The 'rents visit!

So last weekend, my parents flew in to Manchester for a visit, to coincide with a meeting that I had on the Saturday.

I had already taken that Friday off before I even knew that there was a meeting so it worked out as a nice little weekend break. I drove up early on the Friday to avoid rush hour traffic and, using my ever trusty sat nav, I made it to the very fancy Bewleys hotel.

Hotel room, Manchester airport

While I waited for my parents to land, I ironed my outfit for the meeting, settled into the room, unpacked and watched some tv. Since Dad got his iphone, we have been keeping in touch by email, so I was constantly updating my email app until I got a 'ratta tat tat' on my door. It was so great to see my parents after being apart for two months, especially as I won't be able to make it home until September at the earliest.

After a quick rest, we decided to head to the Trafford centre for a look around, some food and evening entertainment. I had heard a lot about the Trafford centre before heading up, but to be honest, I wasn't that impressed. It was quite similar to the Dundrum town centre, at home. A large corridor of all the usual high street shops, decorated with roman themed paintings and golden detail edges. The best part of the shopping centre, was the food court. Uniquely decorated to mock a New Orleans street, Chinatown, a Moroccan market or an Egyptian village. The centre seating area, is made to look like the deck of an old river boat... with a giant TV of course.

Trafford centre food court

After a spot of browsing the shops, we decided to go for some dinner. After months of watching Saturday kitchen live, learning about new foods and enjoying discovering culinary delights; I decided to take my parents to Carluccio's italian restaurant. Creating new memories with my family in the country that I now live. The best part was the gluten free pasta; first time in over 4 years that I've ordered pasta in a restaurant and it tasted amazing. I ordered home made maize and rice penne pasta with cockles in a buttery sauce. For dessert, I ordered a chocolate fondant. It was beautifully made with ground almonds, kalua and dark chocolate. Similar to the cake I made last week.

Amazing chocolate delight!

As it was still early, we decided to drive over to Chill Factor. An indoor ski slope for skiing and snow boarding. There is a special viewing area at the bottom of the slope which my Dad found in order to get pictures. The room is quite quite cool so I was very pleased I had brought my jacket. I have never been skiing, the closest thing I've got was slipping while crossing the road over the Christmas last year. I'm sure it's quite the same. Cold all around you, rush of wind in your face, adrenaline pumping, then the sharp sting when you hit the icy ground.

Chill Factor
We headed back to the hotel to watch an hour of Channel 4's Comedy Gala before the parents needed to go to bed. I hosted the party in my room, moving the sofa and providing snacks, so afterwards it was quick and easy to settle for the night.
Saturday morning, after making plans over breakfast, it was time for me to leave for my meeting. I set the sat nav and drove 30 minutes and obviously arrived 20 minutes early for my meeting. It went by with exchange of information and the usual provision of snacks. Then, it was time to meet my parents at Bury market. Bury is an array of market stalls, food halls (featuring famous Bury black pudding), shopping centres and outdoor shops. For dinner, we ended up in an O'Neils pub. It was the first time that I had been in the UK chain of Irish pubs and I was shocked at my own stubbornness for not going in sooner. They have Cidona, Club Orange and Tayto crisps... very exciting! Full Irish breakfast; great for me, not for the rents
Mum asked if we could visit her childhood home of Heywood, about 10 minutes from Bury. On the journey, I learned about my mum's history, featuring my Granny, Granddad, Great-grandfather and Great Uncle. As we turned in to Heywood cemetery, I was fully briefed on my long history in his country. With the help of two local dog walkers and a quick call to Granny, we we managed to find my Great-Grandfather's grave. I will always be Irish but it was humbling to hear about the English side of my family history.
On the way back to the hotel, we decided to stop by the Trafford centre for a coffee and a cake. We stopped by Selfridges, a quirky shop that I had never seen before. The foyer had a variety of supermarket food from the US. Oreo cookies, Kraft Mac'n'cheese, Tim tams, Aunt Bessy's maple syrup as well as Lucky charms cereal.
"You'll never get me lucky charms"
On Sunday morning, before my parents flights, we went to the Manchester aviation viewing centre. This centre has many planes that you can explore as well as featuring the first concord "Alpha Charlie". Then it was time to drop off the parents by the side of the road (right guys? ha) and head home.

"Alpha Charlie" concord plane