Manchester is a city I have been too reasonably frequently for the last ten or so years because my sister lives there! But apart from a very unsustainable haul post I made when I was 14 I've never really posted about it. So here I am! This is a very wet Friday in Manchester.


Visiting
Victoria Baths
Picture this, I had gotten off the train, dropped my suitcase off at a stasher location, bought the wrong bus ticket, then the right bus ticket, gotten a bus and trudged through the rain the get to the Victoria Baths only to find it's only open to the public on a Wednesday. A very big oops.

Thankfully for me one of the lovely staff members still gave me a quick tour, probably because she felt sorry for me just standing there in the rain, and I got to learn some of the history of the place. These days it's used for all sorts from photoshoots, filming peaky blinders, film nights, Weddings, and the occasional day where they fill the pools to let people swim!

Either way it is a beautiful building and definitely worth a visit if you're around on a wednesday or on a day where they have another event scheduled. There are plans to restore the building further and maybe open one of the pools permanently.



John Rylands Library
After my short but sweet trip to Victoria Baths I had time to visit somewhere else and was recommended John Rylands Library. This is a really interesting building because you go into this really modern gift shop and foyer before walking up into the original 1900 building.

There was a small exhibition downstairs about Peterloo, a big part of Manchester history that I had no idea existed, and then upstairs there are a lot of very old books and the rest of the library. It's not that big of a place, but it is free to enter so if you're in the area and like history and very pretty old buildings it is worth going to.
Eating
V-Rev
The eating part of my trip was probably the part I was most excited for, I mean it's a big part of life I'm always excited for. I had 3 different people recommend I visit V-Revs while I was out for the day and so I really just had to didn't I? I was sceptical at first being a vegan with a soy allergy as most vegan diners and junk food places do not cater for me. But on their website they said they could cater for soya allergies and so off I went ready to enjoy a good bit of vegan junk.

I was more than slightly disappointed when their catering for soya allergies included one whole menu item, the mac and cheese. Now I do love mac and cheese, and this was a very good mac and cheese, I just wish I'd had a little more choice. Or cake.  Along with my mac and cheese I also got the alcohol free mojito which was really good!

Would I go back? Depends. If I was out with friends and they wanted to go I'd happily go along and eat the mac and cheese but I don't think I'd go back just for that unless I was craving it. I would 100% go again if they added more soya free food to their menu though. The rest of their food looks really good, I just can't digest it...
Nibble
After my meal at V-rev I was really craving something sweet and stumbled across Nibble whilst vintage shopping. I originally planned to go to Lucky Cat, a cafe stroke retro clothing store,  but they had no cakes in. But I am very happy I stumbled on nibble because, man, the cake was good. I got an oat milk chai latte (my staple) as well as their beetroot fudge which I am happy to report tasted nothing like beetroot and was a top notch vegan cake!

While I was on my way out from V-rev I also stumble across Earth Cafe which is attached to Manchester Buddhist Centre and looked like a really nice place to eat but I (sadly) did not need two lunches and wouldn't have been able to fit any more food in my belly if I'd tried.
Shopping
Finally onto the shopping, a tradition of mine in Manchester is to go vintage shopping in the Northern Quarter. It all started in Afflecks around age 11 and I've expanded out since then. I went with the aim of buying some new trousers and a dress for graduation and came back with a shirt, a corset, and a purse. Pretty standard when shopping second hand I think.

Manchester Buddhist Centre Shop
This was a very cute shop with a lot of books, buddhist items, and vegan chocolate. I actually saw some really interesting books on the climate crisis and buddhism which I definitely think I'm going to read.

Manchester Craft & Design Centre
A really beautiful centre full of artisans. If you like jewellery and beautifully handmade art pieces this is the place for you. Whether you're going for creative inspiration, to visit a particular artist, or look for a beautiful piece of jewellery this is the place for you. They also have a cafe.

Retro Rehab
This is one of those vintage shops that is really well curated, with very genuine retro and vintage pieces in some of the most amazing colours! I always love looking at all the clothes in here because there's such a big range. If you're a lover of vintage and retro, I would definitely visit Retro Rehab

Pop Boutique
Another staple visit, I've been coming here for the past 10 years too. This is a mix of new and vintage items and though I'm not sure who manufactures their new pieces I do love the vintage stuff they have in here and bought a really great shirt.


Afflecks Palace
This place makes me feel like a 12 year old emo again, in kind of a nice way. It's changed a lot since I was last here though and I don't know whether it's just because I've gotten older or because some of the shops have changed it's lost a little bit of it's spark. I would definitely still say come visit though, it's full of vintage shops, little boutiques, a shop I've bought most of my favourite band tees from, as well as small anime stores. It's worth a visit if you're around, even just for an explore and a drink in the cafe.

We Are Cow
We have a Cow vintage in Nottingham but one of the great thing about Cow is that the clothes are curated and upcycled a lot based on local taste, so Cow Manchester has a very different vibe to Cow in Nottingham. I tried on an awful lot of trousers in this store but sadly none of them were the ones for me.

Blue Rinse
This was a new one to me but I like it in here, they have a good range of clothing as well as accessories plus some of the coolest changing rooms I've ever seen! Vintage hair accessories are something that aren't the easiest to come by but blue rinse has a fair few from both deadstock and vintage origins.

Kilo Sale
I've been to a lot of kilo sale events in various cities in the Uk and I love them, I didn't realise there was one more permanently anywhere(maybe this wasn't permanent, who knows)! This one was run by Blue Rinse I believe. Though the issue with a more permanent one is that a lot of what's left if the stuff other people didn't want. It's pretty messy in here and there's a lot of stuff I would never buy but it's still quite fun to trawl through all the clothing in search of a hidden gem.

Beaumont Organic
The only sustainable brand I could find in Manchester! I had a really good look online before I came and there are a fair few sustainable and ethical brands which were founded in Manchester but none of them have store fronts, except Beaumont. Beaumont do lots of very flowy pieces in various beautiful colours. I tried half the shop on but sadly it wasn't quite my style, it was super nice to be able to go into a sustainable brand's shop and actually try things on though! Trying on new clothing without feeling guilty is a very nice change, and I would definitely recommend giving them a visit.


Along with all the vintage shops I also stopped at every charity shop I saw. Luck must have been with me this day, I bought a cute little my neighbor totoro purse in a chairty shop for 5 pounds and found £30 in it two days later! It had been in their a while too, as the ten pound note was an old one.



So all in all a pretty successful day, even if I didn't find trousers or a graduation dress. Honestly I would have done more and probably enjoyed the day a bit more if if wasn't tipping it down, but this is the UK so you have to expect it! I definitely want to explore different areas next time I'm back in Manchester though, maybe do a museum day?

Have you taken any day trips recently? Where did you go?