FIGJAM'S Epic Adventure: LIVERPOOL!

11/11/09

1100 (local time)

“Alright Mate” is a constant phrase I have been getting since I have been in Liverpool. I've had a really good 3 nights! My plan around the U.K is to try to couch surf as much as possible, thus reducing the amount of money I am spending on accomidation.

So it all started off with nearly missing a bus in London because of a main tube station being down... Reminds me of connex to be honest!

So I arrived at the bus station at 7.58 in the morning, I was supposed to print off my E-Ticket but because Lozza doesn’t have a printer and pure lazyness on my behalf, I was unable to do it... So like I said I arrived at the bus station with no ticket, so I was honest to the bus driver.

“Gday mate, mate I have a problem, I have bought a ticket for this bus, but I was unable to print it”

“Where is it?”

“ahh, its on my USB stick, here I can show you...”

“Did you really buy a ticket” As he eyed me up and down

“Yeh mate, swear to God... it was like 8 pounds or something”

“Hop on then” he said!

Phew, that was a close one! So we headed off on the most luxurious bus I've been on! It was a treat! The only problem was, that it was about 30 degrees on the bus, I think they are trying to get a taste of what Australia is like at the moment!

So after several stops, I arrived in Liverpool at about 1.30pm, where I walked to the Bomb Out Church also known as St. Luke’s Church where I met Olivia from Couch Surfer that was kind enough to host me for my time in Liverpool.

We wandered around the town for a few hours, where I eventually got sick of carrying around my bags, so we headed back to her house, where we chatted about music, travels and other stuff whilst drinking tea... How English!

When her housemates started coming home, I put up the idea to start drinking! Well, a few beers and ciders later, we thought it was a top idea to get some Vodka! Then the game of Kings started... we polished off the Vodka and headed into town.

When we arrived, our plan was to head to a bar but on entrance, Olivia met one of her friends, who dragged us to some art persons house, were we listened to some bands.

On the way there we stopped at the Off License or ‘Offy’ aka Bottle-O to pick up some more Vodka, called Devils Vodka, in which I referred to it as Satan’s Drink... It tasted awful!

After spending a few hours listening to these bands in a really arty-farty house we headed off to Bumpers at 3 am in the morning.

When we arrived, they let me and Sam in (one of Olivia’s housemates) but because Olivia and Bill rocked up too late they would let us in.

So Sam and I made the wait outside for at least 45 minutes before we headed outside again and waited for a taxi.

I wasn’t in the mood for getting cold waiting for a taxi, so instead I sang/chanted with some of the locals there... good fun!

We ended up getting a taxi home, and pretty much passed out on the couch!

The next morning... as you can imagine we did nothing. But I felt alot better than the guys I was staying with, so I fixed a bike so I could take it for a ride and do all the touristy things. So the day turned to night very quickly... we all wrote that day off as ‘recovery day’

So I got up early the next day, got on my bike and headed into town, I stopped off at a beautiful cathedral walked around took some photos. I then met another Couch Surfer that is staying at the house that is doing a 2 week travel from Spain. We both wanted to go to the Liverpool Footy Club stadium, and because I had a bike, I couldn’t catch the bus. So instead, Antonio caught the bus and I tried to follow the bus to the station... it was a battle, but I kept up with the bus most of the time... Antonio wanted to do a tour of the Stadium, but I am not that big a fan of soccer, so I just had a quick look around and instead I road to the Everton Soccer Club, and I spoke to the security guard who let me see the ground that Timmy Cahil runs on!

It was awesome seeing a proper soccer ground, I could only imagine how it would look with thousands of people in the stands.

It was a pretty cool experience, it was so bloody cold, but because I was riding and exercising I was keeping warm! Happy Days!

When I finally arrived home, I chilled out for a bit, bought my tickets that will take me too Dublin.

When Antonio got home, we all cooked up some Carbonara had a couple of beers and then went into town, so we could meet up with another Couch Surfer that’s in the area.

Antonio and I hadn’t been to the Cavern yet, which is apparently where the Beatles played their first gig. So Sandra (the other couch surfer) took us to the Cavern for a couple of beers and to watch a bloke play cover bands.

After a few beers here, we went to another club, where there are some awesome live acts playing where we had some more beers and danced, until it got to about 11pm, where Sandra needed to go home, so Antonio attempted to walk her home, but instead we got distracted and went to another pub... but this wasn’t any ordinary pub... WE FOUND A BARRY!

So we spent 40 minutes playing Barry with the locals, whilst we counted down the minutes before the last bus!

It was a great way to spend my last night in Liverpool, and ill hopefully be going back!

Next Up! DUBLIN!

Peace Steve