Monday – Liverpool or Bust

50th Anniversary of the Song

Life goes on day after day
Hearts torn in every way

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
’cause this land’s the place I love
and here I’ll stay

People they rush everywhere
Each with their own secret care

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
and always take me there
The place I love

People around every corner
They seem to smile and say
We don’t care what your name is boy
We’ll never turn you away

So I’ll continue to say
Here I always will stay

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
’cause this land’s the place I love
and here I’ll stay
and here I’ll stay
Here I’ll stay

– Gerry and the Pacemakers (1964)

REMEMBER: Pictures can be enlarged in a new window by double clicking them.

Another delightful breakfast at 76 Duke Street, and we bid adieu to Julia as we began the 3.5 hour drive to Liverpool. The drive is mostly motorway and relatively uninteresting. I set the SatNav (GPS to you Americans) to take us directly to Crosby Beach in North Liverpool. It’s a fairly mundane beach made interesting by one Antony Gormley who sculpted 100 life size cast iron statues of men (in his own image, it is said), all of them staring out to see along a two mile stretch of the beach, some of them well below the high tide mark so they often stand in the water.

From Crosby Beach it’s a straight 20-minute shot down the coast through Liverpool to our hotel, the Nadler Liverpool. Mr. Nadler has developed a few hotels (originally called base2stay) in the UK using a concept that we like: top quality rooms in a no frills hotel – no gym, no pool, no room service, no restaurant, no breakfast, and no parking (but with a discount at a garage just down the street). The rooms are beautiful. And the location is perfect for exploring Liverpool on foot.

After checking in we proceeded to do a little exploring. We walked through the pedestrian district and then down to Albert Dock on the waterfront. I’ll let pictures tell the story:

 

Dinner was at Alma de Cuba, just a stone’s throw from the hotel. It is situated in an old church and is a fantastic setting. Food and drinks were delightful as was Sophia, our server. Long day and quickly back to bed after dinner.