A Stormy Day in Liverpool

Tanker Passing the Seacombe Ferry Terminal

Today it was wet and stormy. Yesterday’s storm was on its way out, and another one, the worse one, was on its way in. Wrapping up warm weather.

27 Bus, The Sheil Road Circular

There are two potentially useful buses in Liverpool: the Sheil Road Circulars. The 26 runs clockwise and the 27 runs anti-clockwise. Both follow the same route (more or less) and pass through the city centre. The Mersey Travel website shows only a few stops in the centre. I thought there should be more, so I asked them. A complete waste of time. I decided the best plan was to catch the bus myself and see where they stopped.

Today it was the 27’s turn. It passes the Ship on Mitre on its way round the city. The nearest stop from the pub is 3 or 400 yards down Dale Street. It then stops at Derby Square and James Street station, before the Liverpool One bus station. It then passes through the Baltic Triangle, stopping close to the Baltic Fleet (useful). A shame there is no stop outside the Ship.

Watersones Bookshop

Next, I went to the Waterstones bookshop in Liverpool One. I was after two books. I thought it would be nice to buy them in a bookshop, something I haven’t done for decades.

The first was Hu Anyan’s ‘I Deliver Parcels in Beijing’. It’s about his experiences working in the Chinese gig economy. He wanted to be a writer; he now has an international bestseller. I guess he’s made it. I’ve been waiting ages for the paperback version to come out; it came out the other day. I thought it would be with the new releases at the front of the shop. Not so. Couldn’t find it.

The second is Paul Theroux’s latest travel book, ‘True North’, about a trip through Canada. He’s my favourite travel author; I wanted this book ASAP. They didn’t have it, not surprising, as it’s not released until next Thursday!

I didn’t enjoy the bookshop experience; it’s much easier to buy books on Amazon and have them delivered. They’re also usually cheaper. (I bought them from Amazon when I got home.)

This might have been my last visit to a bookshop.

Food and a Pint

Before meeting John, I wanted a curry at Mowgli on Bold Street, the curry house we didn’t visit last Thursday.

On the way to Mowgli, I passed the Red Lion and decided to have a pint to get out of the rain for a bit. It’s not in next year’s Good Beer Guide, but the pint was OK, at £4, very well priced.

Mowgli was a non-starter; there was a screaming child at one of the tables.

So, I needed to find somewhere else. I remembered eating a decent Chinese meal at Mr Chilli’s, nearby, at the top of Seel Street. So I went there. I had fried thin strips of pork with green peppers (chilli) and Egg Fried Rice. It was excellent. It cost me £16.50. No screaming children.

Grapes

Next I went to the Grapes behind the bombed-out church to meet John.

We had a long session, putting the world to rights.

Then back to Alison’s to keep Mum company. Rather than watching the dreaded quizzes, Mum and I watched the ‘Guns of Navarone’; she actually enjoyed it. But it was easy enough to follow. I remember seeing the film in our local cinema not long after it came out, over 60 years ago.

I got soaked walking from the Grapes to the Number 7 bus stop. All in all, a day with really bad weather.