Sitting here a couple hours before I head out for my overnight in Holyhead, Wales to catch the ferry to Dublin…..
My second day in Brighton was just as exciting as the first, walked around a wee bit, enjoyed a nice sunny day and read a bunch. Brighton just was not a very exciting place on my travels. I do not recommend
Things picked up on Monday when I left for Manchester though. Almost missed my bus, and it was waiting right in front of me. First of All, National Express busses ALWAYS, and I swear ALWAYS leave early….without a doubt! And when they are labelled “airport” it doesn’t mean they are going to the airport. Check the # on the bus always….
Manchester is a very hip and modern city and I made sure to take in all the sites. Arriving in the evening allowed me to relax, grab a quick bite to eat and just relax. On Tuesday, I travelled to an area near the Boddington’s Brewery (which I did not get to) in search of the Manchester Jewish Museum. I found a building with a Jewish star, but it was a textile store…no Jewish museum…I searched and searched but no luck. Then I used the Manchester metro (DON’T PAY, no one checks) and heade dto the Museum of Science and Technology. There was a fantastic exhibit on 1001 Great Inventions by Muslims as well as a superb interactive exhibit on steam power. I love technology, so this was a great experience.
I then returned back to my hostel to pick up my things and catch a mid-afternoon shuttle to Liverpool.
Liverpool has so far been my favorite stop of the trip. It took me about 30 minutes just to get from my bus to the hostel so I needed a minue to recoverWhen I arrived I checked my stuff in the hostel and proceeded to just roam about the city. They have a beuatiful dock system that was integral to the Battle of the Atlantic of WWII. I roamed about the docks, taking in the historic sites and the perfect weather. After that I proceeded back to the hostel, to meet my AUssie roommatte, from Perth surprisingly who was off to the Cavern Club, the home of the Beatles. I chose to go elsewhere and grabbed a nice Italian dinner and then met my Canadian roommatte to get to know each other over a pint of guiness.
On Wednesday, I had a long, fantastic day through the entire downtown of Liverpool. I checked out the fantastic Liverpool Customs & Excise Museum as well as the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Two well designed FREE museums along ALberts Dock. Afterward I went to the Tate Liverpool art gallery. I just don’t get some art. One of the galleries was a series of paintings of LINES, COLORED LINES drawn across a canvas, with unique names and nothing else….That is not art, but swatches at Home Depot. Oh well, I guess you can find art in anything.
After the Tate Liverpool I relaxed back in the lobby of the hostel, put my stuff in a locker, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and walked amongst the historic buildings of downtown Liverpool. This included the offices of the ship line that owned the Titanic as well as one of Charles Dickens favorite lecture halls.
Because I had time to kill before my bus to the ferry station. I went to catch a film at the Odeon, grabbed some ice cream and then recovered a bit at the hostel. The cabbie whisked me off to the coach station and the next eight hours were spent in transit or waiting for transit to Dublin. More on this tomorrow….
Hope all is well on the other side of the Atlantic…
