UK Part two:

Okay , fel 'r trannoeth Daliais 'r bws at 'r awyrborth--oops, sorry, did I mention I fell in love with the Welsh language? Okay, so the next morning, I got up, got cleaned up, got packed and took my bad self off to the Manchester Airport. Got there an hour early cos I'm a git, but just the same, met Debbie there (from Florida, my pal for the GMOH bit of the journey) and she was wonderful. Think Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes. Very pretty and sweet. I must have seemed like I knew what I was doing, cos she looked at me like I was a travel pro, which of course I'm totally not.

We got on about four people movers to get from the airport to the train station and got our tickets for Liverpool, which were not terribly dear at all. I paid for the tickets as Deb hadn't exchanged any money yet, and that was the same price as the Beatles tour that she had already paid for, so it balanced out nicely.

We rode a nice train to the Lime Street Station in Liverpool, and discovered that the hotel was just right round the corner. Easy peasy, except that it was a little like climbing a mountain *L* Very steep hill, but by the next Sunday, I was a freakin' pro! More on that later. (Note, I keep saying "more on that later' and then forgetting to add more *L*---if I remember stuff I'll add it, if you have a question, send it--> starshine24mc@yahoo.com and I'll tell ya) Before we went to the hotel, we ate at a little shop that sold something like a grilled open faced sub. Also, big bottles of water. The cost was a bit much, but tasty for all that.

So we got to the beautiful Liner hotel and our room wasn't ready yet, but they let us stow our luggage and then we caught a cab to the Albert Docks, where the MMT was going to be leaving from. Beautiful city, Liverpool, with lots of old and new buildings, and the Docks are gorgeous-->lots of shops, and we had fish and chips at a restaurant there-->not as good as the pub and a bit more dear. We found out about the Beatles tour there, which was way overpriced, but we could skip the thing and just do the gift shop at the end,which we did the next day. We also found out about the hop on hop off tour, as there are two of them. We were waiting for our tour bus and the Hop bus came along. The fellow there was charming, told us when the MMT would be along, then explained their tour and advised us there were two of them, theirs and the red bus, and that theirs was not only a pound cheaper, but had a live guide instead of a recording. So we did that tour next day, and made sure to use the white bus, not the red. It was worth it. At any rate, along came the MMT bus, and the guide was this adorable scouser named Neil, who was brilliant. Lovely accent, very sweet and funny, and he obviously has been about this business for some time. Gave us great stories about Liverpool as well as the Beatles. He was totally mocking two passengers in the back who were Manchester fans, telling us about the stadium where you could go see the latest football trophy Liverpool had won. Said you had to see it there because "it wasn't going anywhere" *L* He also made some funny comments about Heather, the former Mrs. McCartney--no one in Liverpool is much of a fan of the girl. We got to see the Beatles old homes, the Cavern Club where they first played, and places like Strawberry Field and Penny Lane. It was a brilliant tour and well worth every pence!

Liverpool and Magical Mystery Tour

There was another tour out of the Albert Docks that used a duckmobile, a bus that actually drove into the harbour to become a boat. But it was dear and we didn't really have time. This was Thursday by the way. So we went back to the hotel and got into our room. We saw a couple of gals that just screamed GMOH, so we put the word out that we were in, and we did chat with a couple of 'em next day. I had wound up in the elevator with Gerri, and knew I was in the right place, cos she had a porter helping her with a couple of big clear plastic boxes of stuff, and right on top were her Sentinel DVDs. It was obviously an omen that it was going to be great!

Breakfast at the fabulous Liner Hotel in the heart of Liverpool:OMG, so good!
 Included sunny side up eggs, potato wedges, sorta like Mickey D’s hashbrowns only way way better, black pudding, a sort of a sausage thing looked like a hockey puck, delicious REAL sausage and the bacon was as wide as my hand! Like side bacon and back bacon had a baby!! And grilled tomato, baked beans and fried mushrooms—scrambled eggs too. Fresh fruit like bananas and peaches and nectarines and melon and they had berries in juice. Now, you know how our blackberries look, right? Well picture five of 'em all clustered together and that was ONE of theirs! Mixed with strawberries. Really excellent. Did I mention the cereal bar with everything from fruit loops to muselix to wheaties and cream and milk and sugar and more fruit just for the cereal? Crazy stuff, I'm telling you! Pastries—in chocolate,
  apple, raisin and berry. Tasty stuff. Oh, and the jam--none of this wussy plastic square packets here--no, little glass jars which I totally had to steal, even though I never had toast. They are so cool. And ABSOLUTELY and bar none the BEST coffee in the UK. I mean, seriously, I was ready to marry that coffee pot before GM got there *L* If you wanted toast the staff brought it to you in a little metal rack, six half slices, half white, half brown. Very classy. And did I mention this was included EVERYDAY with the room and that it was ALL YOU COULD EAT?! (okay, yes it's sad that the food is as memorable as it is on this trip, but, hello! have you met me? *L*)

