My Perfect 24 Hours in Liverpool
The Titanic Hotel - Stanley Dock, Liverpool
Once up on your level the first thing you'll notice is the sheer width and space of the corridors, absolutely vast, nothing like any other hotel I have stayed at before. You'll open the door to your room and will be utterly amazed - the room I stayed in and booked last minute via Booking .com was huge and I mean huge, I couldn't stop gasping, it essentially was a mini suite. The bed was enormous, it could comfortably fit three adults!! While we're talking 'bed', the linen is first class, crisp and smart, and felt amazing.
Opposite the bed is your sitting room area, this was amazing, I just couldn't get over the size of it. On my last stay there I was lucky enough to have a view of a derelict warehouse opposite and the dock below, which on paper you'd think was hideous, no, but architecturally incredible and added something to the hotel.
After settling in I'd go down to the waterfront
What better way to spend an afternoon then strolling along the historic Liverpool waterfront, the Albert Dock, the Three Graces. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours at any time of the year. Visit The Tate, The Maritime Museum or The Museum of Liverpool.The main area which you will recognise from images posted on the Internet is The Colonnades; this houses: The Beatles Story; Tate Liverpool; The Mersey Maritime Museum and the International Slavery Museum gives a great opportunity to stroll around the various bars, shops and restaurants/bistros. If you walk around the top end of the dock, it provides a grassed area, places to sit and chill out and also a Ferris wheel, if you fancy a bit of a spin and to see those great views. Personally I love this part of the Dock, purely because it's so 'scenic' and reminds me of downtown New York City. The cobbled roadway which is pedestrianised takes you along by the River Mersey, this is where you really get a sense of the history, one side you have the backdrop of the Mersey, the other the huge warehouses that once were, now very smart apartments. One interesting thing you'll notice are the hundreds and hundreds of padlocks with messages of love hanging from the railings, I didn't know these even existed, until I took my first walk along there, it's well worth going to see; don't forget to take yours!!!
Right so now off for Afternoon Tea. There are loads of places to go, but opted for The Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant, it's in the old Cunard/White Star building on James Street.
Afternoon Tea at The Carpathia Champagne and Restaurant
When you arrive at The Carpathia Champagne and Restaurant you'll always be immediately acknowledged, welcomed and escorted into the dining area, and to your table, where you'll be introduced to either your waiter/waitress. The care and attention you get is always exemplary, attentive and unobtrusive.
Once you're seated the waiter will go through the Afternoon Tea menu, explaining the choices, which I love. Service and delivery is always friendly, yet professional, allowing you to request at your own pace, which I guess is what we all want.
Quality and Presentation of the Food
It's always a good sign when the food arrives and everybody goes, "ooh". The presentation of the 3 tiers, of sandwiches, cakes and then finally scones with cream and jam are lovely. With five different sandwich choices; a selection of five cakes and then scone, cream and jam, it's a traditional tea. You have a choice of hot tea or coffee. There's always a good choice of teas on offer, including Earl Grey, Lady Grey and English Breakfast. The sandwiches are always lovely and fresh; the ham, wholegrain mustard and rocket a particular favourite of mine. The cakes of course are delicious and with a choice of five you're really spoilt for choice and finally, the scones, moist and fruity and always finish off Afternoon Tea exceedingly well.
An eclectic mix of furnishings, using creams, golds to set off the room. The layout and design of the room, is spacious; and there's always a lovely atmosphere, very calm and relaxing with music playing quietly in the background. All of these factors added to the overall ambience and is why I like going there.
The distance between all the tables allows you to have your own conversations without over-hearing others. For a room of the size that it is, tables are not crammed in.
What do I like about the Carpathia Champagne Bar and Restaurant? Firstly, I like the room, without being cliché, it feels like Iyou're on an ocean liner's sun deck during Edwardian England. The room is airy and flooded natural light, even on the miserable day when I was last there. The second reason, and what I felt made it for me, was only Afternoon Tea was being served. When we walked in, to see the three tier cake stands on the tables set the scene and I felt immediately I know why I'm there. Who wants Afternoon Tea when other people are having a meal, having cocktails, or even having a pint; that's when it loses its allure, it's all part of the elegance, the surroundings and the psychology of taking Afternoon Tea.
When I go we always chose to have it served with Prosecco and I would recommend this because it just adds to the overall feel of the afternoon. Normally this would be priced at £24.95, but if you go Monday - Thursday they offer it at £40 for two. This makes it really good value for money, even at the full price you are not going to be disappointed with the service, surroundings, food and atmosphere. If Prosecco isn't your thing, then the afternoon will cost £19.95.
A Visit to the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral stands tall and proud over looking Liverpool. The foundation stone was laid in 1904 and after 74 years of construction it was finally completed in 1978. This shocked me, assuming it had been built within the 19th Century, possibly earlier. It's survived two World Wars and is the largest cathedral in the UK and fifth largest in the world. It is a beautiful, stunning edifice to the city. Made of sandstone in the beautiful rich colour is stands out not just in its size, but the colour too.
As soon as you walk into the Cathedral you can clearly appreciate the vastness of the Cathedral. The Cathedral has some eminent artists pieces including: Craigie Aitchison; Tracey Emin; Elisabeth Frink; Christopher Le Brun and Adrian Wiszniewski.
Pre-Dinner Tipple - McGuffie's
This is a great little bar ousing with character, it wouldn't look out of place on a Parisian side street or in New York. Try the Bramble while you're there!! Great staff.
And now for Dinner,
The Italian Club
Bold Street is a foodies paradise, but there’s one in particular that I love, it’s called, The Italian Club. As soon as you walk in you feel like you have been transported to Italy; you immediately sense a great relaxed atmosphere, friendly, welcoming and warm. We got a lovely table towards the back of the restaurant, but to be perfectly frank any table would have been fine, it’s that kind of place. The décor is lovely, you feel that you were in a smart authentic Italian bistro or restaurant. It’s just one of those places that you’d just keep going back to Great use of pictures on the walls and the choice of yellow as a back drop just added to the overall atmosphere. The windows at the back allowed loads of light to stream through and even on a really horrible day in Liverpool it was really light and bright. We sat in an area with a gorgeous vaulted ceiling. On a nice day there’s a little court yard at the back, which if it had been sunny would have been a lovely place to sit and enjoy your food.