I’m playing on a lazy stereotype here, but hell, in the current climate, lazy stereotyping and casual racism seems the way.

We went away to Liverpool for a couple of days, leaving the cars at home. A bus to Walsall then Wolverhampton, and then a train to Lime St that we’d booked with Virgin, expected to be Avanti, but turned out to be LNR, operated by West Midlands Trains. Thank fuck for all that privatised railway choice, otherwise this could have been complicated!

As it was, it was easy. Comfortable, too as we’d forked out for 1st class, though as the train filled as we headed north, I think ticket arrangements were “flexible”.

Anyway, we arrived at Lime St- my second visit here, the last one being accidental, circa 1990, when very drunk, when I never exited the concourse, instead traveling straight back to my intended destination of Wolverhampton- and fell straight into The Crown, a fabulous pub right next to the station. We even got a seat, despite the fact the pub was very busy. A swift beer or two, and check into our hotel, a grand total of 50 metres away.

Back out, more beer, in very, very crowded pubs; this was Saturday night in a city centre, close to Christmas, and there was very little room to move, but Liverpudlians are a friendly bunch and offered me a seat when they saw I was struggling. Some Thai food, more beer (!) and back to the hotel; all with the city getting busier and busier.

The next day started well- full English, bus tour (pro tip: hop on/hop off city bus tours are a great way to work out the layout of a city), and in to The Philharmonic Dining Rooms before any other customers. It did go a bit downhill with The Baltic Fleet, which wasn’t awful, but wasn’t as good as expected, and Albert Dock (too much of modern chain places), but picked back up with great Turkish food and back to one of the best pubs later.

Liverpool’s a great city, and (as I found out about 30 years ago) remarkably easy to get to 🙂