Liverpool Weekend - August Bank Holiday, 2014

We had a good Bank Holiday weekend in Liverpool in spite of variable weather and a long coach journey of 7 hours each way (necessitated by the lack of trains due to engineering work).

It was actually more of a ‘cultural’ weekend than a walking one, but we did do a fair bit of walking around the city   It was a bit wet on Saturday – the sun would be out and then it would bucket down with rain.  So we spent the morning doing ‘inside’ things, wandering round the undercover part of the beautifully restored Albert Dock area, being mesmerized by  the stunning WW1 dazzle ship (painted in amazing vibrant geometric shapes – designed to confuse the enemy as to its exact range, speed and even which way it was heading – making it a much less easy target to focus on).  We visited the modern art gallery and then went on a Magical Mystery Tour coach trip round the Beatles houses, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields etc. then ended up in the Cavern –rebuilt since their day, but we saw a couple of enthusiastic Beatles tribute bands there.  The weather improved dramatically in the afternoon & we went on a walk around Liverpool visiting the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals (Paddy’s Wigwam as they call it in Liverpool). There was a high level zip wire overhead along the main shopping mall which provided us with some amusement.

Sunday was much nicer weather & we took a ferry ride across the Mersey and back – very nice.  Then a couple of museums – including the large Museum of Liverpool and the Museum of International Slavery.  Some of the group  did a spot of wandering round shops,  some went on a hopper bus around Liverpool whilst others  went to see the Mondrian exhibition in the Tate Gallery. 

It rained again on Monday, but hey, we were going home!  The streets of Liverpool had clumps of mud all over them all the way to the coach station and we saw abandoned muddy wellington boots outside cafes.  There were a lot of muddy individuals waiting for the coach back to London who had been at the Greenfields Music Festival, some people were telling us that most of them had abandoned their tents at the festival!

The YHA was brilliantly situated, right near the Albert Dock area and  was very comfortable.  There were a couple of ‘party groups’ staying there – a group of hen party girls and another group of boys – what is the YHA coming to these days?  Actually they were no trouble at all and did not make any noise coming back in the early hours.  We had some lovely meals out in the evenings.  Altogether a good weekend!

Lynne E. 28th August 2014