Day 8: The Long and Winding Road to Cardiff

We really didn't want to leave Liverpool this morning. Sadly, our schedule doesn't allow for much flexibility, but we decided to put off our two Cardiff attractions (The Doctor Who Experience, Cardiff Castle) until tomorrow so that we could spend a little more time in Liverpool.

We stopped for breakfast in a little cafe on Albert Docks where I finally had a "Full English Breakfast," which I'd seen on several menus. It's eggs, sausage, ham, toast, beans, and hash browns. Fortunately there was no mushroom, which is usually included.

We returned to The Beatles Story gift shop where we stocked up on several souvenirs. We realized that we need to buy a small duffle that we can use as a carry-on to get everything on the plane home. Madison and I want to buy some shirts on our short return to London, plus we still have Disneyland Paris next weekend.

We took the scenic route from Liverpool to Cardiff, which was both rewarding and challenging. The countryside was just beautiful: green and lush, with lots of rolling hills and even a mountain or two. There were plenty of cows and sheep.

 

We even pulled off in a little hamlet in Shropshire (I think) to get a better view and so that Marsha could jump out and take pictures.

The directions were more difficult to follow going this route. We had a harder time figuring out where we were. There were many, many roundabouts, only one of which had a name.

I'm actually starting to get the hang of English currency. After repeatedly asking for help when paying with coins, I actually figured out the exact change at a toll booth.

It rained for much of the drive, but I was really glad it waited until I was more sure of myself behind the wheel. We've been really lucky regarding the weather (aside from the cold). It rained last night, too, but only while we were in the movie.

We passed into Wales near the start of the trek, then crossed back into England for most of it. In Wales, I was surprised to see that all of the road signs in Wales are both in English and Welsh. When I printed the directions, I thought it was Spanish, which really confused me. It was only a couple of words, and Welsh also uses "y" as a whole word (but it means "the" here). I learned from the front desk that in some parts of Wales, the signs are reversed, with English second, because Welsh is the primary language. We even saw a TV channel in Welsh.

We found our hotel just fine, but I missed the turn. Madison swears I could have turned left, but I was sure that there was a sign that said not to. Anyway, we spent another twenty minutes at least trying to find our way back. The roads here are a bit confusing, and I prefer turning left because it's easier. We tried to use precious data to find our way, but had a hard time getting connected, probably due to the weather.

We had a small problem with car on the way (warning message that said "Engine Malfunction"), about two hours outside of Cardiff, in the middle of nowhere. It was running just fine, but we didn't want to take any chances. Especially since we have two more days to drive. We had no luck calling Hertz or their roadside assistance, so we waited until we got to the hotel. Just our luck, this the only one so far that's valet parking only. I had to move the car to the front of the circular drive with metal poles every few yards, which would have been hard enough on its own, but was made even tougher with all the cars coming in and out, but mostly because of the pedestrians who were constantly walking in front of and behind me. Luckily things calmed down before roadside assistance showed up. Turns out it was just low on coolant and had barely dropped low enough to trigger the sensor. At least I hope that's all it was. We'll see tomorrow.

There's some big convention going on here, with lots of people dressed to the nines, and a chorus singing just past the lobby. When we left for dinner, it was a soloist. When we came back, she was still at it. We also learned that there's a big cycling race tomorrow, which could hamper our efforts to leave and even get around. Fortunately, the castle is right across the street.

I will say that the hotel is very nice and the room is huge, which is a welcome change from the tiny rooms we've been staying in (especially Liverpool). The wifi here is terrible, though. It keeps dropping in and out. You have to stand by the door to get a strong, consistent signal.

With the car taken care of, we went looking for a place to eat. There's a big shopping mall just down the street, but we were surprised that it was closed on a Saturday night.

Dinner was at Nando's again (they're everywhere). We tried some other places, but Madison was tired of pub food, Burger & Lobster was deemed too expensive (three item menu, £20 each), and the two Italian places we tried (including Jamie Oliver) were booked. This time it was full of adults (and some teenagers), but still noisy. Americans aren't the only ones who are loud.

We finally turned in at a decent hour for a change: 11:00 pm instead of 2:00 am. I think we're finally starting to adjust to the time difference.

Day 7.2: Liverpool Me Do

We fInally got up at a reasonable time today. Thought about grabbing breakfast first, but we went ahead and hit the road. Had a longer drive today, so we wanted to get going. As expected, we had no problem getting out of Stratford. We  got back on the main highway, which was rather busy. Luckily, it lightened up when we turned onto our next highway. Second day of driving on the left, and it feels just a little less weird.

About halfway there, we were starving. So we pulled off at a service area complete with BP gas, Burger King, and Krispy Kreme donuts. It was just like being in America!

And then, of course, there was this awesomeness.

We finally made it to Liverpool around 3:00. I was worried about navigating city traffic again, but knew it would still be easier than London. Shouldn't have worried. Liverpool is easy to drive into, and the waterfront area is much nicer than we expected. 

After checking into our hotel, our first stop was The Beatles Story, of course, which presents the compleat history of the Beatles. It was just a short walk from the hotel along the river and historic docks. Perfect for Marsha.

The Beatles Story is a great little museum that tells the whole history of the Beatles through environments. Naturally, they had a lot of artifacts, such as George's first guitar, their clothing, and John's yellow glasses. But I loved how they re-created the environments, such as Hamberg club, inside the Cavern Club, the radio station that first played their music, Abbey Road Studios, and even inside the Yellow Submarine.

We spent a good three hours in there and could easily have stayed longer. They have an optional audio tour that doesn't cost extra, which was nice. It was all very impressive.

The final hallway covered their lives post break-up and each Beatle had his own separate, walled off area. You could sit and watch videos of their lives afterwards, which also contained clips of them talking about The Beatles. That was really well done.

The final display was John Lennon's Imagine piano. A perfect ending.

They also have a nice little cafe and a big gift shop with tons of stuff. We were tempted to buy a few things, but were worried about getting everything on the plane.

We started to hunt down the Cavern Club, but found a big, outdoor shopping mall on the way that has a huge movie theater complete with IMAX. We grabbed dinner at Nando's, a popular chicken chain in the UK (heard about it from my nieces because One Direction loves them). We saw several in London. The food was quite good, the decor was really good for a chain, but it was very noisy. There were lots of teenagers, probably more because it was right next to a movie theater, but also because the prices were great, too.

After the movie (Jurassic World, which we really enjoyed in all its escapist glory), we decided to hunt down the Cavern Club on our way back to the hotel. Luckily, it was close by.

The original was torn down in the 70s, but the current one was rebuilt using the original bricks. Matthews Street (which is actually more of an alley) is quite lively and filled with tourists.

On our way out we discovered a Beatles-themed hotel called Hard Days Night. The doorman invited us in and, wow, is this place beautiful! It's a georgeous hotel in its own right, and so tastefully done. Wish we had stayed there.

There's no mistaking that Liverpool is the birthplace of The Beatles. They've done a fantastic job of honoring their favorite sons. Gary, Indiana (and even Memphis) could learn a thing or two.

Day 7.1: Cow Overpass!

This deserves its own post.

How do cows get from one pasture to another when there's a highway between them? Cow overpass!

So we're driving past a farm on M6 on our way to Liverpool and have to slow down for road construction. As were just sitting there, I happen to notice a few cows walking over the highway.

Why don't we have these in America?