Liverpool

We have been really looking forward to getting out for a full day in Liverpool but I don't think for a second we counted on such a beautiful day!

We started off at the café just outside Tate Liverpool at the Albert Docks, which, as you can see from my main picture, was looking rather splendid. And after we'd had our coffee, we went into the Don McCullin exhibition.

To be honest, we both came away with pretty mixed feelings about it. Sure, McCullin's photography provides an extraordinary documentary of war and poverty over the second half of the twentieth century but, for me, it's ultimately pointless: it never led to any change.

He showed the world - and readers of the Observer and then The Sunday Times, specifically - the horrors that were taking place both abroad and at home in the UK and no one did anything. In the end, the exhibition is just a horror show. (It's also really depressing how many of the conflicts that he photographed had their roots in either British or American foreign policy. Possibly all of them, actually.)

So, we were both pretty glad to get away from the exhibition, to the extent that we skipped the last couple of rooms, and walked on up to Matthew Street where we sat across from the original site of The Cavern club to enjoy a beer, thoughtfully documented for you by me in my second extra.

We grabbed lunch from Prêt, which we ate in the hotel, and then walked the three miles across to Lark Lane, where our friend Bob - whom you may remember from yesterday's Blip - has a number of establishments, including two that we've never visited before.

Well, the walk was certainly pleasant enough but we were very pleased to arrive at The Bookbinder (extra 3) for a couple of small plates and some refreshing, cold drinks. I was trying to remember when it was that Dan and I came here, thinking it must have been at least a couple of years ago, but I checked with him and it was only last year!

Fortified with food and drink, we ambled a little way up the road to the second of Bob's places, Love And Rockets (extra 4). I don't know how many places Bob has had over the years, both the extraordinary Alma de Cuba and the legendary Korova spring to mind, but they have all, as far as I know, casually displayed a bit of taxidermy on the walls. I'm sure I've discussed this with him in the past but I really can't remember what it means to him. A momento mori perhaps?

We were getting close to the time for our table now, but we found twenty minutes to cross the road to Polidor for cocktails (extra 5) before going to eat at The Old School House (extra 6). Now I wish I was a better food writer so I could talk about our meal but to paraphrase Martin Mull (probably), it would be as useful as me dancing about architecture. Let me just state for the record, though, that the fresh bagel with cheese dipping sauce was a salty and steamy delight.

And finally, by now somewhat full, we managed to make our way down to Bob's newest venture, Ink In The Well, named for the song by David Sylvian. I'm always impressed by how Bob's venues are all different yet clearly related, like siblings perhaps. This one was our favourite of the evening and I wish I'd taken a photo of the interior for you, too. It certainly cemented our plans to come back.

So, there you go, our guide to some of the venues on Lark Lane and if you fancy trying them yourself, that sequence worked very well indeed!

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Reading: 'Touching The Void'.