UK: Liverpool City Tour

It was my third week at Nottingham. As usual, weekend was approaching and we were discussing where to visit in the coming weekend. Few ideas pop up - Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester as well as Liverpool! Finally the plan was ironed out with some informal "discussions" between few of us. Our final plan was to drive to Liverpool on Saturday and visiting Manchester together with Peak District on our return journey back to Nottingham.

Direction:

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As our plan was a free and easy kind of weekend trip, we decided to rent a car and drive our own way to the Liverpool. First problem we encountered when we started our journey was that we lost in Nottingham itself, finding it hard to move our way out from the city. Man, that was real hard. I always think that rented car should be installed with GPS as it is meant for tourists like us who is new to the place. Well, we were not fortunate enough to get our's with GPS though. So we ended up with the old way of navigation - map & compass.

It took us some 3-4 hours to arrive finally at Liverpool whereby we made a stop at Derby for lunch. As of Derby, it was just a small town neighboring to Nottingham with nothing interesting though. But yet, we still lost our way in the town after driving thru some housing areas which was very disorientating as most of the buildings look the same. But anyway, thank god that we arrived at Liverpool safely that evening :), though it was a little late...

Slowly Liverpool city was emerging in front of us as we were driving towards the city center.


First glance of the city...


So, we were in a foreign city and without any sense of direction. We decided to park our car and to walk around the city by foot in search of budget hotel for that night. It was a windy evening with a little drizzle, I had no idea where I was heading to but just keeping my mind optimistic that we will be able to get a room somewhere.

After some 20 minutes walking without knowing where we were heading to, I gave up and grab someone on the road asking for nearest budget hotel or hostel. He was a kind lad and pointed me the direction to the nearest budget hotel that he knows. Thank you so much mate! I was so lucky to have met you else we would have to travel to Manchester as we were finding it hard to spot for a budget hotel.

After we checked in to the Ibis hotel which was located right opposite of the Albert dock facing the river, we decided to head back into the city center for a walk. Below are some of the pictures I have taken during my night walk around the city center :).











A beautiful fountain found in front of the city square, with a beautiful monument as it's background.



Just a short history of Liverpool, it is a port city at Merseyside of England. Historically it was a part of Lancashire, the urbanization and expansion of Liverpool were largely brought about by the city's status as a major port. By the 18th century, trade from the West Indies, Ireland and mainland Europe coupled with close links with the Atlantic Slave Trade furthered the economic expansion of Liverpool. By the early 19th century, 40% of the world's trade passed through Liverpool's docks, contributing to Liverpool's rise as a major city.

Early in the morning, I was having a walk at Albert dock so snap a few pictures of the Merseyside river.




There were plenty of shops around Albert dock for touristy shopping. I was enjoying my souvenir shopping there and got my father a Beatles's tee. The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. From 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). I was not lucky to have visited the Beatles's Museum which was located at the dock as well. It was not open until 11am but it would be too late for us as we needed to check out from the hotel and head to Manchester city the next.





Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also known as "Scousers", in reference to the local dish known as "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, were drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. It draws immigrants from all over the world. As a symbol of the Chinese community over here, the China town was built right at the center of the town.





We had done our last city tour by driving around the town after checking out from the hotel. The
Liverpool Cathedral marked our last stop at the city center and we head out town straight to our next destination - Anfield Stadium :). Hurray!!!

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