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After a very uneventful train journey from London, we arrived at Liverpool Station, to find that The Adelphi Hotel was only a couple of hundred downhill, luggage-trolley-friendly yards away. It is a very grand building, inside and out. We even spent an hour on our first morning just mooching around the various rooms, halls, and corridors, taking pictures, below, as if we were in a stately home. We were on the fifth floor, with a view towards the Anglican cathedral. Being up high meant that the three local clubs weren’t too noisy. (Refresh the page for a new set of pictures.)
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For those of you who haven’t been keeping up, Alice lived in Liverpool for almost a year in 1990, where she studied for a Post-graduate Diploma in Librarianship and Information Technology. Subsequently, but probably unrelated, Liverpool became the European City of Culture. We thought we’d go back, revisit some old haunts and explore in greater detail.
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Above are pictures from our initial walk around the city centre, and below, memories from the Albert Dock area.
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On our second morning we decided to have a long walk south of the city, including Sefton Park for a spot of geocaching, which had more daffodils than we have ever seen in one place. We then walked westwards to the Mersey and back to the city along the river path. It was bleak but stirring.
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On several evenings we visted the Philharmonic Dining Rooms, a pub which has the most remarkable interior of any we have ever visited. The ever-changing range of real ales is also in its favour!! My great memory is of a Thai-style ale, which tasted of ginger and lemongrass with a hint of red chili. Seriously!!
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Today we visited St George’s Hall & Liverpool Art Gallery, picture line immediately below, then had a long walk looking at the city’s wonderful architecture, bottom line.
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Alice had long wanted to visit Port Sunlight and the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Both were wonderful places to visit and explore. We even found a painting of the Diana Fountain from our local Bushy Park.
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We combined my love of The Beatles, and Merseybeat generally, with a walk discovering some of Liverpool’s churches. Alice juggled a Beatles guidebook in one hand and a more serious architectural one in the other. We looked at all the lonely people, while Eleanor Rigby picked up the rice in the church where a wedding had been...
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Our last day dawned (we were leaving on Friday, the following day being a local football derby and the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree). We decided to go for the ultimate in Scouse culture, the Yellow Duckmarine combined boat and bus tour of the city. See the picture line immediately below, followed by a visit to the Liverpool museum, especially ‘The Wondrous Place’ a display about the city’s musical heritage from the sixties, named after one of Billy Fury’s hits.
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As with all our city holidays, we left wishing we’d had longer and we’re already planning a return one day. As I kept telling Alice, nothing had changed except the price of a pint of beer.
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