Another week

Sunday

The Doe in good flow

So I had arranged swimming at the outdoor pool with Luca on Sunday morning, but it was pretty grim and Julie got in touch asking if we would like to change our plans to Jump Rush.  That was fine but I had a cake to do (very long story - I say no to cakes during the summer, but this one was awkward and although I tried to say no, I eventually agreed to do it - this was a mistake and I knew at the time it was a mistake - but when someone is grieving for their husband who has only just died, it is difficult to say no!). It's been very wet recently, so Matt decided to do a quick lap of the waterfalls trail, and then rehydrate in the Old Post Office.

Yellow submarine in our hotel!

Oh hum, so my problem was that we needed to be back here for the afternoon so I could get the cake together.  Julie, Luca's mum, luckily is very accommodating and suggested straight away that she take them without me.  In the end she took Tom, Finn and Matthew as well as Luca for the full day.  So he got to go to Jump Rush, then MacDonald's for lunch and then a play at Luca's house before being returned to us around 5, by which time I had the cake as far as I could get it.  What a relief.

Monday saw Tom being packed off to Grannie and Grandpas.  He didn't go until 11.30 ish, which actually worked well as that meant I had time to put the cake together and meant that I could go away with Matt for the night without worrying about it.  This made our night away much better and much more relaxed than it would have been.  So after we waved Tom off, we headed to Lancaster, parked in our usual place and got the train to Liverpool - still no direct train but hopefully they will start soon.

Bloody tourists!

We arrived just before 3, famished and headed straight to Bundobust for a late lunch - very good it was too and not too big.  Some interesting beer too.  We then headed to our hotel to check in - Malmaison this time, which is at the opposite end of the waterfront to Albert Dock etc, near the cruise terminal.  There is something about the waterfront in Liverpool - so so much history is locked up in those 3 iconic buildings - the things they have seen, how they survived the war is beyond me plus all the famous artists etc that come from there and will have walked along the waterfront too.  Anyway I always get a sense of it, and will happily amble around there soaking it in.

We checked in - very pleasant hotel, restaurant a bit pricey - but we weren't planning on eating there anyway.  Lovely big bath - meaning we could have a soak together and a huge separate shower.  Very lovely.  We made ourselves at home.  Once scrubbed clean we headed out again.  We walked back along the waterfront, once round the Albert Dock, then out the back into the Baltic Triangle in search of Love Lane brewery, where we had some tasters.  We then did a scan of places nearby for tea and settled on a pan Asian restaurant, Chamber 36 which turned out to be right next door to a Tapas restaurant we went to last time we were here - in the Chinese quarter.  Matt had some Japanese fish cakes followed by Chinese pork and rice, whilst I had a very very delicious Tom Yum soup followed by a lovely green curry.  Could have had a gallon of the Tom Yum soup - took me back to one I had in Laos - lovely spicy and citrus.

Albert Dock by night

We were both pretty stuffed afterwards, so walked slowly back to the hotel - didn't get back until after 10pm - very good for us.  We rolled into bed, which was huge and enjoyed the quiet and crisp clean sheets. etc.

I had a fantastic sleep, Matt less so - he seems to struggle with sleeping past 6.45 and it is really annoying him.  Anyone who knows me will know that will never be a problem for me.  Sometimes I will be awake, but I have never had the need to get up because I am awake at that time of the morning and am more than happy to lie in until...well someone turfs me out really!  I have never enjoyed early mornings and not working in the corporate world or having a small child anymore I am enjoying the fact I can sometimes lie in especially during the school holidays.

The original Superlambanana

So, we didn't get up too early, packed up, checked out, stored our bag and then went for another walk along the waterfront.  Overnight a cruise ship had arrived (Black Watch - Fred Olsen cruises - for future reference).  It had been on a trip around Scotland, Iceland and...Greenland (Matt's first choice for a holiday this year - something to think about for later).  Not one of those mega boats but nice enough to see.

