Market Street on a Saturday

I spent some time here on the first warm Saturday of spring because I had some time to kill between a play rehearsal and the performance.  It was enough time to do something with, but not enough time to make it worth going home.  You know how that goes.

Market Street is just off of Picadilly Gardens, where all the buses and trams stop in downtown Manchester.  The whole thing is like a mall where the main thoroughfare is outdoors, instead of inside.  Except the food court, which is the only covered second story of the main street.  It's not like a strip mall - you can move from one store to the next inside, through the back of the store as well as walking in the front entrance, like most American malls.  Here's a shot:

You can see the food court spanning the street directly ahead.

As is typical of a mall, the shops try to get your attention with unique displays.  My favorite is this clothing tailor shop.

And a closer shot...

You gotta love a shop that decorates with walls of antique sewing machines.


The people watching possibilities are endless.  Wait long enough and someone with hair every color of the rainbow will walk by.  There are balloon vendors, cotton candy sellers, food and flowers sold out of little portable shops (usually done up in brown and gold, for some reason).  They even have street mimes.

This guy is my favorite.  He looks just like some of the bronze statuary that are all over Manchester.  Until you look at his eyes.  When I first saw him, he was in a seated position, holding absolutely still.  I love the way his tie and coat look like he is in a strong wind.

That particular Saturday there was also an artist working for coins.

Amazing!
Of course, there are also street musicians of every sort, from a single recorder to an accordion, a blind electric guitarist, and including a one man band working on the corner of Market Street and New Cathedral by the Marks and Spencer's. And just because it wasn't interesting enough, there was a rally of rappers for Jesus, an anti-religious group rallying against them ('corporate greed is the cause of all problems, not evil' was their point), and some Middle East demonstration of some sort:

If none of that interested you, you could always watch the kids playing in the fountain.

One toddler was bound and determined to join them, even though the water would have knocked him on his diaper.  Dad kept grabbing his little jacket and pulling him away, but as soon as he let go, the boy would run, giggling, back to where the big kids were playing, wanting to join in the fun.

All this for the cost of a fifteen minute bus ride!