Thursday, September 17

We got up about 6:00 and left the house about 6:30. We were at the airport about 7:00.

The flight was uneventful except for the Chicken Caesar wraps, which were delicious. We arrived in Manchester twenty minutes early.

The train station was filled with Japanese tourists trying to work out what tickets they wanted, and how to get them. Our train was in four minutes. A roving ticket seller took pity on us and sold us tickets straight away on the proviso that we paid cash. We made the train.

In Liverpool we found the hotel by walking on the direction of the hotel we stayed in last time and then suddenly noticing that we were in the right street. We arrived two hours early but our room was ready.

We walked ten yards to the end of the road, crossed over, and had lunch in the Thomas Rigby, where we were the only people in the lounge bar. The landlord talked to us all the time and finally wrote us a list of pubs we should visit.

We spent the afternoon wandering around the centre, and now I am back at the hotel with some bags of shopping. I am looking out of the window at the beginnings of dusk. I can see the Radio City tower, the Catholic cathedral, and Lime Street Station.

I will walk back to find Irma. We will have a drink at The Beehive, buy some snacks from Marks and Spencer, and go back to the hotel for supper.