Day 120 – to Liverpool
- The three of us had similar alarms. Us, so we could dress/pack/eat/clean and then head out. Her, so she could make a 10am work call.
- We made our breakfast and lunches, tidied up our messes, and gathered our things. It was a difficult goodbye for me, but I held it together. Our Uber driver to the station was quite nice and told us a story of one time when he got to drop off an exec for McClaren and actually got to drive (after she negotiated it at the security gate) into the property along the winding road and around their campus pond.
- At the station, we saw why the trains had to shut down on Friday. That’s always a sad story. The pic is included, so don’t read it unless you are feeling quite strong.
- And then we got a little travel magic. The earlier train we could take was running late so as soon as we got to the platform, we walked right onto the 1122 instead of “waiting” for the 1126. It’s always nice to be a tad early instead of rushed and instead of being so early that you have to wait too long.
- The train arrival/departure was super quick, more than usual, because they were trying to get back on schedule. So we didn’t have much choice for seats and ended up in a nearly-full car with a bunch of kids. Why so many kids??? Why aren’t they in school? Why aren’t they using earbuds?? The little assholes.
- Switching to the Underground was quite easy. Finding the next train was less. They forced us all outside in the (light) rain when there was a big door they had closed that would have kept us inside for a similar route. WTH?
- In the restroom, the cleaning lady was trying to direct people to certain stalls, but she sent me to one without a door. I just told her no and went to the next one. Apparently, this was because she was trying to mop the floor, on the first day the trains were running since Thursday before rush hour, on a rainy day, when half the toilets needed cleaning (and we all know this because they have a “to be cleaned” light above them. The floors can’t really be cleaned in this situation; the toilets can be.
- To decompress from the chaos, we found a bar, had a drink each, and sat until it was time to check the board. That would be a process. The crowd was massive with all the delayed trains. Platforms were being listed one. at. a. time. and quite delayed compared to normal, so then people were rushing to the platforms.
- After a long wait to learn our platform, we waited another long time to get access to our platform. While the station was literally announcing not to run, everyone else did. We couldn’t get to our platform until everyone else had exited. And of course, we were in the last car, but we refused to run. If they had blown the whistle, we just would have gotten on the nearest car and worked our way up to ours.
- Finally, but then we waited another long time to pull away (due to “technical faults”. Our 1343 finally left at 1425. And we had roll-the-dice seats, so we weren’t in the quiet car, had a chatty kid beside us, a pair of undisciplined/loud kids a few rows up, and a baby screaming so loud in the next car that we could hear it. And the Wifi didn’t work at all. This train was total shit compared to the others we’ve had.
- And then, we finally pulled away. In a tunnel, it felt like something small hit the side of the train, so then we stopped. WTF?? We got going again and they stopped to check the pantograph (the arm that connects the train to power). Apparently that was fine, because we got going again.
- The rest of the ride was fine except for the kids and missing Wifi. We were relieved when we made it to the End of the Line…until they let the cleaners go through before we fully stopped and let people get on the train before making sure the rest of us got off. We couldn’t get to our bags before people moved, so we were last, but the setup was insane, especially since to get on the train we weren’t even allowed on the platform until all the incoming passengers were out in the main train terminal. I don’t much care what the rules are, but they need to standardize things a bit better.
- We had a short walk to our hotel. The guy checking us in was bored and chatty. But, we got two free drinks. Our room was a suite with a bed, bath, and water closet on one side and a living room and kitchen on the other. I checked out the kitchen to make a quick inventory, got my laptop and phone back in Wifi and charging, and drank some beer.
- Around the corner, we found Archie’s for supper. It’s fast food burgers, but was the best one of those I had had in a long time. The fries were good too. The only problem was that our cashier was a Chief’s fan (Denver’s nemesis). LOL.
- We hit Lidl for groceries; it was chaotic and had loud shopping baskets. We got almost everything we needed despite not having a proper list and headed back to our hotel to stash it all away.
- We made plans to go back out to the bars to see what fun we could find. There were four Irish bars within a block of our hotel. And, since this is Liverpool, everyone thinks they are going to be the next music sensation; many of them have live music. Just. Like. Austin. We found an Irish pub (surprise) in a hotel that didn’t have any live music. It was a nice place to have a couple of drinks before going back to the room to crash early from the long day.
Day 121 – record shops and a lights trail
- After breakfast and some chores, he wanted to go to some record shops. We had to fight the wind to get there, but we made it, hit up a few shops, got two of the three items he wanted. We also found a fun sticker for the Jeep..
- Back at our room, we made lunch. He gamed while I watched YouTube and nursed a headache that the wind probably caused. It turned into one of the worst migraines I’ve ever had.
- Naturally, I didn’t feel like cooking, so we went to the piri piri chicken place just a few steps away. He asked if I knew I was wearing my sunglasses at night. Yes, sir. Yes, I do. I even had my tuque pulled across the top of them to stop most of the light leaks. Our food was great. 5*. But I deemed the place “takeout only”: very loud music indoors and out, 4+ speaker phones including one from a crew member on break. There were three toddlers one of whom was wailing the whole time. Her parents let her sit on the table in her barely covered diaper and crawl on it with her dirty socks because apparently she’s in a no shoes phase. Not good for a migraine. 1*.
- After some food helped my headache a little, we went to a few of the River of Lights exhibits under the full moon. They were quite lovely.
- We popped into a Sainsbury’s on the way back to our hotel.
Day 122 – avoiding sticky blobs, trying to get stuck twice, and needed the rest anyway
- After breakfast, we took the Merseyrail into the city center and took some walks around the harbor. We were even close to where we had been the night before. We popped into The Fab 4 Store – but they had no stickers womp womp. This whole city is covered in dried gum because people here think it’s okay to throw it on the ground. But no, they can’t sell a sticker.
- After lunch in our room, we headed out to our vaccines appointment, but we’d be turned away. The site let us make appointments for private-pay vaccines, but they don’t have them.
- So, we went back to the hotel to cook dinner. I fended off another headache, and we stayed in. I was in bed by 2330. He joined me by 0100.
Day 123 – architecture, a wedding, more River of Lights
- I got twelve hours of sleep and he got ten. Wow! I guess we needed some rest.
- After breakfast (with refried canellini beans, so yummy), we made very small plans for the day–to look at some buildings–and then at darkness we could go see some more of the River of Lights. Apparently, in years past, it was all in one area and far too crowded. So this year, it’s all spread out. I think it might be too spread out. If it takes families multiple days to see it, that’s also multiple Metro fares. I hope they find a middle.
- We walked to an area with some cool architecture, sat and people watched, saw the arrival of everyone for a wedding.
- The library was cool and reminded us of the one in Birmingham, UK. This one had a massive round room for the kids area. It was great.
- Just across the way, St George’s Garden was all memorials. We also saw a fly trying to be a bee. Next we found a square filled with pigeons.
- After 4,000 steps, we went back to our area, picked up some groceries, and went back to our hotel to rest a tad and have lunch.
- We ventured back out after dark to see more of the River of Lights. We chatted with a few Brits, took the Merseyrail back to our hotel, looked into more shops, and finally found a sticker for the Jeep.
- After dinner and while we were doing our respective YouTube/gaming stuff, we heard fireworks. The local team, Everton, had won their football match.
