Monday 24^th July

It was somewhat bitter-sweet to wake to sunshine this morning. ‘Bitter’ in that our two days here had been wet but ‘sweet’ in that we could pack the car and visit Castlerigg Stone Circles on our way out of Keswick without getting wet.

The Castlerigg Stone Circles are Keswick’s version of Stonehenge and are thought to have been placed during the Neolithic period; about 3,000 BC. It was rather eerie walking around these stones given how long they’d been here compared to our relative transience. We made another stop near Penrith at the 13th Century Brougham Castle (pronounced ‘broom’) and had a wander around there, with much the same sentiment as earlier, before heading to have morning tea at Chapter 12 Coffee rooms. The morning tea here was great and their banana cake rivaled that of my mum!

Our accommodation for Liverpool was in the city centre where we were staying in a one-bedroom apartment that we had sourced through Booking.com. I had mentioned, in my last post, that I had concerns about the suitability of this lodging given that I had only just seen the full list of recent reviews and, as it turned out, those concerns proved to be valid. Much of the criticism we had was mentioned by others: filthy entry and passage ways in the common area of the building, a bad odor inside the apartment (their air purifiers were not working sufficiently to combat), very basic fixtures, fittings, towels and linens and just one roll of toilet paper. It was so awful that Mark refused to stay there and so we now find ourselves in the luxury of the Municipal Hotel Liverpool which is an absolutely lovely space and very comfortable. The Municipal Hotel building was originally home to Liverpool City Council, hence the name, but has been transformed into a luxury hotel. It was so luxurious we chose not to leave the hotel again that evening; we had the complimentary welcome drink in the bar and then dinner in the hotel restaurant.

 

 

Tuesday 25^th July

It was raining when we woke so that put an end to our morning walk but, thankfully, the rain eased up by the time our 10:30 am walking tour started. Our guide for the tour was an older gentlemen, Robert, who had great voice projection but spoke a little too fast for Mark and I to catch all of his wisdom. He gave a rapid fire of a lot of facts but I did catch a few things:

• Liverpool was the 2nd biggest power in British Empire but fell to the rank of poorest but has now made a comeback.
• Liverpool benefited as a trading port because of its strategic positioning between Africa and America but unfortunately much of this benefit was out of the trade in slaves.
• The end of the slave trade and two world wars marked a period of decline for Liverpool.
• The recovery for the city has only been in the last 15 years as a result of investment from Europe by way of the European Capital Culture investment.
• Liverpool has thrived since this investment and an example being there used to be no Holiday Inn hotels and now there are 6.
• There is a thriving film industry in Liverpool with many major films being shot in the city. Peaky Blinders, Bat Man, Harry Potter and Fast and Furious are just some of a very long list.
• The Population of Liverpool is about 500,000 with roughly 70% of Irish descent.
• Liverpool has a great shopping space called Liverpool One. It’s 15 yrs old and was designed to be an outdoor area with option for shelters area; they did not want a Westfields style mall. It’s great!
• Albert dock was derelict 15 hrs ago but is now a huge entertainment and museum precinct. It’s great too.
• Some firsts for Liverpool:
  • First fare paying passenger train in world.
  • First U.S. consulate outside of USA.
  • $ symbol was designed for USA by a man from Liverpool.
  • Liverpool has more listed buildings than London. Only Bristol has more.
  • First to have a Hospital of tropical disease, hospital for the blind first and to do X-ray.
  • The modern Olympics were founded in Liverpool

Our tour didn’t finish until almost 1.30 pm so we went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest. We later caught up with Deborah and her son, William, for a cocktail, dinner and a showing of Titanic, the musical at the Empire Theatre. We had learned on our tour earlier today that this theater is the 3rd biggest in the country and was where Queen first played Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a great evening and a lovely catch up although the cocktails were probably the highlight followed a bit well behind by dinner and, then, the musical but the company was top notch. We wish William all the best with his study in the UK.

 

 

Wednesday 26^th July 

It was a beautiful sunny morning and there was no wind which was a most pleasing change from yesterday. I got out for an early walk and what a joy this was. To stroll the beautiful waterfront in the peace and quiet without the traffic and hoarders of other tourists. I got to have Paul, John, Ringo and George all to myself! Yesterday there had been an enormous queue around these guys! I also got a good chance to take in the beauty and grandeur of so many of the buildings in the city, it really is a destination that you should all try to visit. Mark was initially reticent about spending three nights in Liverpool and first suggested just one or two, but now I wished we had an extra day. I definitely think three full days is needed to get the most out of this interesting and thriving city.

Our only scheduled activity for the day was a 10:30am Beatles walking tour but, in a first for us this trip, the guide didn’t turn up. So we decided to walk down to the Albert dock area and take the Beatles Story experience. This was a bit similar to the ABBA story experience in that it was underground and you navigated through various rooms and followed the journey of the group members only the story wasn’t as coherently organised, wasn’t as interesting or informative and wasn’t anywhere near as entertaining as the ABBA Story experience. We are not sure whether this is an activity worth taking if you are ever in Liverpool as there are other options to experience the Beatles. For example, there is the walking tour, if you guide turns up, and there is also a Magical Mystery Bus tour and one or other of these may be better.

It was around 1230 by the time we got out of the Beatles story and so we went and had a cup of coffee and a rest before visiting the Maritime Museum and the International Slavery Museum. These two museums are in the same building and they had been recommended, but neither of us felt that they were set up as well as they could be. We sound like we’re whingeing but we’re not. It’s just that we are getting pretty good at curating activities that are meant to provide information and education and neither of these two museums scored highly on impact for us.

It was only 2 pm by the time we emerged from the museums, but it started to rain, so we hightailed it back to our hotel to avoid a drenching and to have a bit of a break. We didn’t head out again until 5.30 pm when we headed to have an early dinner just near our hotel at Piccolino. This was one of a chain but it was the best meal we’d had since Calgary, Canada, which was saying something! It’s a place we’d recommend if you’re ever in the area.

We had greatly enjoyed our time in Liverpool and would advise people to visit and, if you do, we’d highly recommend staying at the Municipal Hotel Liverpool, you won’t be disappointed!