Liverpool! Beatles, World War II, and Reinvention
This August, my sister and I took a trip to the U.K. to celebrate her 30th birthday and her first trip out of North America! We knew we wanted to visit Edinburgh for the annual Fringe Festival, and then spend most of our time in London. However, being over-ambitious, I looked at Google Maps for something in between Scotland and London. There was Liverpool! Kind of in the middle. -ish. A new plan was born! Less than 24 hours of Liverpudlian magic were added to our itinerary.
We took the train into Liverpool from Scotland, past a repeating montage of sheep, windmills, and cows. When we finally arrived in Liverpool in the dark of night, the train station was mostly empty – aside from some life-size statues and a long line of orange clad train workers getting into their cars one by one like Oompa Loompas. It was a pretty great sight. I knew I was going to like this place.
Our Uber driver took us to the Pullman hotel where we experienced plush luxury at a bargain, Liverpudlian hospitality by the talkative concierge, and an overpriced, room service pizza delivered right as we channel surfed to the Naked Dating reality show on TV. Nothing like accepting a food delivery with a bunch of penises on screen. This hotel was so comfortable, and spacious with a rainfall shower and tons of space to spread out. Though it was far from the central places to eat or drink, the location would have been perfect if we had time to explore the many museums on Liverpool’s pier.
Time was not something we had, however. The next day, we raced to the starting point of Sandeman’s free Liverpool walking tour. We figured, if we only had one day to see a whole city, a 2.5 hour tour would be a great use of our time. It was!