Liverpool, England

The last stop on our whirlwind tour of England and Wales was Liverpool, home of the Titanic and the Beatles! 

This little bus says Bailey on the back!  What?  We need this!  I spotted this on the drive from Colwyn Bay to Liverpool!

There were no signs welcoming you back to England from Wales.  We think this might have been the border.  See the Welsh dragon?  It's one of the symbols of Wales.

The Welsh language is so difficult.  Say what???

Another symbol of Wales is the sheep.  They are EVERYWHERE.  When we drove TO Wales, it was nighttime so we didn't really get a sense of this.  Driving out of Wales, it was very plain to see!

I don't know why I found this place amusing.  The Dead Crafty Beer Company! 

The Liverpool Waterfront.  When we first arrived, we weren't able to check into our hotel for several hours so we parked the car in the hotel car park and went exploring.

Quintessential Liverpool.  We all live in a yellow submarine.  Or maybe the RMS Titanic. Either way.

The kids went crazy when they saw that Liverpool has a massive Ferris wheel.  Oh greaaaat.  Mommy's favorite thing.  Heights!

American hot dogs out of an American school bus in Liverpool.

Walking across the bridge to grab something to eat near the Ferris Wheel.  We walked across Keel Wharf... and I just love that they have ring floatation devices, just in case!

We stopped at Pizza Express right under the Ferris Wheel.  While the food was actually pretty good, the service was incredibly slow.  I think we spent two hours here, at least.  We later learned that there are potentially ZERO restaurants in Liverpool that give fast or attentive service. It was seriously comical!

Albert dock.  I love the Nerf gun dart-esque pillars!

The tall ships are currently docked at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  We didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't get to explore them.

This is ONE COOL MUSEUM.  I highly recommend it.  We didn't have enough time to see the whole thing but the Titanic/Lusitania exhibits are certainly must-sees when you are in Liverpool! 

I think they're strong enough to pick up this anchor, don't you?

This museum is FREE.  Did you hear me?  FREE!  We happened upon a little hands on presentation they were giving about the clothing people wore at the time of the Titanic's sailing.  We would have been second class travelers, so perhaps Todd might have worn a hat like this!

Fancy hats from 1912. 

With her radiant beauty, Natalie would have certainly been a first class passenger, likely married to a wealthy Earl or Viscount.

Tall ships at the dock as seen from the window of the Titanic exhibit.

Pictures weren't allowed in the exhibit, but I couldn't resist!  This is one of the actual life vests from the Titanic, as well as the uniform of a maid who had worked on the ship.  These things were saved and eventually donated to the museum.

These objects are actual objects obtained from the sea floor where Titanic has been resting since that fateful April night in 1912.  I can't believe everything was in such good shape!

After the Titanic exhibit, we were looking around at other things when Natalie spotted this and said, "Alabama is always number one in everything!"  (This of course comes after Alabama beat Auburn in the Iron Bowl the day before!)  Touché!

Iceberg ahead!  Turn on the thrusters and throw her in reverse!  (The kids:  "What is this thing?")

Liverpool getting into the holiday spirit at the Pumphouse by the docks.

I swear we've been on every darn carousel in every city we've been to in Europe!  This one was playing Christmas music, and Natalie got a horse named Oreo (her favorite thing in the world!)

This little guy.  Isn't he the cutest!?  This carousel was surprisingly fast.  Hold on, little buddy!

I liked the reflection of the Ferris wheel and the building/lighted trees on the water.

The runner up for slowest service ever went to The Smugglers Cove.  But again, the food was pretty good (and I even had a Sam Adams!) so we'll have to give them a pass.  Look at this thing!  It's a big skewer of meat and veggies.  At the top, they have a cup of melted butter that they pour at the top and it goes dripping down all over the food.  I could actually hear myself gaining weight! HA!