After brekkie, Debbie and I found the Queen Street station (me and queens, you never can get me away from 'em) and our bus. For six pounds you get a 24 hr pass that lets you get on and off this bus all day at various stops throughout Liverpool. And there's a tour guide explaining what you're seeing, so we got to see the Cathedrals (Anglican one built by a Catholic and Catholic one built by an Anglican) They call the Catholic one Paddy's Wigwam which just slays me, but it does look a bit like a teepee. Beautiful huge buildings. Also, St. George's, where the nazi book burning from Indiana Jones 3 was filmed, and I got to stand on it--whoo, six degrees to Harrison Ford *L* We wound up back at the Docks and went to a brilliant candy shoppe where I got some candy for Martin (gluten free) and some chocolate and fudge for gifts and we also went to the Beatles shop and I got a pin of "Glove' from Yellow Submarine, which I thought was cool. I wanted the purses and knapsacks, as they were extraordinairy, but way too dear. Debbie got gifts for her girls and we had coffee at Costas, where we first discovered their raspberry white chocolate muffins. mmmm...We caught the bus back to Queen street for some shopping. I got a Liverpool scarf as we went to the official team store. Debbie wanted football stuff for her girls, who are big fans. There was tons of cool stuff, but the scarf has their logo on it (You'll Never Walk Alone) and it was fairly inexpensive. I didn't go big on souvenirs as I was doing this on a dime, but postcards too. Plus, we had to go to the dollar store. I giggled my fool head off, knowing they have them there too. Of course, it was the pound store (nothing over 99p) so I bought some candies, just so I could get the sales bag with the store logo on it *L* Oh, and it was Fox's Mints, so there's that. (Torchwood may currently own my soul, but XF is forever) Neat shopping area, with carts and pubs and restaurants as well as high and low end shops. We found a Tescos and got Yorkshire Tea, which someone Debbie knew had requested. It was on sale, and now, weeks later, I can tell you it was worth every tuppence! Brilliant stuff, very tasty, cool box *L* Screw Whittards! (kidding!!) We were close enough to the hotel to walk back. Then took a walk down to Lime Street and bought food from Marks and Spencer for supper--way cheaper than eating out. Plus, it was brilliant. I had a pasta salad and a fruit cup (seasonal fruit=blackberries, which I adore! plus other stuff) I also bought M&S jaffa cakes and mini rolls, to go with my tea. mmm...Debbie got a whole lemon slice cake for next to nothing, so we shared that as well. M&S is the coolest store! Then we basically just hung out for the night, watched some telly, played online.

I gotta say, my edema is almost a thing of the past and I lost weight, I think from all the walking.

Also, ten packs of smokes. So cute. Big "smoking kills" labels on them, but pretty packaging. I bought one for myself--wound up giving them away, mostly, and a couple for Thane. But we need them here. I like it!

 Big day tomorrow!!!!

GMOH 2008

After Sunday's finale, which I didn't want to see end, really, we went to the Museum (something we had seen on Friday and Debbie wanted to go to it) with Maggie and Jacqui and it was so cool. Not just the museum, which was brilliant--six levels everything from dinosaurs to a huge display on the Mersey Beat and the whole music industry out of Liverpool (my favorite thing was the gold record for Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood) but hanging out with TS fans and talking slash in the museum was a hoot! I have to mention the ants--they have a leaf cutter ant display with all these ants in a plexi box with a rope dangling down that comes up OUT OF THE BOX and then goes across to another box. The ants walk across it constantly with bits of leaf (like you'd see on National Geographic) and there's a little monitor that tells how many ants are crossing and how fast they are going and so on. Did I mention they are OUT OF THE BOX!? Disturbing and fascinating at the same time, as they never apparently fall in people's hair or anything like that. Plus they had drawers of butterflies (dead) and displays of all those nasty critters from Indiana Jones II (live). The gift shop had cool stuff but I only bought a bracelet that fit my Blair beanie perfectly.

