The Geordie Tourist.

For our last day in Manchester we took things nice and slow. We spent most of the day just walking around and doing a spot of shopping. Manchester’s Primark is massive and my mam and I just couldn’t resist having a quick perusal. It was quick as well, we aren’t the fondest of shopping and have you seen how many floors there are?

Whilst we were in the city centre we stopped by to have a quick look at the Royal Exchange Theatre. It’s so beautiful inside. There was a nice little snug corner, with a massive armchair and settees. They also had a little gift shop that stocks lots of cool and quirky things. The ceilings were gorgeous too.

On the night time we went to the Hard Rock Café for some grub. I have been to a few of them before and whenever I go somewhere new and they have one, I just have to go. Even just to have a little look inside. I wish I was one of those people that collected a t-shirt or some other form of merchandise from each place, but I’m not. I used to be though. Now I just keep the memory of it instead. (Gosh that got a bit weird.)

I love the interiors and the cool music. It reminds me of being in America whenever I go to one and I just love the atmosphere of the place and the food. I went for the Hickory Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger. Oh My God! It tasted amazing. I wasn’t a fan of the onions though and everything was dripping everywhere, but apart from that it was top notch. My Mam and Geoff got a massive plate of nachos. I may have pinched a couple. For pudding I shared some chocolate molten cake with my mam. That was fifty times tastier than the burger. What can I say I have such a sweet tooth and I could have ate the full thing myself.

Afterwards we went to the arena to watch Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I love, love, love Frankie Valli and he didn’t disappoint. It will probably be the only chance I get to see him so I’m so pleased that I went. When he sang 'Oh What A Night' I pretty much had goosebumps.

On our way over I took a few quick snaps of the cathedral too. We never actually went inside, but it’s a gorgeous building and just beside it is a little park with massive wooden planters painted in lots of pretty colours.

I think going to a concert in a different city is a great way to go and explore somewhere new. We went for a few nights, but even just going somewhere for the day would be great.

You can catch up with Day 1 and Day 2 of my Manchester trip if you fancy.

Have any of you been exploring somewhere new recently?

When my mam and I decided we were going to Manchester there was one thing (amongst a couple of other things) that I really wanted to do, go for afternoon tea. So I got straight into researching places to go. I came across one called Hey Little Cupcake which sounded like it was right up my street.

It’s based in Spinningfields and I can only describe it as the cutest, prettiest cupcake shop I have ever seen. Honestly there are just so many hues of pink everywhere. Even the tables and chairs outside were pink.

The décor inside was fantastic too. The furniture was bright white, pink seat cushions and gingham tablecloths. The floor was pink and white check which was so funky and chic. I loved the masses of art work on the walls. They all had Hey Little Cupcake on them but there were so many different designs. It almost felt like a little art gallery kind of space. There were these amazing social media things on the wall to represent their Facebook and Twitter handles.

When we went in I stood and looked at all of the different cupcakes that they make. I love cake and it’s even better in cupcake form. They had so many nice flavours such as Eton Mess and Red Velvet.

We were the only ones in there. It’s quite a small place and they only have a few tables so I think it’s worth booking in advance in you want the afternoon tea option.

The cakes and sandwiches and things came on a vintage looking cake stand. We got egg and cress and ham and cucumber sandwiches that were shaped like cupcakes. I wasn’t too fond of the sandwiches. The bread was a bit stale and they just weren’t the best that I’ve had. Cupcakes is what this place is good at so I wasn’t worried.

We got the usual scones with clotted cream and jam and then some chocolate covered strawberries. I love a good chocolate covered strawberry. Whenever and wherever is always the perfect time for chocolate covered strawberries. (Ok I think I’ve exhausted that.)

Now for the main attraction, the cakes. We got three mini cupcakes each. One was chocolate with mint flavoured icing. Another was a red velvet one, and another was normal vanilla sponge with purple icing. I’m not going to lie I was disappointed that they were only small. For a cupcake place I expected a bit more of a bang. 

We couldn’t actually eat everything anyways and ended up taking the cakes home in a box to have later on. I’m pleased we waited. They tasted good, were really moist and the flavours were great, so in the end it was good that we only had the small ones.

It cost £12 each for the afternoon tea. Overall it was a good experience. The staff were lovely and friendly, the decor was just amazing. I loved the flavours of the cupcakes and it was just a nice little day out.

You know I love afternoon tea as much as the next person and its even better when they all aren't the same. This place definitely had a little something extra. I think I'd like to try some of their bigger cupcakes and some different flavours if I ever go back.

Have any of you been to Hey Little Cupcake?

Ginger’s Comfort Emporium is an ice cream lover’s dream. Situated in Afflecks Palace in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, it’s the perfect place to stop by and chill for a while. (No pun intended.) That’s exactly what myself and my mam did when we paid a little visit on our trip to Manchester.

Ginger’s started off as an ice cream van for grown-ups, a place to sample top notch homemade ice cream in an array of different flavours. It’s been spotted around various festivals and things. Claire Kelsey is its owner and she’s even brought out her own book ‘Melt’ where  you can learn some of her recipes or just have a bit of an experiment.

This is how I first heard about Ginger’s Comfort Emporium to start with. I bought the book on a whim one day and ever since I’ve been stalking to find out where the van will be. I’m just so pleased there was an actual shop I could go to when I visited Manchester. I pretty much planned the rest of the trip around going to this place. (I’m dedicated that’s for sure.)

The place is rustic, yet vintage. It’s rough around the edges but still has delicate details here and there. I loved the high open ceilings, the massive windows. I loved Ginger’s sign lit up behind the bar area. The gorgeous dark burgundy and blues harmonising with each other. Kind of clashing with the old fashioned woods and the falling apart in places black and white checked floor.

