Wednesday, 27th August            LIVERPOOL

Me with the statue of a young John Lennon outside the Cavern Club

The Albert Dock where the Maritime Museum is.

Guess where we are?!

Strawberry Fields Forever

Us outside the childhood home of Paul McCartney

In the Cavern Club

Robyn writes: It's been a BIG day! We headed out around 9.30, which is when things finally start to open in the UK, and walked through the CBD for a change, down to the docks area. On the way we walked through the Cavern Quarter, which is where the famous Cavern Club, where the Beatles got their start, is. Obviously almost everything on the street is Beatle-themed, so there was lots to look at, and I couldn't resist having my photo taken with John Lennon!



We got down to the docks about 10, and went to the information centre there to see about going on a "Magical Mystery Tour" (Beatles again - well, this IS Liverpool!) Unfortunately the 10.30 tour was sold out, as was the 2 o'clock one, so we booked on the 4pm tour and paid our 16 pounds each for the tickets. Then we went off to continue looking at the many museums of Liverpool.



Lex went off to look at an art gallery, and I headed for the Maritime Museum, via a very enjoyable diversion around Albert Dock and the many interesting shops there. I wallowed in Liverpool souvenirs for a while, regretfully buying very little (though I could have had a Beatle-themed house by now if I'd had the cash and the baggage allowance!). The Maritime Museum is fantastic - Liverpool has a huge maritime history and this was covered really well. They also had a very interesting display on the Titanic and Lusitania, as many of the crew on both ships were Liverpudlians. I happily whiled away the time there until I met up with Lex at 12.30 for lunch. We had this in the museum cafe, and we both had the local delicacy - Scouse. It sounds rather horrid but in fact it's a beef, lamb and vegetable stew served in a bowl with bread and butter. Lex described it as "Just like your dad's stew", and he's right, it is. It was quite delicious and very filling. So that's one more thing we can tick off our Liverpool "To Do" list!



After lunch, Lex went off into town while I went off to the Slavery Museum. Much of Liverpool's wealth in the 1700s came via the slave trade, which they were rather enthusiastic about at the time (less so now). It was, as could have been predicted, rather harrowing but very good to see. Then I went for a walk into Liverpool One myself to have a look at the shops and sights there before meeting up with Lex back at the Beatles shop for our tour.



The Magical Mystery Tour went for 2 hours on a bus, and took us right around Liverpool to see the famous Beatle sights. So we saw the lads' childhood homes (John's and Paul's are both now owned by the National Trust), schools, where John and Paul first met, Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. Plus our tour guide gave us lots of the background and history of the group. It was very entertaining and informative plus gave us a good look around Liverpool as well. Of course, we took many photos! The tour ended at the Cavern Club around 6 o'clock, so we went in to admire their photos, have a drink or two and spend a couple of hours listening to their live music (don't know his name but he was a good singer and was doing quite a few Beatles songs, so the crowd was appreciative!) It's a tiny club with hardly any seating but we managed to snaffle a table so were quite comfortable.



Finally hunger drove us home to our tea (leftovers!) and several hours of fighting with my computer, which has been playing up. Hopefully it is sorted now.



As the weather has warmed up a little this week (the days are now getting up to a heady top of around 18 or 19), the design limitations on this flat have become apparent. It has all glass windows which wrap around the entire outside of the building and the only ventilation you can have is the two doors. No aircon, and not a single window opens! The doors won't stand open by themselves, they have strong closers, so we have to prop them open with a bin or chair. The result is that even in a week where it hasn't reached 20 degrees, the flat is quite unbearably hot by late afternoon and evening until you manage to let some cool air through, and as our bedroom is on the top level, it gets no air flow at all. Which seems ridiculous! If I owned it, I think I'd find the architect and shoot him. Lord only knows what it was like in June when we had days in the high twenties! Apart from that, it's been a great place to stay - roomy and very central, and the view is wonderful.