Vikram and I left on Wednesday, March 12th, to spend a few days in England. We landed in Manchester on Thursday, March 13th at about 9 am and noticed something. Manchester is much colder than Houston, even in March! We took the train from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly station. From Piccadilly, we walked about 20 minutes to get to our hotel in the City Centre. (yeah, they spell things differently in England. Don’t even get me started on colours!)

Avinash really helped us at the hotel. He got us checked in and gave us some great pointers on sightseeing options. The Holiday Inn Express in Manchester City Centre has a great employee! After 11:30 a.m., we left the hotel to grab some food at Wetherspoon. If you have never been, you should try it. It is a chain of pubs and restaurants in the UK and Ireland—good food and better drinks. We tried Carling there.

After lunch, we decided to visit the National Football Museum. If you want to spend 90 minutes soaking in the history of the great game of football, this is the place to be. We really enjoyed our time there.

Walking back from the Museum, we decided to grab coffee at Starbucks. While waiting for our order, I looked out the window and started screaming. Those of you who know me know that I have a thing for the Hard Rock Cafe. I collect trinkets from there – shirts, mugs, shot glasses – you know the deal. I don’t have anything that says “Manchester” on it, so off we went. I hope Vinita likes what her brother got for her.

When we got back to the hotel around 3 p.m., we decided to get some rest. I don’t know if the trip over the Atlantic had us jet-lagged, but we took a quick nap nonetheless. In the evening, we were hungry, so we decided to try Nando’s Peri-Peri. There is one in Katy, but this one had a different look and feel to it. The food was great—I highly recommend it.

We had a whole plan for Friday, March 14th, and were able to hit every single spot! First, it was off to the Shudehill Interchange to take a tram to Old Trafford. Vikram and I are cricket fans, and you can’t visit Manchester without going to the Emirates Old Trafford. Home of the Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC), the stadium is right outside the Old Trafford tram station. We took a ton of pictures and Vikram bought an England training jersey at the Gift Shop 🙂

So, now many of you are probably wondering, would Sagar go to the home of the “Team in Red?” If you said no, you don’t know me that well. I respect football, and I appreciate greatness. Yes, we walked the half-mile to the Manchester United stadium in Old Trafford. It’s a fantastic building, but that makes me wonder. Why is Manchester United building a new stadium? That was announced last week for those who don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon! We bought gifts for Vikram’s friend and my nephew, who is a fan of the “team in red.” There are just some things you can’t control. 😉

From there, we decided to take the tram to the University of Manchester and walk around campus. My niece was accepted at the University, and we both wanted to see how it looked. Honestly, I was impressed. We had a quick coffee break at Federal Cafe. We then made a quick stop at Tesco Express, before heading back to the hotel.

In the evening, we went to The Bay Horse Tavern for pub food. Yes, we had a Guinness.

Saturday was the big day. We took the tram from the hotel to Etihad Campus for the afternoon match—City played Brighton and Hove Albion. We had Fried Okra (!!) and Asahi Super-Dry at the stadium. Of course, we shopped and got some nice gear. My favorite moment was singing “Blue Moon” in a packed stadium. That was fun! The game ended in a 2-2 draw, but City played well, and being there was brilliant!

Saturday evening, we headed to Manchester Chinatown and had some dinner at the Dragon Oriental restaurant. A great end to an amazing weekend. Vikram had crispy noodles for the first time. I went with my staple – Chicken with Udon Noodles – yum!

We didn’t see everything but got a taste of Manchester to keep us going. This was our first stop to visit the Premier League Stadiums. We have a specific goal—to see all stadiums for a game with teams in the PL for 10 or more years. So, here is our list:

London Teams

Arsenal
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Tottenham
West Ham United

Merseyside Teams

Liverpool
Everton

Manchester Teams

Manchester City – March 15, 2025
Manchester United

Here are some teams getting close to our criteria:

Aston Villa – 6 years
Wolverhampton – 7 years
Brighton – 8 years
Newcastle – 8 years

Vikram and I have seen Emirates Stadium (2018) and Manchester United (2025), but never for a game. This will be our plan over the next 10 years.