Murray girls on the loose

I met up with two of my Murray family aunties (Sal and Ruth) in Liverpool. They were already touring the area and I joined the duo for a few days.

Liverpool far exceeded my expectations. I hadn't done any research, I was leaving everything up to my aunts. We stayed in a fabulous apartment style hotel in the heart of the city. We did the city tour to get our bearings and learned a thing or two along the way. I hadn't realized that Liverpool played such a big role in the slave trade. Dark past. Also, the Titanic was listed Liverpool as its port, but it was built in Belfast. And of course the city is full of Beatles mentions; starting with the John Lennon airport.

We actually went to the Beatles experience at Albert Dock - well worth a visit. I have done quite a few exhibits and heritage / cultural sites this year. There is a real art to making these places compelling without being cheesy. The Beatles Story hit the mark for sure.

We left Liverpool and headed into Wales. You can tell you are in Wales because the signage changes - it becomes bilingual. However, it doesn't make any sense. Welsh is generally a string of consonants with a few vowels (usually y's) thrown in haphazardly for good measure.

We spent two nights in Betse-y-coed (sound it out) in a cute B&B. However, when we reached out room we were a little stunned...we had the jungle room...it was full of stuffed animals and print patterns. Just because you have your own establishment, doesn't mean you can get away with bad design. I mean, there was literally a rope hang on the wall with toy monkeys hanging from it. We had quite the giggle fit once the owner was out of earshot.

For my birthday, we had a reservation for a steam train ride up Snowdon Mountain. It is the tallest mountain in the UK. Wales is full of hobby train services. The Snowdon train provided a lovely one hour tour of the stunning scenery around the national park. When we reached the top, it was completely socked in with clouds - that's how high we were. After a bit of lunch, we decided to walk down. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but oh how wrong we were. It took 3 hours to get down and then several days to regain the ability to walk normally. My calves have still not forgiven me. So much so for the wisdom that is meant to come with age.

That night, Sal and Ruth treated me to dinner for my birthday. It was a fantastic dinner with all the trimmings. I even got a delicious chocolate cake without the annoying singing waiters. It was fabulous.
The following day we stopped in at Portmerion, a small heritage village developed by a wealth architectural fanatic. I think the guy must have enjoyed some acid in his day, because the place is quite a trip. It is a weird mix of buildings and landscapes all thrown together. He developed such an ecceltic mix that many people sent him strange statues and facade pieces to add to the town. Looks like he took it all in and found homes for all the bits and pieces. There are statues and art pieces popping out from every corner. You can easily get the feeling that you are being watched and when you turn around there is a face poking out from something. It took me awhile to stop wondering what it was all about and just go with the fun of it.

The following day, I said goodbye to my aunties. We had covered a lot of ground together (especially vertical), but I needed to move on and they had a schedule to keep as well. I never had any doubt that my 40th birthday would be special, but it was far better than I imagined thanks to my lovely and generous aunts! Thank you Sal and Ruth - love you!