Holidaying in Liverpool

One of the things we laugh about with the passers by on the towpath, is that now we live on a boat, we never go on holiday. But that just isn’t true. Sometimes when we’ve reached our goal destination, in this case Salthouse Dock in Liverpool, it just creates that carefree mood that makes it feel like a holiday. And let’s face it, how many times do people say “but its nice to get home and sleep in my own bed”, we have the best of both worlds, we take our home on holiday with us. And so we settled down to make the most of a secure mooring right slap bang in the heart of a vibrant city, and a city still buzzing with the echos of eurovision. Of course our week started  in typical Salthouse Dock style when the heatwave broke with a mega thunderstorm.

I’m surprised those raindrops didn’t take the paint off, it was ferocious.

But once the rain stopped we could see the jellyfish swimming about the dock (even though the reflected clouds make them hard to capture)

Moon Jellyfish frequently seen in Salthouse Dock

Of course a good holiday needs good food and our first treat was a trip to our favourite Albert dock bakery, Rough Handmade. I called in to ask for their spinach and feta rolls

Picture swiped from Rough Hand Made website

but they were still in the oven, come back in half an hour, so we went back in 45 minutes, sorry still not ready. So off we went to do a bit of sight seeing,  and when we came back guess what, they’d sold out, but to our absolute delight, the owner had put two aside on the off chance we’d return. Now that’s what I call service, of course we gobbled them down straight away.
And threw the bag away carefully, sadly not everyone does and we saw this seagull wandering around rather smartly dressed.

Best bib and tucker and to be fare, the seagull might have been scavenging in the bins, (and it’s not RHM packaging)

Whist we might have spent 8 months in Liverpool in 2019/20, we weren’t able to visit the attractions, so top of our list was to do the tour of the Liver building. Built in 1907, it isn’t actually all that old compared to much of our countries heritage, but its ground breaking because its one of the first buildings to be made from reinforced concrete.

And with 360° views from the top

Looking down onto the museum and canal
The cruise ships and new Everton ground
Bertie the Liver Bird, (Bella looks out to sea) and Anfield home to the best football team way over in the distance

And if the trees weren’t in leaf, we’d be able to see Firecrest in Salthouse Dock

We weren’t the only ones enjoying the liver building as Sky Arts landscape artist of the year was being filmed this week,

lights camera action….

If was quite an eye opener seeing how the competitors were asked to pose whist painting, and I heard Stephen Mangan call out times up at least three times. I think the show is to be aired in January and there’s a high chance I’m in shot at the end, although I didn’t realise so at the time-honest.

…. and will the artists please put down your paint brushes

It seems people watching is a favourite pass time for many in Liverpool and we did love this exhibit in the museum

As our week was drawing to a close, our sister in law Amanda joined us, ready to start our next holiday, a cruise to Iceland on Fred Olsen’s Borealis. And what better way to start a holiday than with cocktails in the Albert Dock