We Are Back

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My son (Midi) and I have had a lot of fun over the past few days. We travelled by train up to Liverpool on Sunday. We checked in to The Liner Hotel before meeting up with Midi's friend for lunch. We then had a walk through Everton Park up to Anfield Stadium (which is home to Liverpool Football Club). We have no interest in football but we went for an abseil (as you can see on two images in the picture). I had abseiled once before but not for a long time. Midi had not done it before. He was quite nervous. He described the experience as 'fun but terrifying' Thankfully, the weather wasn't too harsh. It was cold but not as cold as I'd have thought. It wasn't raining or anything else either. We were told that there would usually be a larger group of people (sharing the experience with others) but it was just the two of us that had booked for this particular time. This was advantageous to us, I feel. Once we had completed the 100ft abseil, we got a certificate. We then went in to the stadium's museum. We like museums, and the entry was included in the price of the abseil. On Monday, we had no plans so we made sure there were no alarms to wake us. We woke naturally at about 9:30am after a really good and full night's sleep. We decided to go on a ferry that day. We went on the 'Royal Iris of the Mersey' from Liverpool to Birkenhead. We discovered that there was not a lot to do in Birkenhead on a Monday. We did, however, have a nice lunch and a bit of a wander around the town. We headed back to Liverpool on the train, and we visited the 'Upside Down House' and the 'Quirky Quarter' (that's where two of the photos in the image here were taken - they had an upside down bit as well). On Tuesday, we took a train into Manchester. We spent well over three hours at the Science and Industry Museum. That was fascinating. There were a few different rooms, there were talks, there were some very excited 'explainers' happy to show some toys to two us overgrown toddlers . There were engines and machines and computers and experiments and things to do. I would definitely recommend it as somewhere to visit if you get the chance. After the museum, we visited Sackville Gardens as someone at the museum had said there was a statue of Alan Turing there. There are cherry blossoms in the garden. Of course, they are not in bloom at the moment. The statue of Turing sits on a bench in the middle of the gardens, and there is an inscription on the bench as well as a plaque in front and an information board at the side. After we had been here, we went for some lunch and headed back to Liverpool. We spent Tuesday evening at Playhouse Theatre, which is a registered charity. I do love theatre and was excited to see an actual play (I enjoy other types of theatre and entertainment but straight plays, rather than musicals, seem to be rare). Anyway, the play was Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts. Morse was played by Tom Chambers. I don't know how popular he is around the world but he's been in a lot of UK television things. As far as I know, the other actors were unknown. The play was very good. The theatre was lovely. The seats were comfy and there was plenty of leg room even for my son's giant legs! On Wednesday (that was yesterday), we hadn't got many plans. I told Midi he could go down for breakfast without me if I wasn't awake. I think I briefly woke earlier but didn't properly wake up until after 11am. Midi was out at the time. I thought he was going for breakfast and then coming back to me but he had decided to go for a walk. I met up with him and we visited Liverpool's two cathedrals. They both make the claim of being the largest - Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican/Church of England) being the largest cathedral in the UK, and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King being the largest Catholic cathedral in the UK! After visiting the cathedrals, we met up with Midi's friend at a board game cafe. We played two games that we had not played before. One of them seemed to take longer to read and understand the rules than to play the game! After two hours of games, we headed to Etsu, a Japanese restaurant. It had good reviews, we like Japanese food, and it was within walking distance! It was really lovely there. It was quite expensive but Japanese food is expensive. I would definitely go there again. We had various drinks and food at the hotel and other places in between, and we played pool at one of the hotel bars. I think Midi enjoyed his birthday trip away. Thursday (that's today), we are back home. I feel we packed in quite a lot in a short space of time. We even fit in playing a quiz game that Midi had for his birthday. I used some downtime and travelling time to study. I finished the course when I got in, and have booked an exam for next week. It's for an Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH). That is a qualification in England and Wales that is required to apply for a personal alcohol licence. Any licenced premises needs to have someone with a personal licence to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol. I do already have the qualification but couldn't find the certificate. The replacement form said it was for certificates awarded after 2005 but I got mine in 2003. Doing the course again didn't cost much more than a replacement certificate. I know nothing has really changed in 23 years but the course has been a good refresher! It's also made me think and question some things relating to the place where I volunteer. Tonight, I have a read through of a script. We were supposed to do that last week but that was postponed due to the weather. Tonight should have been first rehearsal. Instead, tonight is read through. Tomorrow (Friday), it is my father-in-law's 80th birthday. I have trusted my husband to get him something. Midi and I will be on the bar for a comedy night. We enjoy them. They're quite intimate, and you get to know some of the regulars. Saturday, my father-in-law will be having a family meal for his birthday. I think Husband and Midi will be going. Mini (my younger son) and I have prior commitments. I'll be on the theatre box office in the morning/early afternoon and then I will be doing my first volunteer bar shift at the theatre in the next town. Mini volunteered to do that so he could look after me! I have also put my name down for Sunday. I have been told not to spread myself too thin but, of course, there are more things possibly in the pipeline. I hope you have enjoyed my waffle. Let me know if you're inspired, if you've been anywhere or done anything exciting, if you want to know more about anything.