The Trafford Centre in Manchester is the UK’s second largest shopping mall as far as retail space is concerned. We’re here to verify. 😉 And are a bit taken aback by the kitschy Rokkoko decorations in the inside. But, as time goes by, we must admit: They really made an effort to offer their customers a versatile shopping experience. Especially the food court area looks a bit like we’re in Disneyland. For example, there’s a New Orleans style street with the typical balconies where you may even have lunch on, an Asian street with temples and Buddhas and Asian restaurants, a stretch that looks like a cruise ship with a lifeboat and planks, or an Egypt area with columns and hieroglyphics. That’s where the Namco Funspace is situated, with rare, big video games e.g. a Star Wars Battle Pod where you sit in front of a rounded screen to really immerse into the game, pool billard, bowling and even bumper cars.

We have breakfast at Café Rouge: Eggs Benedict for me and a croissant for Gabi. They keep forgetting Gabi’s hot chocolade but at least it’s not on the bill either. Then, we start shopping. We get almost everything that we’re looking for. Their offer ist HUGE! Swiss have not yet discovered crazy Christmas baubles but we like them a lot and get one each year. This year, it’s a Christmas Pacman video game. We can’t wait to hang that on our tree.

We have a late lunch at Wagamama. Gabi orders a hearty curry while I have ramen.

We continue to Liverpool late in the afternoon. It wouldn’t take long to get there if it wasn’t for the heavy traffic. We get there eventually and Liverpool, a world heritage city like Bern, reminds me a lot of our Swiss capital: A lot of one way streets and interdictions that hinder drivers from getting to their destination. We have bought Pret-à-Manger sandwiches at the Trafford Centre which we have for dinner. Their Christmas sandwich collection is available since yesterday. 🙂