So I wrote to her and said I'd be in England, she said I should come and stay, and so I find myself near Liverpool.
We took the ferry 'cross the Mersey.
The waterfront is a jumble of old and new. Grand old buildings, 70s monstrosities, a quite nice-looking new museum and more.
This is the Royal Albert Dock. It is now shops, restaurants and museums, but once was the busy place of shipping and trade and the navy and all kinds of excitement.
This is apparently called Liverpool Mountain. Very large. I didn't have the time to go into the Tate here, but one day I'll go back!
The Beatles are from Liverpool, of course. Here they are depicted in jelly beans.
This is not entirely the original Cavern Club, but the history is so complicated with demolitions and rebuildings, you can read about it here. The street around the club is full of other music venues and souvenir shops.
We had lunch in a big shopping complex, the Liverpool One. Once again, I have to go back, as we didn't see a lot of it and I didn't quite get the whole "redevelopment" idea -- 42 acres of the city were redesigned and rebuilt in the past 20 years or so.
This is the view from our terrace restaurant. The roof provides shade but also blocked the view of the city, which was a bit of a disappointment.
The skies there were constantly filled with con trails from planes in and out of Manchester Airport!
After lunch we headed to what the locals call Paddy's Wigwam, a name that manages to insult Irishmen and North American First Nations all at once. It is the Catholic cathedral of Liverpool, and I think a piece of 1960s architecture that actually worked. It is a bit tent-shaped, and not your standard British church.
There are glass panels around the perimeter, and circling the top of the church. The light inside is wonderful. Quite stunning! These pictures are not as wonderful as the real thing.
After our visit to the church we headed back to get the ferry. We saw the Three Graces, three large and lovely buildings on the waterfront. I believe that this one is the Cunard Building. I have an unreasonable affection for the Cunard Line, having taken one of their ships from Montreal (maybe) to Liverpool in 1965.
This is the Royal Liver Building, named for an insurance company. It is quite imposing.
This is not Buckingham Palace, but the Port of Liverpool building. Very ornate and imposing, too!
Somewhere along the way I came across this singularly ugly post box. Hmph, no style!
We took the ferry back across the Mersey to my friend's home, where she had this marvellous clematis in her yard. She had told her husband to tidy up a bit in anticipation of my arrival, and he had really gone to town: in the garden, the outside of the house, the inside of the house... a whirlwind, I imagine. In any case, the garden was lovely!
My first night here we had dinner in a very nice pub, the Red Fox. My mouth is watering just rereading the menus... This was the beginning of my downfall, eating-wise. After a pretty nice main course, Alison and I shared the full cheese plate for afters, with a wee glass of whisky to boot.
The next night we were at the Anchor, also very, very nice. Aaah.
We finished that last evening off with a drive to Chester, to walk around the old walls. It was getting dark... another place I have to go back to!
The next morning I was dropped at the train station to begin my next adventure.
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