A walk in history is always a walk worth taking even when your feet hurt… Livonne

We didn’t sleep much after midnight in Chester, though we probably dozed in and out but we definitely appreciated being horizontal. But we were up bright and early, packed and ready to head to Liverpool. We thought that sliding our heavy cases down the stairs would be the way to go and though it was much easier than carrying them, we were noisy getting out of the Saddle Inn Pub. But we headed out intending on going to the taxi rank to get a cab to the station to book a train to Liverpool.

The directions we were given took longer than we were hoping for so we phoned for a cab instead and one soon turned up. He was a lovely gentleman who wanted to tell us all about his days of hosting Aussies during his cricketing days. It’s funny isn’t it? As soon as people know we are Australian, they love telling us their stories of backpacking around Aus or the people they’ve met from our country. It’s heartwarming as nearly all stories are told with a smile and genuine warmth. He spoke of Aussie cricketers that we had no idea about as neither of us are cricket fans, but we smiled and nodded in all the right places.

At the station, we spoke to a customer service officer who gave us the best way to get to Liverpool airport where we were to pick up a rental car. Seriously, we were looking at everything on the internet and just getting ourselves more and more confused and here comes this young man who organised us within a few minutes. (Don’t get me started on the reduction in customer service roles due to the increase of being sent to the internet for everything.) We sat and had a bit of breakfast and a cuppa at Costa at Chester station then boarded our train to Liverpool. The same Welsh train attendent was on board and so we could listen to that lilting voice again as we travelled to Liverpool South Parkway to get a connecting bus to the airport.

We chose to hire a car from the airport as we are doing a round trip then flying out from Liverpool to Dublin in a few days, so felt that was the easiest location. We got off and easily got onto the bus to the airport. We spoke to a couple who had suitcases so we knew we were heading in the right direction. They were off on a holiday to Tenerife. At the airport we walked a fair way to where we had to pick up the car. We’d made the booking on Booking.com and so it was a bit of an unknown but it worked out well. The guy from Drivalia came to pick us up and then took us to their depot where we signed up for the car.

We had taken out full insurance through Booking just to find out that it was not recognised by any of the car companies. It’s this sort of upselling that really makes me angry. We aren’t to know that it is useless and we think we are doing the right thing only to find it’s a waste of money. Anyway, we couldn’t cancel that leg but I was able to cancel the Ireland leg of insurance. We finally drove out in a little blue MG with our cases safely tucked in the back and off we went.

We decided to do the tour of Liverpool on our way back rather than that day as it had already taken so long to get to the airport and pick up the car, so half a day was already gone. We set my maps on the phone to head to York. We had booked a room on our way and off we went. Maps kept having a hissy fit, so we stopped somewhere along the way at a McDonalds so we could try to map our trip without having to rely on an app with a personality disorder. As it was almost lunchtime, we ordered some lunch which was very average.. Seems Maccas is average the world over. Anyway, we ate, went back to the car and realised the car actually had it’s own navigation system, so we worked out how to use it and we were on our way.

It wasn’t as easy to follow as we’d have liked but still we found our way to York and to our accomodation for the night. It was Burtonvilla which was a nice little room seemingly central to where we wanted to go. Parking was a nightmare so thankfully we had booked a space but even so, it was such skinny parking spaces that we struggled to get everything out. Then we were on the 2nd floor with an incredibly steep and narrow staircase so we were incredibly grateful that the host carried our bags upstairs for us.

We got ourselves a bit sorted and sat down for a few minutes before heading down the road to see if we could find the Shambles area. Oh I’m so pleased we did. The beauty of the rambling architecture really does touch the heart. Do you ever wonder, like me, about why they could create the most amazing architecture with no machinery to help them, yet we, with everything at our fingertips, build boring boxes instead of anything of magnificence? Anyway, regardless of modern architecture, I loved old York. What a glorious area. There were unique little shops too. I wish they were all filled with quirky and weird stuff, but I guess dollars have to be made and there are only so many taxidermied crows or smoking skulls you can sell.

Snapping away, my phone died before we’d got far, so I haven’t taken anywhere near enough pics to share at the moment but I did have my camera with me of course, so when i get home I will edit those but for now, I’m only sharing phone photos. We had a great wander around and then headed home, absolutely exhausted. We stopped into a supermarket to get a few things for snacks, cheese, crackers, nuts etc. Then we called into a pub for a meal, except they didn’t do food, so we went back to our accomodation. By the time we had climbed the 2 levels again, we were done for the day. I had every intention of going back out to get some take away but couldn’t be bothered, so I made a few crackers with vegemite and cheese for Cecile and I had some pistachios.

Just as I gave them to her, in bed I might add, she dropped them on the floor. I wonder if she was actually throwing them at me. She says she wasn’t but I’m still not sure lol. I made her a new plate and then settled down to eat my pistachios. After writing my blog, I was completely spent, so showered, put jammies on and settled down for the night. I did find a pistachio in my bed this morning but slept so deeply I didn’t realise it. It wasn’t long before sleep came a’knocking. I woke up this morning nice and refreshed. I think we have acclimatised to the time difference now. Looking out our attic style window, I was watching sunrise over all the red brick chimneys. It seemed to bode well for a new day on our way to Edinburgh in Scotland. I will tell you all about that trip soon.. but for now….

Happy throwing food at friends… Livvy xxx