Todd and I were kind of high fiving each other on my fantastic lodging choices thus far on the trip.  Of course, before dinner, we had gone back to our hotel (the Hampton Inn) only to find they did not have water or electricity.  They sent us over (across the street, but still a pretty good walk) to the Jury's Inn where they had already reserved us a room.  When we got to the room, there was only places for three people to sleep.  Ummm, but there are four of us!  So we had to go back downstairs, and finally got a double room (which Todd had the manager of the Jury's call the manager of the Hampton and ask if we would still be reimbursed for this since Jury's doesn't have any rooms that accommodate four people!).  What a mess!  The Jury's was very nice though, and we had this nice view of the Echo Wheel!  Of course... even though it was supposed to open at 10, they were doing some maintenance on it and we couldn't go.  That'll teach us to postpone doing something fun with the kids!

It's a kid sized car!  I feel like Mr. Bean would be driving this...

On our way out of town, we stopped by the Liverpool Cathedral.  It took 74 years to build and was only completed in 1978!  The total length of the building (including the Lady Chapel) is 187 meters, making it the longest in the world!  (Check!)  As for overall volume, it's the fifth largest in the world.

The kids did NOT want to see yet another church.  But did you know that the bell tower is the largest, and also one of the tallest, in the world?  And did you know that at 67 meters high, the bells of Liverpool Cathedral are the highest and heaviest ringing peal in the world?

The inside is also very impressive and the cathedral itself has a very interesting story.  Back in the very early 1900s, architects were invited to submit plans for a new cathedral.  In the end, a very young 22-year-old man with ZERO actual architectural experience named Giles Gilbert Scott. Even when they discovered he was Roman Catholic (gasp!), they still chose to keep him as the architect of this Anglican church.

Back in the children's chapel, the kids made little paper ornaments to hang on a tree with prayers for their Pop Pop (my dad) who had a blood clot on Thanksgiving day and had to spend a few days in the hospital.  God Bless Pop Pop!

"Please save Pop Pop, God bless him!"  (Pop Pop, maybe Natalie thinks your soul needs saving!?! Har har!)

The alter area of Liverpool Cathedral.

Up near the alter, looking back at the longest church in the world (the Lady Chapel is behind me and to the left).  I love the advent wreath on the right.

I'm a sucker for some beautiful stained glass.

While the Earl of Derby (Edward Stanley) is not actually buried here (recent laws state that bodies can no longer be buried in churches, although Westminster is one exception to that rule for the burial of royalty), they do have a little area dedicated to him.  He was Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1911 and 1912.

Lord Derby's little monument has some pretty crazy bronze sculptures on it.  This is a pretty popular pub name (the Eagle and Child) due to a legendary tale about a baby boy found in an eagle's nest and adopted by a noble family.  This eagle and child are on the Derby family crest. There was a nice man who worked at the church who told us ALL about the Derby family!

Next stop, some famous Beatles locations!  Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs...  or just a sweet little girl and her daddy.  She kind of likes the Beatles, so she wanted her picture taken here, while her brother sat in the car!

An interesting story about the beginning of Penny Lane (the literal, physical beginning of the street where you see me here).  Bobby Dykins, John Lennon's mother's common-law husband (since she never divorced his actual father) was killed in a car crash right here.

Menlove Avenue, the street that John Lennon spent most of his childhood.

I kid you not when I tell you that I snapped this picture out of the car window on our way to the airport.  John Lennon's childhood home at 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool.  Yoko Ono purchased the house in 2002 and donated it to the National Trust.  Lennon lived here with his aunt and uncle from the age of five until he was 22.

They're so cute sometimes.  Why can't they just always get along!?  We made the short drive back to Manchester airport, returned the rental car and had time to grab some early dinner since our flight was delayed. 

This was such an incredible trip.  I really love Great Britain (and Ireland, my favorite place on the planet!) so I'm REALLY looking forward to going back!  Until next time, Great Britain!

Conwy, Wales

WALES!  The Princess Colleen of Swales has arrived!

We arrived after dark (per usual this time of year!) and our AirBnB host in Colwyn Bay, Julian was just fantastic.  First off, his apartment was amazing.  Second, he even made a phone call down to the Toad for us for dinner reservations.  I wish it had been daylight because the Toad (above) is right on the water!  We had a surprisingly good meal there, and delicious wine.  They even had a great setlist playing on the overhead sound system!

