MANCHESTER DIARIES-PART 3 & FINAL… JULY 2024

So I am on the flight again only this time on my way home. The 12 days I have spent in Manchester have absolutely fled by and I can’t believe that my holiday is over.

Hemu and Jijajee live in a town called Bramhall which is about a 40 minute drive from the centre of Manchester. It is a very pretty

suburb and is not as busy and crazy as the city centre and now there are lots of restaurants near the house so you don’t really need to go into town. The beauty of Bramhall is that you just drive for about 15-20 minutes and you are in the picturesque countryside which England is famous for. The problem with going into town is that for a start the traffic is terrible but worst of all is finding parking for when you finally do manage to get there. My sister has started to do a very clever thing. There is an excellent tram service which stops in many of the main areas in town so she parks at one of the stops about half way from her house and Manchester and then takes the tram in. We wanted to go shopping into town so we did exactly this and it was a great adventure for me!! I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat the whole way in. The tram was really clean and punctual and we reached in a jiffy!

We had lunch at another of my favourites… again nothing fancy and available nowadays in pretty much every major city in the world… Wagamama… and I love it! Good, wholesome, tasty food… probably not the healthiest but I’m on holiday so all’s good!!

The big football match was scheduled for Wednesday.. England vs Netherlands and the winner was through to the Finals in Berlin so this was a must watch. I really wanted to enjoy a good atmosphere so we decided to go to a typical English Pub to watch the match. That proved slightly more difficult than we expected because everywhere was full but Hemu used the ‘my sister has come all the way from India and is desperate to watch the match’ pitch and the woman

in the pub took pity on us and gave us a table! I was delighted and we all went and had a fantastic evening amongst over a hundred football fans and cheered and clapped our way to glory… England won and it was an extremely exciting match and we all left in high spirits. Now unfortunately I will have to watch the final at an unearthly hour on Sunday night… if anyone wants to join me they are most welcome!!

We have also watched a whole lot of tennis with Wimbledon underway but I don’t really know many of the players nowadays especially the women.. forget about knowing them… I can’t even pronounce their names!! However it is exciting and the standard of the game has just got better and better. I am going to be a real couch potato on Sunday.. first men’s final in the tennis and then England vs Spain at night.

On our last day in Manchester we went for a lovely lunch out to Cibo Grand Cafe and then decided we would stay home for dinner and Hemu was cooking Indian food. Now no trip to Manchester is complete without eating cheese toast and baked beans (only Heinz of course) with Mummy’s red masala sprinkled on top. We might eat in fancy Michelin star restaurants, other lovely bistros and cafés but this cheese toast just hits the spot. It is grated Cheddar and Cheshire cheese with just the right mix of onions, tomatoes, peppers, sweetcorn, green chillies and coriander. It truly warms the soul and is the most comforting food around. Mummy didn’t really eat cheese except for this dish and she perfected it and passed it on to all the family. I have tried making it in India but it just doesn’t taste the same… even to the extent of carrying the cheese back with me so this is probably the reason I crave to eat it. I normally have this the day I land and the day I leave so Hemu very kindly made Indian for all of them and cheese toast for me!

So I will soon reach home with lovely memories of my recent trip. It was so nice meeting everyone, reminiscing about old times, interacting with the youngsters and basically having such a good time. I am blessed to have such a lovely family who always welcome me with open arms and love in their hearts. Till next time!!!