As a native Liverpudlian, I have grown up safe in the knowledge that my city of birth is a right cracker. Have you seen it? It's a beauty, really it is.

Arriving in Manchester as a student was a shock. Freshers' Week of '97 was notorious for the amount of murders that occurred around the city. It rained, it rained some more, it rained still more and I had to ring home to ask for some money to buy myself a raincoat. The city was horrible, there weren't any lovely bits as far as I could see, me and my ill-choice 'first-week-friends' kept ending up in bars with dodgy blokes in black shirts, slacks, and moustaches. It also, did not feel like a safe place to be.

And so, over the years, I've seen Manchester change like crazy to become the nation's second city; a cosmopolitan, urban, and cool capital of the North. With this in mind, the Sky Cloud family ventured out a few weeks ago on a SUNNY day for a wander through the city centre and a trawl along the canal tow paths.

First off: we now have an amazing network of trams - the Metro that take you anywhere you want to go much more quickly than any other option. We live on a very recently opened line which has now become the most used - I like to think this is because it connects the most urbane of citizens along the 'Line of Cool'.

Central Library

On arrival, we are met by the recently renovated Central Library. It really is a wonderful place. It has an awesome reading room in the dome that amplifies the slightest of whispers like a Marshall amp - very beautiful. Jake Gyllenhaal could easily bunk up here safe from a giant freeze if so needed. I also happen to know that loads of people are using it. It has become, for my students at least, the place to meet up for a spot of revision - or at least, to think about the revision you should be doing.

City Art Gallery

Next in the triumvirate of beauty, is the also recently renovated (spot the theme yet?!) Manchester City Art Gallery which is quite the nicest way to spend a Sunday, and gives your kids one of those cute explorer back packs to keep them engaged. It is also (heads up) the best place to be for the Chinese new Year parade - but don't tell anyone.

Town Hall

Theatre module inside the Exchange

A quick wander takes you into St Anne's Square where you will find the amazing Royal Exchange Theatre. A stunning building right in the centre of the shopping district, I've seen some amazing theatre in there, and Mr Sky Cloud has slept through some of the finest plays ever written safe in the comfort of its fine surroundings. It's got a cool suspended theatre in the round - apparently the largest in the country and this sits inside a beautiful old hall that used to be a stock exchange many moons ago. This is such a great space that it deserves two photos.

After a brief stop for a nice cup of tea, we wobbled through town in the direction of Canal Street and headed for the canal tow path that runs from there to the Deansgate area renowned for its bars and the crazy amount of people who flock there on a SUNNY day - like us.

Now that Thing One and Thing Two are slightly older, I don't have quite the same fear about them falling into the canal. Given that it's mostly path-level and filled with all manner of gross things (even an eel or two I suspect) and that a spate of bodies have been pulled out recently, it's a nice reminder of the dark side of life. On our SUNNY day walk, this also made for an excellent juxtaposition of loveliness and darkness befitting Manchester's eerie Victorian past.

Anyway, a nice walk on its own (not one to be taken at night...), we passed some scientists doing some sort of rubbish flow experiment, an easily missed duck house that all Conservative MPs would be proud to have in their backyards, and found ourselves at the back of what was the Haçienda nightclub, and is now a block of ubiquitous 'luxury apartments'.

The 'Haç' as those of us in the know refer to it, was the the centre of the Madchester years and home to FAC51 records - all that stuff makes me shudder frankly, but I do recognise its importance to the city. But did I mention my Liverpool heritage? The Beatles? Need I say more?!

Eventually, after some hair-raising near misses with the children trying to fall in, we ended up outside Barça. I had the pre-children feeling that this would be a perfect opportunity for a fancy cocktail in a splendid glass. Thankfully, the over-crowded bar coupled with two kids who really don't like chilling out on a SUNNY day saved me from such whimsey and we settled for a quick but lovely glass of wine before the children's patience expired.


After the speedy wine, we crossed the bridge - for the first time, embarrassingly - and wandered along the canal basin. And who'd have thought it? There is a secret community of barge people all tied up along the edge having an excellent time on this SUNNY Manchester day. We even spotted a whole bunch of goose eggs proving that you never know what's under your nose, or around the corner.

With Beetham Tower - Manchester's only skyscraper - looming over us, we trotted off for a spot of dinner at our favourite restaurant Dimitri's, and filled our bellies with delicious kebabs and baklava (and more wine).


So what can I conclude from all this? Well, firstly, that Manchester does have nice weather and isn't actually the rainiest city in the UK. When the sun comes out, this is a great city - there's tons going on and it's got some heavy-weight, big player 'things-to-see'.

You know what though? It ain't no Liverpool; that city owns my heart. Stay tuned for part two of this: A Day Out in Liverpool...