Cones & Cupcakes...

This giant plastic, quad-flavoured ice cream cone is in the little courtyard of the Manchester Art Gallery on Moseley Street. There's a giant plastic cupcake in the courtyard on Nicholas Street on the other side of the atrium that links the three buildings that comprise the gallery. They are part of an exhibition by Portuguese artist, Joana Vasconcelos, that is on in the gallery until June. The cone is fun, her artworks inside the gallery are stunning. Go visit...

I like the view behind the cone. Across the street is the elegant facade of the Arora Hotel. It was built to impress in the style of a Florentine palace as the offices and warehouse of one of the cotton companies that thrived in the city in Victorian times. Princess Street is lined with such buildings, now all converted for new uses. Behind it, modern, corporate Manchester is rearing its head in the form of the nearly completed No. 1 St. Peter's Square...