Wandering around Liverpool, and new hiking boots!

We were up just before 5:00am Wednesday morning to take Jane down to Liverpool airport. It was about an hour drive, mostly on the motorway. Of course the highway is not very busy at that hour, and with sunrise in this area at 5:00am it was already light outside.

Arrived at the airport to find they have an odd way of dropping off and picking up people. You have to pay £5 for "express" drop off at the terminal where you have five minutes to say goodbye or you pay another £5!

You can't even pull over anywhere and check out the options because you'll receive a fine. And of course we had never been there. Anyhow, Jane paid the £5, but what a ripoff. We learned afterwards that there is another drop off and pickup zone a 1/2 km walk from the terminal where you have a free 40 minutes.

With that done, Ruth and I decided to head into Liverpool. Of course at that hour, nothing is open! We found a paid parking area close to the waterfront and the center... £5 ($6.35 USD, $8.70 CAD) for the day.

Downtown Liverpool is pretty quiet at 7:00am!

Strange statue.

Notice Ruth is wearing her raincoat, and the hood is up. 

Definitely the worst weather we've had since we arrived in the UK. Breezy and drizzly with a high of about 13C (55F). Not nice. But, we had decent clothing and we were prepared for it. 

Old buildings in downtown, with a new renovated one at the end.

Liverpool tower.

Notice again in the photo above... there is nobody around. We were looking for somewhere to have breakfast and a hot drink, but nothing was open until 8:00am. We found a shopping mall that was accessible. Nothing was open of course, but at least we had a bench to sit on indoors until the restaurants opened.

And then we went to a Wetherspoons pub that was open for breakfast. Wetherspoons is discount pub chain where you can often get a reasonable priced meal or drink. Sure enough, breakfast including unlimited tea, coffee, or hot chocolate for £6.75 ($8.60 USD, $11.75 CAD). It wasn't great, but not bad either.

War memorial.

One of the reasons we came into the city (other than to just see sights) was to find Ruth some new hiking boots. The last pair she bought was 2 years ago in Norway. The upper part of the boots is still in great condition, but the soles have zero traction left on them.

So we found an outdoors store that had a good selection of quality boots. We paid a little more than we wanted, but she bought a pair of Oboz for £145 ($184 USD, $252 CAD). I checked afterwards, and I saw them online for cheaper, but they were right there in front of us, and we didn't want to take the chance of ordering online and having them not show up or some other problem. And they were right there in front of us, so we bought them. She definitely needed them for our upcoming Albania hike.

Then we went and did some sightseeing in the rain.

Queen Victoria statue.

The Town Hall.

The interior is supposed to be interesting, but it was closed for a private function.

The Royal Liver Building, built in 1911.

View from the opposite side.

You can't be in Liverpool and not notice the many references to The Beatles. Of course Liverpool is where Paul McCartney grew up and the Beatles got their start in the early days. 

Ussie in the rain with the fab four statue.

Ruth with the larger than life Beatles.

Me, with Paul, George, Ringo, and John.

The Port of Liverpool Building.

Scenery along the way.

Liverpool Port.

Liverpool port.

Liverpool lost its world heritage status in 2021 after UNESCO blamed years of development for an “irreversible loss” to the historic value of its Victorian docks area. It is only the third place in the world in the last 50 years to lose that recognition.

The Beatles... made from 15,000 jelly beans!

The Liverpool docks area.

Ruth, at The Beatles Story museum.

It would have been a good thing to do on a rainy day, but our interest diminished when we saw the £16 ($20.35 USD, $27.85 CAD) per person entrance fee.

Ruth, at the Abbey Road mural painted on the side of a building.

Then we decided to walk up to Liverpool Cathedral. We didn't know it at the time, but Liverpool Cathedral was only built between 1904 to 1978. And, that it is the largest church in the UK, and the 8th largest in the world.

It is absolutely massive.

And the interior is cavernous.

It's kind of odd that there are no seats in this area.

The altar.

One of the many organ pipes.

One of the smaller chapels, that is really a church itself.

Surprisingly, it was all free to visit, and by donation only... the way a church should be.

Opposite the church is Liverpool's Chinatown.

We had brought a packed lunch and ate it in the car before heading back to Preston. Pretty tired when we got back, and I had no problem having an hour and a half nap on the couch!

Still raining later in the day, but we walked over to the Lidl grocery store and picked up some more supplies for the next week.

Still raining this morning, with a forecast high of 12C (54F). Yuck.

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