Day Four - Happy Christmas

It was a very quiet Christmas morning in Liverpool. The streets were deserted. I walked along the docks for a good while and then around the city some more, hoping to run across and coffee shop that was open. No such luck. The hotel bar served a pretty good cappuccino, though, and I was set to move East.

Billy Fury Statue (Click to Enlarge)	Liverpool Docks (Click to Enlarge)	Royal Liver Building (Click to Enlarge)

My first stop was Everton Football Club, which was the first team in Liverpool playing at Anfield stadium. After refusing to pay a lease of £250, Everton moved on and Liverpool FC was formed in 1892 to replace them. The rivalry heated up in the 1962 when Liverpool was promoted to the First League. Just two years later The Reds would win the championship and the following year, the FA Cup, under the tutelage of legendary manager Bill Shankly.

Upon moving on the very short distance to Anfield Stadium, roughly a half-mile or so, the difference between the two facilities was quite noticeable. It’s a true tale of the haves and have-nots. Everton has, however, played in the top divison 108 years, the most of any team, and have landed nine titles.

Goodison park - Everton FC (Click to Enlarge)	Anfield Stadium - Liverpool FC (Click to Enlarge)	Bill Shankly Statue (Click to Enlarge)

Manchester is also especially quiet on Christmas. I wandered about and took in the sights, but found very little activity. I feel as if the UK takes Christmas a little more seriously than the US. In the days proceeding, I couldn’t find a radio station that wasn’t nearly solely focused on Christmas, even if they mixed in the occasional pop song. The commentary was almost all Christmas oriented. It doesn't feel the same in the US, particularly of late.

The only places I could find that were open were Chinese restaurants. I chose Tai Wu and it was quite an experience. About every 37 seconds someone tried to give me some sort of dish. It was fairly overwhelming, really, to have to say 'no' so often. My server had also never heard of eggdrop soup, or at least the English wording of it. I was out of luck there. I did order a prawn dish, keeping my streak alive of eating some form of prawn dish every day so far in the UK. Nice.

 

Day Five