We walked back down to Duke Street where I had found a nice looking breakfast restaurant - The Brunch Club - where Matt had sausage, bacon and egg in a brioche bun and I had some bircher and smashed avocado and poached egg on toast which is my absolute favourite for breakfast.  We then walked through Liverpool One and did some last minute shopping for Norway and then headed to a museum we tried to get into previously: The Western Approaches, which is a bunker from where they co-ordinated Naval and Aircraft movements - and especially worked hard on attacking U boats.  They did good, it was mainly staffed by women under 21 - they did extremely stressful work very efficiently and often would outsmart the men heading up the unit.

The Black Watch heading to Scotland

The museum was very hands on - meaning you could sit at desks in the Operations room, wear a WRENS uniform and read top secret dossiers - there is something satisfying about reading something that is stamped Top Secret - even in a museum where you know it has been fingered by many people. We were also allowed to type on the old style typewriters which was fun (although I can touch type, I have never actually typed on a typewriter!)  It ended with a recreation of a typical street during the war and then a video of people telling of their memories during the war (I think by the fashion - from the 1980s) whilst helping ourselves to war time tea for 2p a cup.  I would have been hopeless during the war - not being a tea drinker!!!!!  Anyway, it was brilliant and without the boy we were able to read everything and take our time, meaning we got loads out of it.  Think we were there for about 2.5 hours!

We worked our way back to the surface to find bright sunshine.  As it was so clear we decided to go up St John's Beacon - the tower in the middle of the city.  We were glad we did as the view was outstanding.  It really is a city of old and new. Pretty much everything that is still in existence pre-war is listed including the biggest brick building in the world (28 million bricks in it I think).  There are loads of stats for the city: pre-war 40% of the world's trade went through Liverpool, it has produced more No.1 hits than any other city in the country including London, has more museums than any other city except London, has the most number of listed buildings outside London, and the Waterfront is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  There is a lot of building work going on, modernising and gentrifying it.  There were some photos on the viewing deck of the city in the 1980s - it really was a dive then - glad I got to know it now - otherwise I might not have come back.  We got back down to ground level, very thirsty so we decided to find somewhere for a drink.  We found ourselves in the Cavern Quarter and found a pub 'Sergeant Peppers' where there was live music, a cool background Beatles cartoon going on and lots of interesting things to look at - including a Walrus' head mounted on the wall.  Anyway it was a pleasant break and the music was fab - not Beatles, more modern.

The Piece Hall

We then walked back along the waterfront to the hotel, picked up our bag and then went to Etsu for a light tea - it is very difficult to visit Liverpool and not go to Estu.  Then we got the train back home.  Didn't get home until about 8.45pm.  We both had a wonderful and relaxing time, it is my favourite city.

Wednesday morning, my lady came for her cake and then we went to pick up the boy.  It was a miserable, grey and rainy day.  We decided to go for a train trip and headed to Halifax to see Piece Hall which is a huge structure built in 1779, left to decay in the 1970s but recently revamped and very nice it is too.  It is right in the middle of town which is surprising as it is so big.  It is basically a courtyard with arches around all 4 sides (either on two or three levels) which have been developed into boutique shops.  We got there hungry and found a good restaurant selling 'posh' food, so we had a light lunch and then explored the shops on the different levels.  The place would look amazing in the sunshine, but we had a pleasant enough time looking at everything.  We then headed home via Bradford where we had a quick curry at the Kashmir.  Didn't get home till late.

Before empire building...

Thursday we spent the morning running around getting ready for Norway and then the Ellershaws came round for lunch and an afternoon playing board games.  First up was Ticket to Ride which Rich and Sal won hands down and then Carcassone which little Lottie won by a country mile.  Anyway we had a good afternoon - turns out they needed it as one of Richard's close relatives is very unwell at the moment and they have been going round every other day to help him and his wife out.  Not a great way to spend the summer holidays!  Anyway, they stayed until about 7pm so then we rushed round, cleared up and hoped we had packed everything we needed for Norway this morning...