“There beneath the blue suburban skies…”
…sang The Beatles about Penny Lane, Liverpool – the city I’ve just arrived home from after a visit to see my cousin who is in her first term at University there. The North of England didn’t disappoint me and the bracing, ice-cold air that I’ve come to associate it with, welcomed me as I stepped out onto Liverpool Lime Street station.
We didn’t have any solid plans for the weekend which made it a very relaxing one – on Saturday another of my cousins came into the city and the three of us wandered around Liverpool’s shopping centre checking out the glittery products that have arrived in The Body Shop, trying on all manner of faux-fur accessories and gauping at the huge crowds of shoppers, high on Christmas.
I love exploring new cities with friends and family that know the area well. My cousin had pinpointed a few places that she had tried and tested and a few that she hadn’t tried and wanted to test. Leaf Tea Shop on Bold Street was one of the latter. Set in a large warehouse type building it’s a spot that’s always busy; a popular cafe by day and a bustling bar by night. We popped in on Saturday morning for a quick bite of breakfast and opted for toast – a somewhat boring choice made all the more exciting by the delicious seeded bread and homemade jam. And again, the North didn’t let us down – we paid £1.50!
We returned in the evening for a few cocktails and, as we sipped our ‘Hedgerow’ and ‘Elderflower Fizz’ while enjoying the live music, I spotted on the notice board that there is an entire calendar of events hosted here; from knitting club to book club to a life drawing workshop! If you are a student here, it’s worth checking it out, I am certainly wishing that I lived closer to this little hive of activity.