After a busy few days in Wales we had a nice slow morning. I got up and chatted away with the bed and breakfast owners (they were so amazing!!!) while Dan slept. Then we did a little shopping in the town and packed up to take the train into Liverpool.
Before we move on to England, I have to say a few words about Wales. Not only was it a very scenic place, but it just has an atmosphere of peace and mystery. The people are very genuine and kind. It was actually really easy to use (after a little trial and error) the trains and buses. We got everywhere we wanted to go using public transportation! There is just so much history in this country. It was so much fun to learn about and just see in person historical artifacts.
We never ran into another American while we were in Wales, which I was surprised about. Obviously Americans travel there but I don't think it's as popular as Scotland or Ireland. That also made it feel pretty special and made us feel like we were taking a less traveled road. :)
I think we would both highly recommend Wales.
Moving on to Liverpool. For those who don't know, Liverpool is the city where the Beatles were born and raised in. It is the city where they started and were "discovered" as a band. That was the only reason I wanted to go see Liverpool. My expectations were very low. I knew I would love the city because I love the Beatles. But I thought the city would be kind of depressing and run down. We planned to stay two nights and I thought thought that would be plenty and I would be ready to leave....
I am so happy to say Liverpool blew me away! It is such a fun city!!! There are musicians all over the place. The city is just overflowing with music and bars and clubs. There are tons of museums and piers with rides and food trucks. The city has worked hard to update some areas and they have added a very nice shopping center with restaurants. When we got off the train and saw so many people out and about shopping, eating and just having a good time we were stoked. After we got checked in (to the Beatles themed hotel of course. Haha!!!) we walked around the city.
I convinced Dan to ride the ferris wheel because, why not?!? And honestly it was a fun way to see the city.
Isn't it a pretty city? I was NOT expecting it to be so lovely!
As we were walking to the Ferris wheel (which is right next to an arena) we noticed a large group of people headed to an event. Out of curiosity I checked what it was and it turns out Blink-182 was playing there that night. They were one of my favorite bands when I was in high school and had never seen them live. Since we were in such a musical (and special) city I thought it would be so fun to see a band and why not make it one I really like?!?! Dan was super nervous. He didn't like the idea of scalping tickets. But I am so proud to say that he took a risk and let me talk to a scalper. We had a great talk and we got super close tickets for half what they were worth.
Look how close we were to the stage! SO fun! There was so much energy at this concert and I loved being there with locals. It was amazing!
Oh we had a blast! The guy next to me asked where I had gotten the tickets and it turned out he sold them to the scalper. Haha.
After the concert was over we wandered around the city and thought we may stop at a few bars. But the bars were jam packed so we decided to have a few drinks at the hotel we were staying at.
Dan and I had such a fun time drinking and chatting with each other in a quiet hotel bar until the wee hours of the morning. Liverpool is such a fun city!