Hmmm.  What's wrong with this picture?  (That is the morning view of the neighboring house to our AirBnB host who owns the place on the left).

We need some yummy Welsh breakfasts, stat.  We walked into a section of downtown Colwyn Bay to a place called the Flat White Café.

Now that's what I'm talking about!  I bet you can guess who ate what!

Now that we had full bellies, we drove about 10-15 minutes to Conwy Castle.  Although I didn't capture it here, when you cross the bridge to get here, the views are quite impressive.

Conwy Castle and town walls took four years to build (that's all?  You hear that La Sagrada Familia???)  Work started in 1283.  It cost 15,000 pounds.  That's 45 million pounds today.

Unfortunately, the pathway up this castle was fairly steep and very slippery for me.  Just for me.  No one else was sliding all around... except me!  I'm like... are we all walking on the same walkway here?  Grant was practically skipping up the hill and not holding on to the rail, while for me it felt like I was walking on a sheet of ice!

Dark shadows abound at Conwy Castle.  Conwy Castle was built by Edward I in the late 1200s.  It's pretty much been a ruin since the 1660s, however.

Before you ask what is Natalie doing in the corner of the picture, there was a little game you could play with clues that would lead you to letter number combinations.  Then you would color in some shapes on the back of a card and if you got all of the clues right, it would make a pattern.  Natalie and I failed miserably at this.

There's a really cool wood carving right when you enter the castle.  His name is, "The Guard," and was sculpted by John Merrill. 

So many places to explore!  Not long after this, Todd went off to explore with Grant, while Natalie and I went off on our own!

Looking up through the North West Tower.

A beautiful view of the Conwy harbor.  The tide was very obviously going out at this point.  Also, over on the hills across the Conwy River, there are two little hills, just to the left of center.  Deganwy Castle used to sit here, and it had been here long before Conwy Castle.  It was the main office of the the King of Gwynedd back in the 6th century.  THE SIXTH CENTURY!!!  It was originally made of wood, but was rebuilt for King Henry III in the 1200s and was made out of stone after the original burned down when it was struck by lightning in the 800s.  Only a small bit of the stone remains. 

On the upper level of Conwy Castle, between the North West Tower and the Kitchen Tower.

Two English princes sitting in the top of the North West tower of a Welsh castle.

Looking toward the Chapel Tower and Kings Tower of Conwy Castle.  Stockhouse Tower and Bakehouse tower are in the middle, and Kitchen Tower (L) and Prison Tower (R) are in the foreground.

Prison Tower (on the left) overlooks the Afon Gyffin, the stream to the right, where it confluences with the Conwy River.

Long tower shadows from the Prison Tower on the Stockhouse Tower.  The Chapel Tower is on the right.

Cool shot of the bridge that leads from Llandudno over to Conwy.  The Kings Tower (the tall one on the right) blocks a rail bridge.

This view was incredible!

Although obviously the views over the River are stunning, it's really neat to look back toward the Castle and the town of Conwy, with the town walls that were built at the same time as the castle.

Looking southwest toward Snowdonia National Park.  We didn't get to Snowdonia this time, but definitely next time!  (Additionally, since this trip, I have purchased several lens sun blockers!)

You can even hear the crackling of this video fire in the fireplace of the Chapel Tower.  Too bad it wasn't a real fire to keep us warm on a chilly end of November day!

I could have stayed up here for hours enjoying this view.  If it wasn't below freezing, of course.

The town of Conwy.  You can see in the distance on the right that the wall extends out into the water.  They had to do this to keep people from entering the town from the beach.

The Inner Ward was where the kings and earls lived.  The remains of most of the fireplaces are still intact!

 

In the Chapel Tower, there is... well... a chapel!  I took this picture from the King's private room where he was able to look upon church services without having to actually mingle with any of the common folk (such as the servants who worked there).

A throne for a king.  In the king's private chapel-viewing room, there was a toilet.  Sometimes you've just gotta go during church!

I loved the archway here.  Flying buttress style!

