Beginnings

My extended holiday continues for one day !

An old school friend and his family are staying for 2 nights in Liverpool,  en route from Edinburgh for New Year and then the Lakes till this morning, so we met them as they arrived at their hotel. They live in Australia, and we had last seem them 9 years ago. They are still not acclimatised to the weather here - but then it was apparently 38 degrees C on Christmas Day in Perth, so even our relatively mild winter seems freezing cold.

After lunch at Jamie's (the one in Perth apparently opened 2 years ago with continuous 100 yard queues to get in for months and still very busy - Liverpool much quieter although the menu looked familiar), we had a wander around the Albert Dock. They wanted to have a look around "The Beatles Story". We'd never been (you don't when it is nearby), and it's actually very good. The background sound of my childhood, the singles at least, although I didn't buy a record of theirs until they had split up.

One or two pics on display of Cilla - a very puzzled 16 and 18 year old. Her fame did not spread to Oz it seems.

I thought this recreation of the Cavern Club stage was appropriate for the Mono Monday challenge.

Tomorrow back to work - now that will be a real challenge, even if I have been acclimatised by being involved in the flood recovery effort over the holiday period.