My Short Break in Liverpool

Hello Everybody!

Last Thursday was my last day of school before mid-term break. Believe me, I’ve been waiting for this break since the Christmas holidays, so when I saw that we were getting a week off school, I jumped at the opportunity to treat myself to a 3 day trip to Liverpool. This post is going to be a lil’ run down of all the things I got up to while I was there, enjoy!

Monday

My flight was at 6:30pm. I have only been on a plane one other time in my life, and I had my whole family with me so I didn’t have to do much independent thinking. However, this time I was flying alone… this was incredibly daunting for me!

I got up suuuuuper early on Monday morning to say goodbye to my Mum as she was working and I wouldn’t get another chance, so when she left I showered and did simple makeup and got myself ready for my trip. Silly me, trying to save money, I decided that I didn’t need to book additional luggage, my carry on would hold everything. And yes, it did, but it didn’t hold everything I needed to take home after an expensive trip to Primark (tip: always book additional luggage, even if it’s just for the journey home).

I had a  window seat on the plane and I stared out it for so long that the lady beside me thought I had fallen asleep and tried to wake me up, bless her. Now, flying at night was soso beautiful. Watching the lights of the city fade away as you rise higher and higher into the sky is such a magical and peaceful feeling. When we landed, my sister was waiting at the gate with a sign bearing my name, how cute is that? We got the bus from the airport to her flat and guys, dogs get the bus in Liverpool… I was amazed. There I was, minding my own business and a man gets on the bus with his French bulldog. Needless to say I spent the entire bus journey trying to get the dog’s attention with little success.

When we got to her house, we got changed into our pyjamas and called our Mum and Dad to let them know I had landed safely and was with my sister. We made pizza, had some sweets and watched Grown Ups (amazing movie) until her boyfriend got home from work, and then we went to bed.

Tuesday

I’m naturally an early riser, so when I woke up at 7:00am I wasn’t surprised, but it’s a lot harder being an early riser in a flat with two people who don’t usually get up until mid-day. I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, playing on my phone and trying to make as little noise as possible until around 9:00am. This was boring and difficult af!

Finally, my sister and her boyfriend got up and we all got ready for a day of sightseeing. Firstly, we had to fuel for the day, so to Moose and Moonshine it was for some breakfast. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Moose and Moonshine really do make a mean breakfast. I had a bed of garlic and mustard hash, topped with two fried eggs, a side of bacon and a slice of toast, with a glass of cranberry juice. I did not expect so much food when I placed my order and although it was absolutely delicious, I couldn’t finish it for the life of me. As a matter of fact, none of us cleared our plates as there was just faaaar too much food!

After breakfast we decided to walk for a while and passed these amazing suitcases on Hope Street. Each cases is dedicated to a different person in history and it’s so incredible to simply stop and look at all the detail put into them.

We then went to St. James’ Mount and Garden, which is basically a huge cemetery, yet it’s so much more than that. We walked through it, taking in all the different designs of the gravestones and reading the names of the deceased. I got a real Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire vibe from here and half expected Harry and Cedric to appear holding the Triwizard cup.

Liverpool Cathedral is right next to St. James’ Garden, so naturally we went in for a nosey around. Once again, the Harry Potter vibes were overwhelming. I literally felt like I was walking through Hogwarts. Liverpool Cathedral is breathtakingly beautiful and I loved learning about its history from one of the men who worked there. We bought tickets to go to the very top of the bell tower, a whopping 331 feet off the ground, and took pictures of Liverpool from there. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing viciously, but I would do it all over again because it is truly an incredible experience.

I’m not a fan of heights, but the view was simply unforgettable and well worth facing your fear!

The amount of detail that went into the design of Liverpool Cathedral is astonishing, it’s sad that Scott didn’t live long enough to see it completed.

From here, we went down to the docks and went to a small museum. Honestly, the museum was a lil’ bit boring, but we were grateful to be out of the cold for a while. We walked along the water’s edge and I took this time to reflect and clear my mind. It was really peaceful and calming, listening to the water below.

My sister went to Lush and bought herself a few bath bombs to bring back to Ireland with her as she doesn’t have a bath (I don’t know how she survives) but we saved all of the real shopping for Wednesday.

Given that it was Valentine’s day, we were really struggling to find somewhere to go for dinner, as literally everywhere was fully booked. We ended up going to Yard Bird. This place is so frickin’ rustic and cute, I bloody loved it. I ordered a chicken with gravy and a side of fries and loved every single bite (although not every single bite was eaten, again because of the huge portion size).

We went to Archie’s for dessert. If you are ever in Liverpool, you must go here. It’s basically a milkshake bar, but you can get sundaes, waffles, smoothies, chicken wings, nachos… it’s got everything and EVERYTHING is soooo delicious!!! I got the Oreolicious milkshake and it was to die for!

Wednesday

Today was a day dedicated to shopping. My sister and I were left to tackle this one alone, as her boyfriend isn’t the biggest fan of shopping anyway, so when we got up and had applied our faces, we set off into the shops. We went inside a lot of shops; Cath Kidston, Paperchase, Boots, River Island, Accorize, Top Shop, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21 and H&M, however I actually only bought stuff from Primark.

Liverpool Primark is the holy grail of Primarks. It has 4 floors *whispers “4 floors” for emphasis*. I spent over £100 here… remember how I said I didn’t book any extra luggage for the trip home? Yeah, this is where that mistake became a huge problem. I had to end up buying a whole new bag just to get everything home (and I still had to leave a pair of shoes and my handbag in Liverpool). Due to buying a tad too much in Primark and having no room to get anything home, I couldn’t really shop anywhere else, but I was still a brilliant day of shopping, if I do say so myself.

There was the cutest lil’ stand that sold flowers and cacti, and I had to literally drag myself away as there was simply no way I could manage to smuggle a cactus back into Ireland.

We went to McCooley’s for dinner. My sister and I are extremely similar when it comes to food, so we both ordered the peppered chicken and shared a side of fries. I was informed by my sister that this restaurant is very hit-or-miss when it comes to their food, but that night they seemed to be on their game and the meal was absolutely divine!

Once again (this was very naughty of us) we went to Archie’s for dessert and ordered an Oreo Sundae to share. The walk home was a slow one and we were happy to get into bed with full tummies and sore feet.

Thursday

We had to get up early today to be in town in time for my appointment… tattoo appointment, that is. Yes, I got a tattoo while in Liverpool, because why the hell not? We booked it on Tuesday and I got an appointment for 12:00pm on Thursday. The man doing the tattoo was 30minutes late, but I didn’t mind. I got a flying saucer, it’s a lil’ weird and quirky like me, and I absolutely love it. People have been saying I will regret it when I’m older, but I’m not older yet, and I love it, and that’ll be my problem, and I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, but really, how many people can say “my granny has a tattoo of a UFO on her leg”? Well, my grandchildren can.

We got the bus at 4:15pm and made it to the airport by 5:00pm, our gate closed at 6:00pm and this time I was in a isle seat. This was a wee bit disappointing but to be completely honest, I was just glad to be going home, Liverpool really took it out of me.

I absolutely loved my trip to Liverpool and although I’m so happy to be back on Irish soil, it means I’m back to writing sociology essays and spending hours on coursework. Not to mention I have to go back to work. My sister flew home with me and is staying with us for 11 days, it’s nice to have her back at home.

Have you ever been to Liverpool? Do you have any trips planned or have you been on any recently? I’d love to read about them!

Unitl next time…

C.