Do you want to go to the seaside?

On Sunday we hired a little red Skoda Fabia and drove to Blackpool. It was a very easy, scenic drive through Yorkshire and through to the west coast. As you have to be 23 to drive a rental car over here I was given the job of navigating. My map skills have improved significantly since coming overseas, so we didn't have any mishaps. The only minor problem with our little car is that the windscreen wipers are on the right and the blinker is on the left (the opposite of Australia) - this led to quite a few hilarious episodes involving the windscreen wipers. Good times.

I was really excited to go to Blackpool. There was a BBC show made there in about 2005 starring David Tennant, David Morrissey and others. It was a great series. So anyway, I was really excited to go and see if Blackpool was the same as it was in the show...it really wasn't. Apparently in the summer the town is full of tourists, people having stag and hen nights, holidaying families, etc. and the signs on the motorway told me it was 'The UK's favourite beach side resort!'. It was like a ghost town when we got there! Most of the shops were closed, the 'Golden Mile' wasn't completely lit up, the waterfront was being renovated so lots of it was closed...basically I think it's a seasonal town, and we didn't visit in the right season! Still, we had a nice enough time.

Probably the nicest view I saw in B-Pool.

Stone waves.

I wouldn't fancy stretching out and sun baking on this 'beach'.

The Golden Mile...lovely....

'Booze booze booze' - apparently what Blackpool's all about in the summer.

Part of the Blackpool tourism campaign. BPL also happen to be the initials of both my father and my brother. Hehe, love you guys x.

After spending the night in Blackpool we cruised down the motorway to the home of the fab four, Liverpool. We were only there for about five hours, but I was feeling some serious love for this city - it just had a really great atmosphere.

Obviously everyone knows Liverpool because it was the birthplace of The Beatles - I'd love to tell you that I was a different kind of tourist and I went and experienced the non-Beatles related things that the city has to offer...but I'd be lying. We went straight to 'The Beatles Story', a permanent exhibition that is the most visited tourist attraction of the Northwest, and it was amazing. The exhibition has two locations, one at Pier Head, the other at Albert Dock. We decided to go to the Pier Head one first because it was closer. We were walking down the street looking for it when Mum started to cross to the other side of the road. Convinced that the building we were looking for was on the right hand side of the road I said "Mum, where are you going? There's nothing over there except that big building..." Unfortunately, 'that big building' happened to be the right one and I ended up looking like such a fool. We had a good laugh.

Both sites were really enjoyable. The Pier Head site had an exhibition on called 'White Feather' which was all about John Lennon and also a new collection of photographs on display. The photos were taken by Paul Berriff who, at the time, was an arts student who gained access to The Beatles by simply asking the managers of various venues if he could please go back stage - try doing that these days! I loved all of the photos and after walking through realised that I'd fallen in love with young Paul McCartney - what a babe.

The Pier Head exhibition.

The view from out the back....

We walked from Pier Head to the Albert Dock site and we came across these cool orange things on the way...I dunno what they are, but I like them.

I'm really easily distracted though and forgot to look at the camera...

...And I thought this sign was funny...'cos I'm immature like that...

The Albert Dock exhibition was coooool. You learn all about the history of the band by walking through a series of themed rooms. So one was done up to look like the village fete where John and Paul first met, one as The Cavern, one as Abbey Road - you get the point. They also had album themed rooms which were cool.

The Cavern room. I had a grand time dancing around to Twist and Shout...all by myself...

It also had heaps of instruments and outfits that had been owned by member of the band. And there was a pair of shoes that were owned by Elvis! I love Elvis. Then at the very end there was a Starbucks that was covered in photos of The Beatles, instead of the usual (boring) Starbucks art. It was very pleasant.

Liverpool also had lots of cool buildings. Like this apartment building.

After a lovely day we drove to Macclesfield, which is in Cheshire, and there we stopped for the night.

Love xx.