26-30 June - Typhoid Mary? Camille? Whatever.

The bronchitis was well and truly setting in which was irritating because we had plans to visit friends for dinner on Wednesday. As they were great sports and felt their immunity was in good order, Pam and Keith said to come ahead. I met Pam and Keith donkey ages ago when we both worked on the Ocean Princess cruise ship. I haven't stayed in touch with many people from those days, but have been lucky enough to get together with Pam and Keith from time to time. We had a lovely evening together reminiscing, though my cough was a bit disruptive (sorry P & K!) and I made it home in one piece,

The bronchitis set in quite sincerely and, wanting to give myself every chance to heal, I stayed home with kitty cat company on Wednesday and Thursday. Sadly, that meant that I couldn't get together with my cousins again, but I'm sure we'll make up for it in the future. On Friday I decided to pop into Liverpool to get a Liverpool Red (football team) t-shirt for Bruce. He rode the train in with me and as we headed down toward Liverpool 1 (the shopping area) he announced that he was off to the Liverpool Red store to buy a t-shirt. So much for my birthday surprise. We got there and I realized that I really didn't feel up to wandering around so I headed back to the train station. Got my ticket, boarded the train and waited. And waited. And waited. Forty minutes after our scheduled departure time, the conductor announced that the train had been cancelled and we should all leave the train. By this time Bruce had arrived at the station since his proposed pub crawl proved unsatisfactory. We could either wait an hour to see if the next train would leave or head to the bus station. I should add at this point that Northern Rail had announced earlier in the week that there might be slow-downs or cancellations during the week. This was not an official strike action, but was most likely still a protest action. It's also not surprising because poor rail service and intermittent cancellations are part and parcel of the experience of northerners. (I think I've mentioned before that the government seems to act as though the northern part of the country doesn't exist, so services in the north are spotty at best.)

We decided to make the best of a bad situation by stopping at Mowgli for lunch on the way to the bus station. It was, of course, yummy as ever.

On the way to the bus, I saw this great lorry.

We got the bus in short order and as we departed, I bade farewell to the Liver birds on the Liver Building and pledged to see them the next time.

I took it easy for the next couple of days, just doing some farewell cleaning. On Saturday night we had dinner at the Bar Carouse again (they were so sweet to squeeze us in between the two large private parties they were catering that night.) We had more great tapas. If we end up in Liverpool again, I would make the trip out to Rainhill to come back here, it was that good. We said farewell to our favorite waiter, Joey, who was so lovely - you can tell what a fun, friendly guy he is just from those twinkling eyes.

Sunday was a travel day. Paul and David had arrived in the middle of the night on Saturday so Sunday morning we shared a late breakfast before they drove us to the train station. It was to be an exciting day for them as they were picking up their new Maine Coon kitten. Yay! Another kitty to love upon our return. Had a pleasant train journey and made it back to the Chelsea Cloisters, our home away from home.