Happy Easter my dear! I hope that you're making the best of this long weekend break.
- While most of London travelled further to warmer cities or countries, I opted for a short day trip and as such, had to contend with below fifteen-degree weather.
- Got the train tickets at discounted prices (£27 per way) since these were booked about three weeks in advance and on Virgin Train's anniversary promo.
- I made sure that I wore warm clothes for the chilly Liverpool weather: Wool coat, Heattech turtleneck, and leg warmers under my ripped jeans. I also brought my beanie and sheepskin gloves in case the late afternoon became colder.
- The trip from the London Euston Station to Liverpool Lime Station took more than two hours. I travelled with my usual weekend buddy, Liza.
- You wouldn't miss it! Right across the Liverpool Lime station, you'll find the steps leading to St. George's Hall.
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| St. George's Hall |
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| Prince Albert |
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| Queen Victoria |
- This is my most favourite part of the trip: Spending over an hour inside the Walker Art Gallery!
- Upon entering, you're immediately treated to gorgeously sculpted marbles.
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| Tinted Venus by John Gibson This was a controversial piece during its time, mainly due to the colouring applied (hence, the name) - "flesh tinted like warm ivory (scarcely red), the eyes blue, the hair blond, the net, which contains the hair behind is of gold...", which Gibson aimed to be the colouring in the manner of Greeks. |
- Here are some of the paintings which caught my attention...
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| Sir Galahad: The Quest of the Holy Grail by Arthur Hughes |
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| Perseus and Andromeda by Frederic Leighton |
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| Portrait of Mona Lisa No, I didn't take a side trip to the Louvre. And this is not a counterfeit either. This is one of the early known copies of Mona Lisa by an unknown artist (research still ongoing to trace its origin). |
- There are creative corners inside the Walker Art Gallery as well: MyStudio is a corner where you can spend some quiet time thinking through Victorian art, pondering thought-provoking questions, or giving your own touch to colour smaller versions of known artworks.
- There are also fun spaces for costume wearing for kids and adults.
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| Apologies, you cannot make me wear that. |
- More paintings from the gallery...
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| A Summer Night by Albert Joseph Moore |
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| Peonies by Charles Edward Perugini I noted that I am more appreciative of paintings which depict everyday subjects. |
- After the gallery walk, we then headed to find Albert Dock. There are more than enough signs to lead us to where we wanted to go.
- The Beatles Story is also located in the Albert Dock. If you're an avid fan of the Fab Four, you shouldn't miss this.
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| Liza - the weekend planner :)
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| Some souvenir items I picked up to remind me of my Liverpool daytrip: The Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band scarf --- Beatles fans will get this right away. Plus a souvenir bell to add to my collection! |
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| Spent a relaxing midday walking around Albert Dock |
- We initially planned to have lunch at Chinatown but there was not much restaurants opened at lunchtime. It was a very long walk from Albert Dock but Liza and I reminded ourselves that we were not going to settle for what was available even if we were hungry then. There wasn't much to see at Liverpool's Chinatown other than the entryway arch, supposedly the largest outside mainland China. Other than the cluster of restaurants and the Chinese translations under the English street names, the place didn't look like the typical Chinatown which I've visited so far (Manila, San Franciso, Singapore and London).
- We headed back towards Albert Dock and found Yee Rah, a Thai restaurant at Paradise Street.
- I ordered Massaman chicken curry (claimed to be the favourite of the Thai royal family) --- chicken (my choice), potato, onions, peanuts and chickpeas cooked in coconut milk and cinnamon and served with jasmine rice.
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| Massaman chicken curry |
- Finally, to cap our day trip, we found this independent specialty coffee shop called Root at Hanover Street. As we rested our tired feet, we wished that we could stay there for much longer. The space and the layout inside the coffee shop seemed to encourage one to linger and relish the laidback, relaxing vibe.
- We did a bit of retail therapy after our coffee break, before our two-hour trip back to London.
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| Perfect coffee art on my flat white |
The physically tiring walk to Chinatown aside, our day trip to Liverpool was the ideal spontaneous break. We came without an outlined itinerary other than a rough list of places to visit. Except for the misleading seven-minute estimate of the walk from Albert Dock to Chinatown (again, tsk tsk), every main attraction seemed to be within walking distance from the train station and the city central. We followed the signposts to find our way around, with a bit of guidance from Google Maps.
A few tips maybe:
- Make sure to come wrapped up when exploring the city in cold weather as the temperature can be a huge factor to making one feel more tired.
- Consider planning or researching in advance your options for restaurants or food stops for main meals such as lunch or dinner so you are not tempted to eat just about anywhere to make it through your hunger pangs. This will also help ensure that you get to try at least one local favourite. (We were lucky that we found Root which is one of the top recommended coffee shops)
- When things don't turn out to be what you expect, find the humour in it and move on. I'm pretty sure that on hindsight, you will laugh it off. :)
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this Liverpool day trip.
Hope you had a lovely Easter break! See you again on my next Saturday agenda. Ciao dear!
XOXO,
Genefel
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