We got back to the hotel and caught up with Christine and Barbara and Janet and we decided to have supper in the restaurant with them. Sheila and Valerie joined us. I had the most amazing pea soup ever and then lambchops, which I've never had before. Really great! Pricey, but what the hell, it's the last night! Then just went back to the room to pack up all our goodies, rearrange everything so it fit in the suitcase, and voila, ready.

Of course, I couldn't sleep, so I was ready to go at freakin' four am. But managed just the same. We didn't get to have breakfast today cos we had to leave too early boo. Goodbye Liner hotel--goodbye fish in the lobby (ginormous aquarium) goodbye bacon, I really loved you! Goodbye tall tub and weird bed on wheels and BBC and cadbury's hot chocolate...::iz sad::
Debbie already had her return ticket, and I had bought mine the day before (for less than it said online--bonus!) so we walked down to lime street and had a coffee and then Debbie was off, back to the Manchester Airport. Bye Debbie, you rock! I waited another 45 min then caught my train back to London. My stop was London Euston and I had plenty of time to catch the train to Heathrow. Good thing, as I had to leave London Euston Underground Station to go to London Euston Station, if that makes any sense. Just about a two block walk, no biggie, so I got to see a bit more of London. A gentleman actually helped me up the stairs with my suitcase, which was sweet, but originally unnerving as I'd heard horror stories about stolen luggage, and so far I'd had no--absolutely no--issues with people. Then this guy swoops in and grabs my suitcase--I ran up those stairs behind him (few smokes, lotsa walking, good thing) and then he said "There you are miss." and I was gobsmacked. Thanked him profusely! So, off to the station. I get there, and get treated to more of the brilliant "help" I got last time I had to do this. Ask at the info desk, 'where do I go?' and am told track six. At the turnstile to track six I ask the fellow there "is this where I catch the train to Heathrow?" Yup, you betcha. Get onto the platform and ask a THIRD gentleman. He looks at my ticket, scratches his head a little, and then tells me "sure, you can take this train."
Perfect.
NOT!
Gorgeous train, comfy seats, lots of room for luggage. And then along comes the ticket taker, who looks a bit like the alien from Torchwood series 2 ep 2, and she informs me that I'm on the wrong train--that my ticket's no good on this particular train. Yes, that's right, after 3 blokes tell me I'm in, my ticket to Heathrow is no good on the train to Heathrow....
Bloody hell...But I'm a good sport, so I offer to pay the price difference, cos it turns out I'm on the Heathrow Express, not the Heathrow regular train, which is what my ticket is for. Yeesh. I'm figuring maybe it's five pound more for Express or something, so I offer to pay the difference.
Try 98 pounds! For a bleeding fifteen minute train ride to Heathrow! And we're already 1/2 way there. Well, I assure madam ticket taker that I don't have no 98 pounds, that's for sure! Then, lucky break. She tells me she saw me asking the last guy on the platform about the train, and then gives me a smile and says she'll be back. She never comes back.
Whew!
Heathrow at last, and I'm early as I drag my ass into terminal One, only to discover I need to get on the train to terminal Four, which is where my actual plane will be *L* So back I go to the platform, the train arrives shortly and I have a wee chat with a newlywed couple from Idaho who had been honeymooning in Scotland. Very sweet and cute couple and it was nice to be able to chat--If I get to Scotland in 2010, they say the Loch Ness tour is awesome. Just sayin'. We arrive at terminal Four and as we're getting off the train, a tiny woman in the yellow coat of authority is telling us to hurry, hurry and literally pushing people into the terminal. Well, turns out she's not a rude git, but in fact someone had left two packages sitting on the platform, and it was considered a bomb scare. Yikes!!

The trip home was pretty much a cakewalk after that. Got through customs and my ticket and some shopping no problem (Harrods duty free was brilliant!) Found some hobnobs at Smith and Flake bars for Jason. Then onto the plane and I can't sleep so I watched Disney movies--Hercules and Hunchback and 101 Dalmatians and Toy Story. Good times. Then ate in Minneapolis--same restaurant, which I love, and bought chocolate covered nutter-buddies which are brilliant. By then jet lag was catching up with me, so much so that I got on the plane for home and slept solid until the attendant woke me up in Regina *LOL Breezed through Regina customs even though I had to fill my form out right there since I slept through the crucial "passing out of the forms" during the flight *L* And Jason and Whitney picked me up at the airport.
It snowed here and nobody told me! It was gone next day, but still...

On Saturday, before all the GM goodness, I had a real bout of homesickness (it had been nearly two weeks after all) but it passed. Then two days after I got home, all I wanted was to go back...
I still do.