More About Liverpool

There is so much to see in this fabulous city.....far more than we can fit into our 5 day visit. We go to the library with its ornate roof and poetry inscribed entrance.

Shakespeare and Julius Caesar are sculpted in paper to greet us.

The free museum hosts exhibits of Disney like fish and strange insects.

The radio tower dominates the skyline.

Liver Birds and Beatles pop up everywhere.

We thoroughly enjoy the second part of the Beatles tour inside the Mersey Ferry building. This involves a 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' 4D experience with moving chairs and occasional water showers. The upstairs photo gallery is full of black and white images of Pattie Boyd and Brian Epstein.
We will have to return!

Discovering Liverpool

We are staying in the city for five nights. I have never been to Liverpool before, so I am unsure what I will discover. On our first full day we wander up to Brownlow Street (named after a character in Dickens) and we catch one of the two tourist buses. The concession price is £6 for seniors, and you can hop on and off as often as you wish. A delightful local lady amuses us with her commentary and scouse humour.

The 50 minute tour takes us to the university, the cathedrals, the dockside, the library and museums, and of course the places frequented by the Beatles including the Cavern Club. My first impression is very positive. The city is really cohesive. Old fits seamlessly with new, and you can walk easily between areas. The people are very friendly.  We decide to use our 24 hour bus ticket to visit the Beatles Experience on Day 2 and to have lunch on Albert Dock.
The Beatles Experience is £14-95 per head, but we get in for free by using our Tesco vouchers. Because they charge the concession rate we also get two free copies of the tourist souvenir book.

We are given ipods with commentaries in different languages, and the whole Beatles tour takes about an hour. Most visitors are younger than us. I feel quite emotional, and want to shout that this can't be history because we lived it!! We then wander round the shops in the Albert Dock, and have lunch in one of the many cafes.

Not bad weather for January.

Arriving in Liverpool

It is 3 am on New Year's Day 2013. Chris and I are installed in a studio apartment in Liverpool. I open one eye and notice Chris is sitting on the edge of the bed. It is very hot. I force myself into wakefulness and ask if Chris is okay.

“My blood sugar is fine, but I think I have turned the heating up by mistake” he explains.

The diabetes has wrecked Chris’s eyesight, and he can’t see in the dim light.

I drag my body out of bed and readjust the thermostat.

“Sorry” Chris apologises.

“No worries” I lie.

I am now wide awake. I grab my tablet and start writing. Time for another blog, I decide.

We are spending a few days in Liverpool. For the first time, we have booked in an aparthotel, rather than a conventional hotel. We have a studio right in the centre of town, and the flexibility suits us. The Adagio apartments are housed in the former Lewis’s department store. It is rumoured that Dickie Lewis still haunts the corridors, but I haven’t seen his ghost yet.

We like our apartment. It has plenty of storage, and a small, modern kitchenette with microwave, hob and toaster. It is immaculately clean.

There is a gym and onsite launderette. We would definitely come again, though another time, I would book a separate bedroom. In a studio, there is nowhere inside to go when Chris sleeps during the day, which he needs to do these days. However, the flexibility is great. There are no set mealtimes, but plenty of inexpensive eateries nearby.....and the wifi is fast and free!