Carlisle to Liverpool - the long and winding road

Still trying to catch up with the blog, so written in haste a couple of days after the event.

Having stocked up on a fine buffet fry-up at the Premier Inn, we headed off first to find Hadrian's Wall.  For those who know of my abortive previous efforts to find/touch/stand on the wall, this was a key box to tick this time round .... and I wasn't disappointed!

That there was a freezing wind blowing the increasingly heavy rain while we took these photos and luxuriated in the achievement, didn't dull my feeling of a "Rocky" moment, and I responded accordingly.

A couple of hours later and we're in Liverpool and checked into our hotel - Jury's Inn.

After checking in and dumping our bags, it was time to head off on our Magical Mystery Tour, and what a fantastic tour it was.  Our driver and guide, Ray, was a mine of information and telling his story in a way that had you believing he was telling the story for the first time.

So much to tell, so here's just a snapshot (pardon the pun).

Ringo's birthplace (now a condemned building)

The Empress Pub, which appeared on the cover of Ringo's first solo album, Sentimental Journey.

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes .....

Strawberry Field Forever

John's home with Aunt Mimi.

Paul's home, with a Silver Beetle neatly parked out the front!

Ray's bus and our transport

Where else to finish up the tour but at the Cavern Club, enjoying a well-pulled pint and live Beatles' music as accompaniment.

Our walk back to the hotel included an encounter with a couple of the Harry Potter petronas

and some bloke appearing to be doing unusual things with a horse

but we made it back to the Jurys Inn by following the light of the "Big Wheel"

Carlisle, the Coach & Horses, and Cod & chips

The drive from Glasgow to Carlisle was an uneventful one, although we did manage to get caught in quite a bit of rain along the way (there's a surprise!) and we arrived in Carlisle in time to visit the local Carphone Warehouse and pick up a couple of sim cards for the phone and iPad so we're wired for sound (and pictures).

We arrived at the Premier Inn at about 3.50pm and it was already starting to get dark, so any plans to see something of Hadrian's Wall (which I've never actually been able to see/stand on/touch/feel in all the time/s I've been in the UK) were left to the following day.

At the Premier Inn we were welcomed by the news that the national computer network was down and that we'd have to check in manually!  It was like going back 30 years in time, with the click-clack of the paper credit card embosser punctuating the travel.

Time for dinner and, using the Around Me app, we settled on the Flaming Grill at the Gosling Bridge Inn - 4+ stars and it seemed to have the sense of authenticity we were looking for.  Deciding to walk, we set off on what turned out to be a 2.5km round trip.  We walked past the Coach and Horses pub on the way, arriving at the Gosling to discover that it too was part of the Premier Inn franchise and we had been seduced by the "package". 

We were ushered to our table by the boss and left to peruse the menus (basically hamburgers and variations on the fast food theme) with a very pleasant local ale.  Our efforts to attract attention for our order though, fell on deaf ears and we decided that such rudeness should be responded to accordingly.  As I was paying for the beers to leave, the barman seemed puzzled that we'd had no food.  I explained we had tried to order numerous times but no one seemed interested.  He, in turn, asked "Didn't anyone tell you to order at the bar?"  Errr, no, says me and we were shown to our table by the boss! Oh, says he, sorry 'bout that.

Ah well, back to the Coach and Horses, and what a delight! A true local pub where everyone in the bar was brought to silence by our entrance - the question "Who be these strangers?" was silent but palpable.  The landlord was welcoming though and we washed down our battered cod and chips with another finely pulled pint.  An excellent end to our first day in Blighty, polished off by our walk back to the 'other' Premier Inn and off to bed for a good night's sleep.

On our way

I'm beginning this later than I should have, being busy just getting organised, and travelling and settling in to our first couple of days here, so apologies dear reader if this seems somewhat rushed and/or disjointed.

I take you back to the beginning (well at least to the day we left) and bring you up to date in the next couple of blogs.

The usual mix of highs and lows as we travelled 30 hours door to door (Carlingford to Glasgow), via Emirates pretending (but failing) to be Qantas.  A good ride from Sydney to Melbourne on your actual Qantas was followed by a 13 hour journey to Dubai with Kevin and I sitting apart (Kevin's seat that I'd requested across the aisle from me was bumped back about 7 rows) and me without the capacity to watch the entertainment coz the headset point was broken.

The time in Dubai went quickly as we tucked into some nibbles with a very fussable 2004 Chateau Margaux to wash them down.  Back on the plane and we've got seats across the aisle this time - Kevin with a very pleasant Scottish couple travelling home and me with a squirmy little 8-year old and an anal, overprotective Daddy, who insisted that, if I had a problem with his precious child lying on me, kicking me or otherwise being a nuisance, that I take it up with him.  Say no more!

And so we made it to Glasgow.  Off the plane and into the Budget car rental, where a very pleasant and efficient Donna sorted us out tout de suite for a car and we were off and away down to Carlisle!