Liverpool

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Saturday 1st August

My god August has arrived, crikey I have to go back to work by the end of this month!!!!

Alas this morning we get wake up calls at 5.15am...... by mistake.... 😞 so as a result I am up and ready by 6am!!!! and breakfast not till 6.30am!!! This is because this morning we are catching the ferry to Holyhead which is where we arrive around 11.30... hooray some sunshine!!!! Sorry to say I am heartily sick of leprechauns, shamrocks and everything Irish having had the tourist spiel and commercialisation in my face non-stop for the last four days....

So I am THRILLED to be back in Wales!! Our first stop today is at the longest place name in the world for a quick photo - and it's called: Lanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch (hope I have spelt that right!!)

We then pile back on the coach and head for Chester, took a photo of Conwy, l love the Welsh countryside, the light seems softer and the sun is actually shining today so I am LOVING WALES!!!

We stop in Chester for about 2 hours which isn't long enough at all, am going to have to come back, Dan gave a bit of a walk and spiel but we only got to see a bit of the inner city and therefore didn't get to see the ruins or other things in the area that look pretty interesting.... I try very hard not to shop but find myself in Debenhams and bought a ball dress!!!! It is just FABULOUS!! Chester has the old black and white buildings where the upstairs is bigger than downstairs (thanks to a tax that came in that was based on your ground floor level square metres!!) Anyway we have a bit of a walk around part of the city walls, see the outside of the cathedral and walk through the city streets.

We leave Chester about 4.30 for Port Sunlight for an early dinner at the Bridge Inn which is three courses as usual but I end up eating WAY too much as there was NOWAY I was saying no to profiteroles!! lol!!! There was a wedding reception underway at this pub too while we were there, the bridesmaids were wearing black!!! One of the ladies on our tour thought the dresses were wonderful - I thought they made the girls look like cheap tarts... 😊 lol..... nevermind.... I am of the belief that wearing black to a wedding is bad luck....

After dinner it was back on the bus once again and we go down down down into the tunnel that takes us UNDER the Mersey to Liverpool and tonight we are staying at Jury's Inn.... cripes heaps and HEAPS of people walking around here when we arrive and I find out that the Australian Pink Floyd are playing Echo Arena which is right next door to our hotel.

About 7.30 I head out for a walk around Liverpool we are only here overnight so thought I might go have a look, I walk along the riverside walk, past the Pumphouse (bar) and into the shopping precinct (Liverpool 1) up to the bombed out church where there are a heap of people sitting on the steps... I was thinking maybe they were waiting for their bus or something but I find out later that there was a parade coming through there. Anyway I continued along and through the Dragon Gates (the largest outside of China) and back to the hotel - about an hour and half. Everywhere I walk there are heaps of groups of people going past all dressed the same, a group of about 7 girls in black and flourescent pink and then another group in khaki colours with war paint etc etc - maybe something to do with the parade???? Anyway it was a fabulous walk!!! When I got back to the hotel I thought I would ask about internet access and by fluke they let me use a staff computer upstairs in a dark corridor in the conference centre which was closed for the night!! YAY!! It was free cause it's bloody expensive over here to pay for the internet as a casual user... again I lament not owning a laptop to get free access at maccas or wherever...

Sunday 2nd August

Got up early as usual and thought I'd be sneaky and use the computer again but had been logged off... bummer!!! So after breakfast on the bus again for another optional tour this one of Liverpool - supposedly about the Beatles but he doesn't talk about them THAT much.... Still an good tour and interesting. We go past the building where the White Star Line was created (the company that owned the Titanic which left from this port on it's fateful journey). A lot of musicians are from Liverpool, the church is huge and was designed by a 21 year old who won a competition to design this church!!! This church was the first one with out pews - it has individual chairs which is good as the church can be used for concerts, meetings, banquets etc. We get to go in for a quick look, the building of this church was funded by Anglican Churches all around the world and there are stained glass windows paying tribute to some of those sources including NZ, Australia and Canada!!

After this tour we pick up the rest of our group and we head off - today we go to Edinburgh...

First stop: Ambleside in Grasmere within the Lake District where we have 45 mins to have a look and a quick bite to eat... sigh... never long enough alas... after we leave here Dan passes around a bag and we all try a piece of Kendal mint cake which is glucose and mint and made for trampers/hikers for when you are near the top of your mountain and need that extra burst of energy to get to the top!!! It's very sweet but very yummy!!!! On our journey to Edinburgh our tour director entertains us with tall tales that sucks in a few people on the bus... (not me!!) lol....

When we arrive in Edinburgh I stay at the hotel and have lasagne and fill in my own time - some of the tour go off for an optional dinner....

Tomorrow EDINBURGH!!!!!

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