Manchester, part two!

Just reading back through some recent blog posts and realised that I promised more from Manchester, but didn't deliver!
Well after the run trip we were back a week later, this time to see Pink Floyd The Wall http://tour.rogerwaters.com/.
I have been a fan for longer than I have known my dear hubby! so to say I was excited was a tiny understatement!

We had a lovely lunch in the Arndale shopping centre. http://www.manchesterarndale.com/

We stayed at The Crowne plaza again.

We toddled off to the MEN http://www.men-arena.com/, we were very high up and the stage looked a long way off, but a pretty good view.
There was no support act, but the atmosphere was alive with anticipation. The place was pretty much full.
And then the show began....

(rubbish pics as I only had my phone!)
it was the original show from beginning to end. Retelling the story of 'Pink' the rock star with a troubled mind!

As the music unfolds the story a wall is built on the stage....

with projections of pictures and animations as well as inflatables....

I can't begin to describe how electric the atmosphere was....especially with tracks like Bring the Boys Back home...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHk40vfpWIE

when the wall is built, and the band no longer visible there is a break.
In the queue for the toilets I got talking to a woman whose son is a soldier away in Afghanistan....the messages Pink Floyd have been writing about are more relevant today than ever and sadly we seem further from a peaceful, loving society than ever....

Live music is unbeatable, but going to see a band that you have devoured for 30 years....well heaven couldn't be this good!

Apparently every big city has it's own 'eye' these days!

a bit of retail therapy before going home...

...jeans just hanging around!

Wonderful nature

I am going a little stir crazy today. I think I have cabin fever too! Stuck indoors, with my laptop trying to figure out how to start the next essay for my diploma. Outside it has been monsoon like with some of the biggest ever raindrops that I have ever seen. The other day, however, I spent some time alone in the garden with the sun warm on my back....this is what I saw...

(I read recently on a wonderful blog  http://www.kellehampton.com about a kit to 'grow your own butterflies' http://www.insectlore-europe.com/ At the time I thought it was a fab gift for a youngster the next time I needed an idea...but now seriously tempted to send for one for myself!!)

Oh and June produced some amazing sunsets!