Tag Archives: Liverpool

Liverpool and Futbol ~Day 10

Sunday September 24th was day ten of our travels in Ireland and the United Kingdom. We enjoyed a well appointed breakfast buffet in the Delta Hotel dining room before we arranged for an Uber ride to see the waterfront statue of The Beatles.

Proudly perched on the peaks of the historic Royal Liver Building, the Liver birds are the mythical symbols of Liverpool, overlooking the city for well over a century.

The story of the Liver bird is said to date back to 1207, when King John decided to award Liverpool a Royal Charter, making it an official town. The document was sealed with the image of a bird – and so, the Liver bird was born.

Standing an impressive 18ft tall, the Liver Birds are made of copper and hold a wingspan of 24ft! The two birds are a prominent display within the city and previously rekindled the idea that the Liver Bird was a mythical bird that once haunted the local shoreline.

History suggests that the Liver Birds are a female and male pair that go by the names of Bella and Bertie. The female, Bella, looks to the sea, watching for the seamen to return safely home. While the male, Bertie, looks into the city, watching over the seamen’s families (or old wives’ tales – making sure the pubs are open!)

An urban legend also has it that the LIver Birds face away from each other as if they were to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist. Another local tale also tells of the Birds being chained down, as if they were to fly away, the River Mersey would burst its banks and flood the city of Liverpool.

After a brief time at the waterfront we decided to Uber back to the hotel and to check out and get our luggage stored while we got on with the rest of our day. We got another Uber to take us to the Liverpool Cathedral which we were hoping to be able to explore. Our timing was off and they turned away visitors because it was time for a Sunday Service. We walked around the ‘longest Cathedral in Europe’ through St. James Gardens before we dialed up another Uber to take us to the Liverpool v. West Ham futbol match.

Our Uber driver took us right up to Anfield Stadium. Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has a seating capacity of 54,074, and is currently under expansion to seat 61,276, which will make it the fifth largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool since their formation in 1892.

When you are talking football in the United Kingdom you are actually talking about Soccer. Wanted to clarify for those of you who have no interest in this sport. This day, September 24th, 2023, will become our historical moment at Anfield Stadium.

We arrived early enough to get our shopping done before the game. As you can see the store was filled to the gills with fans doing the same thing we were.

It took a while to find just the right hat.

With our shopping behind us it was time to find the Beat Lounge. Josh was able to get our seats with special access to the Beat Lounge where we could hang out before the game, enjoy refreshments and other perks, a free drink at half time, access to our seats right off the lounge and easy access to restrooms. ‘Beat’ for the Beatles. There were musicians in the lounge playing some Beatles tunes, too.

 

It was a treat to be a part of the Liverpool Football tradition and see and hear the avid supporters in the Kop.

The actual score at the end of the match was Liverpool 3 and West Ham 1.

After the game we ended up walking all the way back to the hotel to drop off our purchases to be stored for us. Then walking again we were in search of a good spot for dinner. It took a while and a few false starts in establishments we weren’t that thrilled about. Finally getting a little hangry we walked into Salt House Tapas and were so glad we did. The service was great and the food was amazing. The Lamb dish we ordered was the best we had ever eaten.

We took an Uber back to the hotel to gather our stored luggage (which was not as easy as we expected). The front desk was slammed with a tour bus checking in and other patrons with complaints. Ludmilla was a gem and kept here cool and we breathed a sigh of relief when she found our last bag.  Josh ordered our last Uber of the day to take us to the Liverpool (John Lennon) Airport to our hotel for the night with an early departure back to Dublin on Monday morning. (That was a long sentence). Even with all the Uber rides we took on this Sunday we accumulated close to 16,000 steps!! Day 10 in the books we had one more full day left in our travels. Day eleven would start with a flight to Dublin and being reunited with Andrew and Katie for our final full day in Dublin. Cheers and Slainte for making it this far.

That post will happen after Thanksgiving Weekend which will be full of family time for us.

We are thankful to God for all of His love, grace, forgiveness and for filling our lives with so many good gifts from above.

From our house to yours we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Psalm 28:7 ~
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
Господь–крепость моя и щит мой;
на Него уповало сердце мое,
и Он помог мне, и возрадовалось сердце мое;
и я прославлю Его песнью моею.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

Fountains Abbey Part Two and Onward

Continuing Day Nine of our travels, after the ruins of the Abbey we kept walking a circular path that would take us back to the main entrance going past the water garden.