Honestly it’s a place with so much character. It’s a place that is just cool without even trying. A nice inviting, come and sit with us, watch the Manchester street below, whilst sipping on a milkshake kind of place and I absolutely loved it.

We took the spot right next to the window, it had a little wooden board to rest our drinks on, high stools and a casual box of books to the side. It was just relaxed and pleasant. The lady that served us was lovely and friendly too.

We both went for the OMFG milkshakes which were made of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and malt. I just need to take a second the remember the taste and appreciate it in all of its glory. It was a thing of glory too. It came in an enormous silver American style milkshake cup. The peanut butter was crunchy and every mouthful tasted like heaven. 

It's safe to say that neither of us could drink the full thing. I came a lot closer than my mam though. It was about six(ish) pound for the two of them which is really good considering the size and the quality of the ice cream. 

I love quirky little places and for me Ginger's ticks all of the boxes. If I ever find myself in Manchester I'll definitely go back for seconds. At least this time I'll know exactly where to go. For now though, I have the 'Melt' book to keep me company. I've got twitchy fingers thinking about what to make first.

Have any of you been to Ginger's Comfort Emporium?

Made any of the recipes from the 'Melt' book?

The second day my mam and myself spent most of it walking around the town. We spent another good chunk of it trying to find particular places. I’m a planner. When I know I’m going somewhere I hunt out places to go. We had booked to have afternoon tea at a place called Hey Little Cupcake. We spent a good twenty minutes following the maps on our phones to try and find it. I have a separate post on that so I’ll say more about that later.

We also went to The John Rylands Library. Think gorgeous Gothic building full of ancient books and rare manuscripts. I am a massive book nerd, and spending time walking around a huge, antique library makes me feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. (I wish) I love exploring places and just finding out something new. I didn’t even know Manchester had this big famous library. The outside looked gorgeous to start with and the inside was a cross between a cathedral and something else. The stained glass windows and the old wooden flooring were amazing. I took so many pictures.

After the library, I dragged my mam on a mission to find a place called Ginger’s Comfort Emporium. If I thought it was hard finding the cupcake place, it was nothing compared to this. It’s located in a place called Afflecks, (Manchester's Northern Quarter) which is basically a cooky, creative shopping centre type place that houses all of these different kinds of cool and eclectic businesses and shops. It took a while to find that. Then when we got inside we were walking around like lost sheep. Honestly we had almost given up until we spotted it poking out of a little corner.

I just knew that I couldn’t go to Manchester without paying a little visit to Ginger's Comfort Emporium and sampling something. Ever since I knew I was going that's the first place I wanted to go. Again, I’ve made a separate post about that so I won’t say too much. Just know that it was probably one of the best milkshakes that I’ve ever tasted and that even a few hours later I was still full after drinking it, and that it affected me when we went for afternoon tea. Boy did I struggle. 

In the evening we were supposed to be going to the Cornerhouse to see a play called Kafka's Monkey, but it got cancelled at the last minute. So instead Geoff (my mam's fiance) came to meet us and we went to the cinema instead.

We went to the Odeon in the Printworks to see Jurassic World. I thought the film was amazing and working at an Odeon myself, I now want to go to each one just once so I can see how different they all are. (Sad I know, but what can you do.)

You can check out the first part of my trip here.

Have any of you been to Manchester lately?
Have you see Jurassic World yet?

When myself and my mam were in Manchester and dreaming of delectable sandwiches and cakes there was only one place that we wanted to go. I’m saying this as if we hunted the place out, but really we luckily, coincidentally stumbled upon it. You can find it in Stephenson Square, Northern Quarter, Manchester in case you’re wondering.

Incognito UK is the café of dreams. Think quirky mismatched chairs gently nestled in amongst gadgets and arty cards. Think artist’s studio but somewhere you can stop for a cuppa and a bit of food.

Honestly when we walked through the door our eyes were bulging out of our heads. There were just so many interesting things to look at. My fingers were twitching to take some photos that’s for sure. 

Immediately a lovely lady welcomed us and asked us what we fancied. Incognito UK don’t really have a menu as such, I later found one on one of the tables. The lady who served us just asked us what we fancied and she said she would make it for us. I’m not saying ask for lobster or tiramisu or anything, but any sandwich filling, any crepe topping. I think that would have been achieved.

We were the only ones in there, so we just left the table and wandered around the shop whilst our food was being made. I’ve never been somewhere for lunch where I could just get up and have a little browse around. Normally I just have to people watch. ‘People watching’ is amazing though. Looking at funky mugs and weird and fun Knick-knacks is just as good though.

My mam ordered tea and it came in a cool skull teapot. The sugar on the tables was in old fashioned cans. There were just so many different patterns and designs about. You could buy the chairs too, there was one with a duck print which I loved. Various cushions were on the sofa we sat on and you could decorate them yourself with pens which was just fab. There were even glass jars filled with water and little plastic goldfish floating about. The place was just all kinds of cool.

Food wise I ordered a ham, cheese and tomato baguette with salad. It came on a groovy coaster and had some hummus on the side. It tasted great and the bun was fresh. My mam went for a Nutella crepe which came with lots of cream and chocolate sprinkled on the top. 

It came to about a tenner for the food, tea and a bottle of water which isn't too bad. Like I said, my sandwich tasted great, it wasn't too heavy with the bread and the hummus was a nice touch.

We didn't end up buying anything from the actual shop, but just looking around was good enough for us. If you are in the area and fancy going somewhere different its worth checking this place out. even if you don't fancy food, check out the shop. I know they also do printing and frames and things if you need anything of the sort.

Have any of you been to Incognito UK before?