A wander around City Centre Manchester and a picture of Nico

It’s a short while since my last post on here, which was back in November after we had returned from a really enjoyable trip to Belgium and Germany.

This latest short post picks up from the week before last when we headed off to central Manchester – not for anything in particular just to have a wander around, a coffee and a bite to eat.

As it turned out we also had a beer in the City Arms and found a mural of Christa Päffgen, the German singer who was better known by her stage name Nico.

Nico was known to me (in a music listening) sense due to her connection with the Velvet Underground.

Always something new to see

We don’t head into Manchester too often, but always enjoy our time there when we do.

I think it’s so easy to overlook where you live and there is no question that Manchester is great place to visit and so much to see and do if you have never been this way before.

We decided to take public transport into the centre from nearby to our home which is only about five or six miles east of central Manchester. The transport was on time and was a reasonable way to travel. Taking the bus certainly makes it a little easier than having to find somewhere to park the car.

We walked fairly randomly and without much purpose. Our wandering took us through Piccadilly and Deansgate as well as including the Arndale Centre, St Peters Square as well as ‘back’ streets that were less familiar to us.

We had a bite to eat in a cafe in one of the malls in the Arndale Centre around midday and made our final refreshment stop in the City Arms a very decent and traditional pub right in the heart of Manchester. It’s the hostelry where I have frequently net up with friends over the last 15 months or so. It’s also a place I would recommend for a decent pint and a good environment to sit and chat.

Stumbling on Nico

When we decided to head home we walked around two miles or so from the City Arms back to Piccadilly, then on and away from the City centre, out past Ardwick and past the giant bus station at Devonshire Street before walking a little further to catch the bus home.

Although I have driven past it many many times I had never noticed the mural painted on the gable end of Spirit Studios of Nico. A little research when I was home showed that tis was actually done back in 2018. I have included a picture of the artwork in the picture set below