We went through this dark tunnel upward to view the octagon tower.

We crossed the lake and continued to St. Mary’s church instead of going on to the deer park.

We were disappointed to see the church would not open until 1pm.

We made it back to the main gate and enjoyed lunch before heading back to York to drop off our car and take a train to Liverpool. At the Enterprise car rental station we had another good experience and we got a special ride back to the railway station. Once at the station we had time before our train would depart so we found a table at a pub at the station and played Phase 10 to pass the time. Soon it was time to head to platform 5 for our 2 hour train ride to Liverpool.

Thankfully our train ride had no delays and no cancellations. We enjoyed meeting a gal, sitting in front of us, who had just gotten back to England from our neck of the woods. We were surprised to hear her talking about being in Bellingham and she was shocked to hear that Laura went to university in Bellingham. We arrived at the Lime Street station in Liverpool with a short walk to our hotel.

We got our luggage into our rooms and then ventured out for a place to enjoy dinner. We headed to the Denbigh Castle and realized right away there was not even an inch of space with the crowd enjoying an Everton game. It was so great to be there on the outside looking in when Everton scored and the whole pub erupted with cheers.

We moved on from The Denbigh and found the Hawksmoor and there was a table in the bar for us even though we did not have reservations.

We placed our orders and it took quite a long long time before any food appeared at our table. They finally came to our table apologetically and told us that my hamburger was dropped on the way to our table and they had to go out and buy some buns because they had run out of buns. LOL!

The food was good and we were okay with the wait. Greg had a vegetable wellington that looked cool and tasted good. Josh called an Uber for us when we finished dinner instead of walking back to the hotel.

This was the end of day nine and time for a good sleep after a very long day of travel and walking. Two more full days of travel before it was time to fly home.

We Love our Books Hodgepodge

Jo From This Side of the Pond has a new batch of questions for us to mull over and answer for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thanks, Jo!

1. It’s National Read A Book Day…whatcha’ reading? What’s a book you want to read?

We have books in many rooms in our home.  Our study books and cookbooks and resource books are in our office. Greg and I both have desks that face each other in our office and we each have bookshelves behind our desks. In the playroom we have a bookshelf full of good children’s and young adult books.  In the ‘blue’ room we have some of our favorite literature and other books by C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, MacDonald, and a lot of classics. We have full sets of Beatrix Potter’s The World of Peter Rabbit series. We have the full set of Anne books by L.M. Montgomery. Other authors we enjoy are Elizabeth Goudge, Dorothy Sayers, Walter Brooks~(Freddy the Pig series), Brian Jacques delightful Redwall series, the Dune series in the world of Science Fiction and more from that genre. For more serious reading we enjoy John Piper, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, Charles Spurgeon, and Martin Lloyd Jones.

Currently I’ve been concentrating on reading Ephesians in the New Testament of the Bible this summer alongside a commentary of Ephesians by John MacArthur. Daily I like to springboard into my morning reading by a short devotional by Alistair Begg, a living preacher and writer, and Charles Spurgeon, a dead ‘Prince of Preachers’.

I have a couple of books on my desk right now that I’d like to read. All That Jesus Commanded, The Christian Life According to the Gospels, by John Piper and a short book, The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in Modern English.

2. Which is better…having high expectations or low expectations? Explain why. 

I’m going to say it’s better to have high expectations with a clause thrown in. Reach higher but don’t beat yourself up when you don’t quite reach the height. Keep pressing on. Encourage and don’t discourage someone who is trying to reach something higher than themselves.

You have to be careful about YOUR expectations for other people.

3. Serenity is________________________. 

Being at peace with God and the people around you. Another clause thrown in…as much as it is up to you, be at peace with those around you. Sometimes those you would like to be at peace with don’t want to cooperate.

4. What’s  the most interesting thing in your purse or pocket right now? 

Things are pretty standard and boring right now. I do have an overabundance of 1 dollar bills at the moment.

5. What helps you calm down? 

Knowing that ultimately I AM NOT IN CHARGE!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I will be missing from Wednesday Hodgepodge the next 3 Wednesdays because I’ll be enjoying some new scenery across the pond. Dublin, Belfast, York, Yorkshire Dales and Liverpool are all on the schedule for us. Liverpool for a soccer game, Liverpool v. West Ham at Anfield stadium. Cheers and Sláinte to you all. 

See you in October when Fall/Autumn are just beginning.