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Two School of Journalism students, graduate student Joice Biazoto and senior Erica Ballard, traveled to Manchester, England, Oct. 4-8 for the Society of American Travel Writers annual convention. Here, Biazoto shares her experience.

Joice Biazoto, Oct. 9

Courtesy photo

Joice Biazoto in Chester

Today turned out to be a much better day than it promised to be. The forecast was rain (you didn’t think I could be in England five whole days without bad weather, did you?), and sure enough, when I woke up the sky was dark grey and water droplets were running down my window, which in this room is the entire left wall. I must admit I was in no rush to leave, especially because the night before, I had been “pub crawling” and it turned out to be a long (and very fun) night. So I lingered a bit, and eventually the rain stopped —and off I went to take a train to Chester, near the northwestern coast on the border with Wales.

The train ride was beautiful; the grass truly is greener on the British countryside. As we moved farther from the city, the heavy clouds started to break away, and suddenly I was looking at sunny fields and blue skies. It was a great feeling.

I did not know much about Chester’s medieval character. So, I was amazed to find out that the city’s Roman walls were still virtually intact and you could walk their entire length. And what a walk it is. We passed by the city’s imposing cathedral and carefully tended gardens, stood on watchtowers, passed through fortress gates and over the River Dee. All the while, the sun was shining, the yellow-orange trees swayed in the wind and the leaves were crunchy underneath our feet. A perfect afternoon.

The city itself was picturesque, and yet not exactly what I expected. Inside the beautiful white and wood buildings were shops of every kind, many of them selling expensive clothes. It looked more like a shopper’s paradise in disguise than a medieval town. I guess I didn’t expect it to be so commercial. But I enjoyed it all the same.

I can’t believe it’s already my last day here. We leave early tomorrow. It will be hard to go back to “reality” in Bloomington. But, believe it or not, I’m looking forward to getting back and getting to work.

My Manchester stay has been the perfect combination of work and leisure. The conference organizers make you work hard, but they reward you for it, too.

Today was a productive day at the convention. Early in the morning, I participated in a writing workshop with Jack Hart from the Oregonian. He was great; step by step, he had us all write (and edit) almost an entire story right on the spot and, best of all, painlessly. Although it was not particularly about travel writing, it did remind me of great tips to keep my writing sharp.

Afterwards, I attended a travel editors’ panel and learned quite a bit about current publishing trends in the field. The prospect for travel writers is a mixed one; although the pay rate is generally falling and staff is being reduced, especially in newspapers, there’s still a lot of demand for freelance work, especially in specialized niches.

After running around to do short stories for the SATW newsletter, I went into town on my own a bit to explore. One of the buildings I visited was the central library. It is a gorgeous, round, white Renaissance building, and the inside consists of mostly one large central room covered by a wide, majestic dome.

I also went back to Manchester’s Town Hall and explored its beautiful hallways and meeting rooms more intently. The Great Hall in that building is just stunning; there are beautiful paintings lining the walls that tell the most important events in the early history of the city, and the ceiling is covered in coat of arms of nations that have commercial relations with Manchester.

I then went out to Heaton Park, a 15-minute ride by tram, to see the outskirts of the city a bit. The park was gorgeous and expansive, and I felt I was in the British countryside. Unfortunately, I did not go much farther than the nearest local pub before I had to head back for dinner.

Dinner was at Evuna, a hip Spanish restaurant with an impressive selection of Spanish wines exposed on its windows. The ambiance was great, the food (several courses of tapas, paella and dessert) was out of this world, the wine was perfect. I’m very impressed with all the dining I’ve done here.

I can’t wait for tomorrow, when I’ll get to explore the lovely medieval town of Chester. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.

Photo by Erica Ballard

Sightseeing in Manchester is part of the purpose of the SATW conference in that English city, says Biazoto.

Ah, I love traveling. And who doesn’t? The excitement of arriving at a new place having slept only about two hours in the plane, checking into a cool hotel room that’s going to be home for the next few days, the first meal and a cold drink at an authentic-looking place you found. And, in my case, hearing everyone around me talk with a lovely Mancunian accent. “Mancunian” is what they call anything coming from Manchester.

Some of you may be thinking that Manchester is a peculiar choice for a travel writers’ convention destination. I wondered myself, before I arrived, what I would find in the city that’s famous for factories and Manchester United beyond its industrial heritage and football (don’t even dare call it soccer here).

My first impression of Manchester was that it’s a city that both relies in its history and tries to move as far away from it as possible. The downtown area has many modern buildings of glass and metal, such as the Hilton where I’m staying, and the convention center where the convention is taking place. And yet it has some beautiful, well-preserved old buildings as well, covering a range of styles — renaissance, gothic and Victorian, to name a few.

Shops and restaurants line the streets in mostly brick buildings, some of which look like adapted factories, blending old and new. Even with a grayish white sky covering the city all day (hey, at least it’s not raining!), there’s a certain beauty to this place. I even like the areas with soot-covered bridges, dirty canals and blocky buildings. It’s urban charm of a different sort, the sort that is more real.

The SATW convention itself has been exceeding my expectations. At the opening reception, in the stunning Town Hall (I could not stop staring at the richly decorated vaulted arches on the ceiling!), I was introduced to my mentor, Howie Shapiro, who is the travel editor for the Philadelphia Enquirer and has been working there for 38 years. Together with Erica and her mentor, Randy of the Chicago Tribune, we had a long, enlightening conversation about the business. I had the chance to ask some important questions to two very important people (and very nice, at that), and they were honest and informative in their answers. They said we should pitch them stories for the travel section of their papers, and even if they reject them, they will take the time to explain to us what we’re doing right and what we need to work on. I’m most grateful.

Everyone at the conference has been incredibly nice to me and Erica and are just delighted when they find out they have “young blood” in their midst. I expected it would be an older crowd, but didn’t think I would stand out that much. I was at a professional development workshop Sunday and the speaker asked a room of about 50 people if anyone there had been born after 1980. I was the only one to raise my hand. Still, people here are a lot of fun and have some wonderful experiences to share and stories to tell. They’ve made me feel very welcome. It’s been amazing for networking.

It’s definitely not been only business, though. Besides the many social functions with great food and great wine, I’ve done an awesome music tour of the city, which shows Manchester is quite a defining city in most of England’s (and the world’s) recent music movements (especially in the 80s).

We also toured the Manchester United stadium, which is huge and beautiful. We even got to enter the field through the same gates that David Beckham and his team used, to the sound of cheers (played by a machine, of course). And Erica and I were treated to a wonderful Indian meal at very modern restaurant called Shimla Pinks. Yes, I’m being spoiled — and I’m certainly not complaining.