Although the window frame here near the center of the picture was reconstructed, you can see the one on the far right and the doorway in between have not. 

Natalie in the Great Hall.  This castle was a great place to run around.  I'm sure in the summer it would have been even better since the cold weather made the rocks slippery.

We laughed pretty hard at this.  There was a button on this barrel that was supposed to say something or make noise. We kept smashing it and nothing happened!

Grant walking along the ruined walls of former rooms of the castle.

We really enjoyed the castle but we were hungry and wanted to get some lunch.  Here is the fam walking to get some lunch with the castle in the background.

The kids thought the iconic British telephone booth was hilarious.  Nat is making a few personal calls.

I love the buildings in Wales and all of Britain.

After a doner lunch (yes, we even found doner in Wales!), we walked just outside of the town wall to find the Smallest House in Great Britain!  Ahhhh!  A superlative I can support!  It's the red one ahead, and it's buried into the town wall. 

Look everyone!  We found a Grant and Natalie sized home!  It's pushing it to think that Mommy might fit in here.  And you can forget about Daddy.  Unfortunately, the house is only open in the summertime. 

Looking back at the harbor from the Smallest House in Great Britain. 

I'm never drinking again!  Oh look... beer... Excellent Finding Nemo/Finding Dory reference!  How many of us have said that at least once in our lives!?

The town of Llandudno on the north coast of Wales is picture perfect.  It's pronounced "Clandudno," because in Welsh, two L's together sound like "CL."  It's the largest seaside resort in all of Wales.  It definitely had a very Victorian feel about it.  We swung by this town on our way back from Conwy.

The town is basically a big curve right on the Irish Sea.  The cliffs you see in the distance are known as Little Orme.  Interestingly, the very first book ever printed in Wales was done inside of a cave on Little Orme by Chaplain William Davies and Robert Pugh in 1587 as they had taken refuge in the cave since Queen Elizabeth I was persecuting Catholics the year before.

All of the Victorian buildings line the boardwalk.  The hill you see behind the buildings is Great Orme.  There is a cool cable car and tramway that you can take to top the limestone cliff, but they don't run in the wintertime.

You know I love me a compass. 

Llandudno is where a little girl named Alice Pleasance Liddell vacationed as a child, and she shared stories of her time at the beach with Charles Lutwidge Dodgson who we know better by his pen name, Lewis Carroll.   There's a neat little trail you can follow showing familiarities from his book, Alice in Wonderland.  We saw a few, but didn't have time to cover the whole trail.  Dodgson was family friends with the dean of Christ Church College at Oxford, Henry Liddell who was Alice's father. 

The sun was starting to set as we decided to walk out to the pier.  The pier was built in 1878 and extended in 1884 and it's the longest pier in Wales!  (Check!)  The tide was out but coming back in.

Great Orme.  Can you see the people down by where the rocks meet the cliffs on the left?  There's a guy in a red sweater, and he's super tiny.  How did they even get down there?  Also notice that the town name Llandudno is shaved into the green grass above them.

The very, very Victorian town of Llandudno.  The pier that we were on was lots of fun, and probably would have been even more fun in the summer (are you sensing a theme here?)  There were several arcades with games that the kids enjoyed playing.  In the summer, there are some rides on the boardwalk that are in operation, but unfortunately weren't operating in November.

Close up of Little Orme.

Listen up Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.  Here we have massive amounts of windmills in the Irish Sea.  If I hadn't used my zoom lens, you almost can't see them.  But I can see them, and not only do I think they look super cool, but think of all of the awesome renewable, environment saving electricity they are producing!  You could have this too!

The longest pier in Wales after sunset with my crew.

I couldn't get over how beautiful this town was.  It was definitely unlike any other we have been to in Europe thus far.  The population of Llandudno is just under 21,000 but I'm sure that swells in the summer.

Follow the White Rabbit!

The town of Llandudno, Wales.

The town was all decorated for Christmas.  And notice the Yankee Candle store! Ha!

We came across the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland in downtown Llandudno!

Of all of the places we have visited, this is definitely near the top.  I'm looking forward to coming back to Wales in the future!  Until next time, Wales!