Liverpool
We wake and are treated to eggs, sausages and coffee to start the day. Stella was planning to take us on a walk about 1 hour drive away, but we decide that is a tomorrow job and decide to spend the day in Liverpool today. We chuck on some washing and then head off on the train to Liverpool, about an hour and a half. A few stops before we get off, a lady who must have overhead us talking about our destination hands us a note recommending "the best bar in Liverpool".
Despite not really having done anything today, we are in need of some sustenance and grab a coffee before heading to Albert Dock which is next to the Baltic Sea. Along the way we spot a record store called Rough Trade which is very well stocked. Finger on the pulse.
We get to Albert Dock and it almost immediately starts drizzling. It's a grey day and feels very Liverpool. We wander around the dock for a bit and then think we have earnt lunch. We settle on fish and chips and a scouse pie (vegetables, no base and maybe a piece of meat) for Jeff. All meals served with mushy peas and sensational chips. The fish are huge (passers can't help but stare and a little kid even makes a comment) and delicious and the scouse pie is no good.
We are well and truly stuffed and now in search of a toilet, so we make a quick visit to the museum. We can't hang around long as we've got a tour booked, but it looks like an interesting history of Liverpool.
It's time for our tour that Stella has been recommended and it's..... a Beatles tour! When in Liverpool and all that. They are really leaning into the Beatles theme here, as expected. We hop on the bus and the first order of business is for the tour guide to serenade us with a Beatles song. He's actually quite good and clearly a Beatles mega fan. The bus tour takes us all over Liverpool to see Paul, John and Ringo's houses (from outside) as well as a few locations we hop off, such as Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields (of which the songs are about). The tour was interesting enough if you're a Beatles fan and if not, it's a great way to see a large chunk of Liverpool and it's surrounds. The Baltic conditions continued all throughout the tour as it rained the entire time. Made it all the more charming, we thought.
The tour was over, we'd survived so we continue the Beatles theme and check out the iconic Cavern Club where the Beatles played 292 times. They've had a bunch of big name artists play there, which is interesting as it's not the most conventional of music venues, with the stage not visible from a lot of parts of the bar. It's more of a tourist attraction these days with lots of memorabilia and souvenirs and a cover band/singer smashing out the hits that the boomers are loving.
A key reflection for us on the whole Beatles thing is that it might actually be holding the city back a bit culturally; kind of like the Seattle grunge-hangover that lasted decades. Yes, it was great to see a lot of live music happening in the bars, but I wonder how many are playing 60s covers. We try and name some big bands from Liverpool recently and can only come up with The Wombats.
Next we walk over to the Philharmonic Bar as our Beatles tour guide informs us we get a free glass of English wine if we say we were on the tour. We order the wine and confirm with the bar tender that it is an English sparkling wine, to which he replies "Yes, fizzy wine". We're a little worried, but a free drink is a free drink. Turns out they should have been paying us to drink the wine. We force it down and then cleanse our pallet with a pint before heading off to our next destination, the Baltic Quarter.
Along the way we stumble across the garden/graveyard that surrounds the massive cathedral and walk a little way in. It's green and lush and looks like a great place to walk your dog. We head on and find the Baltic Quarter. A few bars around but it's pretty quiet on a Thursday night. We ear mark the food hall for dinner later and then head to the Hobo Kiosk that the lady on the train recommended. It might not be the best bar in Liverpool but it's certainly one of the weirdest, and has a good little beer selection. We have a beer and some weird English charcoal/marmite flavoured snacks. Before we leave we let the owner know of the recommendation from the woman on the train and we give her the note. She is chuffed.
We head back to the food hall we saw earlier where Jeff orders a massive burrito and the girls get some Thai food. It's all bloody delicious dinner. We head back to the train station and buy a phenomenal amount of snacks for the train ride back to Manchester, another huge day for the books.
