history from hydraulics to steam to diesel. A short walk across the road brings you to the section devoted to vehicles. I found the building far more intriguing that the contents. That's no real fault of the Museum, though but rather a result of having been to the Naval Air Museum and the Smithsonian. And, granted, aerospace industry isn't really what Manchester is all about.
Following this, I took the Metrolink to the Imperial War Museum North. Earlier I had attempted to walk there. That was a no-go. When I reached a place with no more sidewalks, I figured I wasn't supposed to be walking that way. Haha. This time I asked for directions and was guided go the metrolink. That worked much better. IWM North is housed in an absolutely compelling building and filled with truly personal reflections on Britain's wars...well, WWI and following. The exhibits are quite well done and punstuated by personal accounts. Every little while they run an audio-visual program in the Great Hall that combines narration, personal accounts, and projected images and video to really immerse you in Britain's experience of the world wars. Having been to the D-Day Museum, I found it compelling to see it from a different perspective. While much can be said for our battlefront contributions (and the shift in societal morale upon the arrival of the American troops in WWII was interestingly noted), we've got nothing on the endurance of the civilian front here in England. Not only were they, too, suffering rations and sacrifice, they were also living in constant alert and response to the blizt campaign. It was intense to experience that history here. As the displays go all the way to the 21st century, I also found the approach to the Cold War, and the current wars (Afghanistan: yeah, ok; Iraq: akshdfiouiojfioufwe, basically.), intriguing. I found myself stunningly taken aback by a large picture of the 2nd WTC tower collapsing. I should have expected it, I suppose, but I stood there startled to tears and yet unable for a minute to move away. Perhaps it should feel differently almost nine years later, but it doesn't really. For whatever that's worth.
I spent the rest of the day meandering through Manchester. In all honesty, this was when I hit a wall of loneliness. I grabbed some Subway and ate it in the town square feeling mildly miserable. Then I wandered back to the hostel for lack of something better to do. One of my roommates was apparently having a personal crisis in French over Skype, however, so I plugged in my camera battery and went downstairs to use the Internet. Then I grabbed my mostly charged battery and went for a walk to take pictures in order to make up for not having a charged battery earlier in the day. Haha. The next morning, it was off bright and early for Kendal.