Let me start at the beginning...
Tuesday morning around 7:45 am I met Esther en route to the train station. We were quite the sight to see walking through Dundee with all of Esther's worldly belongings, lugging it all toward the train. We spent a good portion of the day train hopping, and watching the Scottish countryside morph into the English countryside, although I'm not quite sure where exactly the switch from one to the other happened because both had lots of green hills/mountains dotted with sheep.
Esther and I enjoying some gummi bears from Germany courtesy of Lauren on the train ride.
We finally arrived to the Liverpool Lime Street Station around 2:30 in the afternoon. The next step was finding the right bus to take us near our hostel. We were lucky enough to find the proper one with a super nice bus driver. I asked the driver to let us know when we were at our stop, and before we knew it the bus stopped and he asked if we were going to the hostel. We said yes and he said that it was one of the doors on the left side of the road, but he wasn't sure which one. It took us a minute to realize that he had stopped right in front of our hostel rather than at an actual bus stop! It was the nicest thing. He must have taken pity on us with all of Esther's luggage!
Esther and I were pleased to discover that we had booked a lovely hostel! It was so homey and they people were super nice. Our room was giant and we had our own kitchen, bathroom, sofa, computer, and even washer and dryer! There was free breakfast in the morning and it was just spectacular! Seriously, if you are ever in Liverpool on a budget, stay at the Everton Hostel.
Anyway, after Esther and I got settled in and rested for a while after the long trek across the country, we set out for an afternoon/evening of exploration. We walked all around the city center and found some cool sights, such as St. George's Hall and a church that had been bombed during WWII and now is surrounded by lovely gardens. We made our way to the pier and wandered along the river. We enjoyed a relaxing ferry ride around the river, which was really cool because we got a really neat view of the city.
St. George's Hall.
Bombed out church.
Along the pier.
Wandering the streets of Liverpool.
Cool view of the city from the ferry.
After our time near the water, we went in search of supper. We ended up going back to the train station to have pasties, which we ate on the steps of St. George's Hall. Once we had regained our energy we went in search of The Cavern. The Cavern is the club where the Beatles got their start. We decided to go in and enjoy a pint of cider whilst listening to a Beatles cover band. It was really cool to see all the memorabilia from the Beatles as well other famous musicians. We were exhausted from a day of travel so we called it an early night and went back to relax at our hostel.
The area of town where the Beatles got their start...home of The Cavern.
A tribute to the Beatles
Self explanatory
Pints of cider at the Cavern!
Wednesday morning we got up and enjoyed the free breakfast our hostel had to offer. We then decided that it would be easiest and least stressful to take a taxi from the hostel to the airport. We called the cab and asked for it to be there at 9:45. Around 9:25 the lady who was working at the hostel came to our room and said that our cab was here. We were a little shocked because we were not quite ready to go! We went down and talked to the cab driver and said we didn't want it until 9:45. The nice driver told us not to worry and that he would wait for us and he wouldn't start the timer until we got in! People were so nice in Liverpool!!
Once we got to the airport we did not have to wait long until we saw my red-headed brother emerge from the arrivals door. We hung out for a few hours in the airport playing games, eating snacks, and learning about Lambananas until it was time for Esther to head through security. It was hard saying goodbye to someone you have became such a great friend with and seen almost everyday for the past 4 months. I know that we will see each other again, either in Canada or the US, so that was of some comfort.
A cool tiger-rhino at the airport.
So the yellow thing in the window is a Lambanana. Esther and I had seen then them all around the city. At the airport we asked a guy at the souvenir shop what the dog things were. He looked at us with a rather confused expression and then realized what we were talking about. He then stated (in an English accent) "that isn't a dog, it's a Lambanana, of course! You know half lamb, half banana." Esther and I found this very amusing. Apparently they were designed by a Japanese artist and they became the symbol of Liverpool. At one point they had been all over the city, each one painted differently.
After saying goodbye Tucker and I headed to the hostel so he could nap and get refreshed from all the travel before exploring a little. Following a wee nap we decided to walk to the Liverpool Football Stadium. It turns out that it was rather close to our hostel, which was nice. We looked at the outside of it and then went in the gift shop. Tucker was happy to purchase a Liverpool jersey.
Outside the Liverpool Football Stadium!
That evening we headed out for dinner (pasties again on the steps of St. George's Hall) and went to The Cavern. I didn't mind going twice because it was really cool and Tucker was excited to see it. We decided to call it an early night because Tucker was exhausted and our train was leaving super early the next morning.
Tucker at the Cavern.
I had a good time in Liverpool and would definitely like to go back when I have more time to spend exploring the city and seeing what else it had to offer.
We made it safely back to Dundee around noon Thursday and spent the rest of the day relaxing and grocery shopping. Tucker was so excited to get to ride the train. Let's just hope he still likes it after we leave Scotland because there is a lot more train travel in the near future.
Stay tuned to hear all about my time with Tucker!!
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