A much needed spontaneous night away in Liverpool was just what I needed during the final weeks of my first year. With nothing planned the options were endless on how to spend my weekend.
I needed a break away from Nottingham this bank holiday weekend, hence I spent time on Trivago looking for a place to stay in Liverpool over the Bank Holiday weekend for my boyfriend and I. As I am a student, the cheaper options were around £40. However, they had no windows, this included one called the PodWorks which I had stayed at before. Due to this, I dwelled on the fact I had not chosen it. I ended up staying at Hatters Hostel, it was only £39 with a double bed and En-Suite bathroom, plus there were windows! It really wasn’t one of my better ideas in the end. The room itself was nice with a large window and purple patterned curtains. The bathroom had more windows than I had bargained for. I could see right out to the builder’s yard across the way and anyone would be able to see in if I needed to use it. Luckily there was another bathroom to use but I just felt uncomfortable there. I comprised by taking a shower once it’d gone dark with a towel over the shower door. When I complained about this I was told 10 other rooms are like the one I was in and they are working on getting it fixed. My boyfriend and I decided to just get on with it and continue with our night and enjoy our time together.
Firstly, we went to a bar called The Merchant near Concert Square in the city centre. It was a little cramped but had a neon-lit pizza bar to the side of the dance floor. I really wasn’t enjoying the vibe of the place, it felt more like a pub playing the house music you would hear in clubs these days. The bar across the road we visited next wasn’t much better either. I didn’t get the name of that one, but it had the same vibe to it, just even more rammed. We proceeded to concert square as the night went on including to Baa Bar’s. It was one of my favorite places to go to in Liverpool. They have a Baa Bars in Nottingham too, but I had only ever been a handful of times and the atmosphere is completely different from the one in Liverpool. If you enjoy a social smoke and an outside bar, I would highly recommend Baa Bars in Liverpool. There is no messing about between going for a cigarette and then to the dance floor and plenty of space to sit outside too, which would be nice in the summer. With the space being very open and not too overcrowded, we ended up staying there all night listening to more house music in a much better setting.
After we left the Hatters Hostel the next morning, we ended up taking a stroll through Liverpool ONE shopping centre to go to the Tate museum at the Albert Docks. Just before crossing the road you come to the Hilton hotel. We were immediately met by barriers and police who were surrounding the entrance to the hotel along with a large number of people at the barriers. My boyfriend asked someone what was happening and they said the Barcelona football team were staying in that hotel and people were waiting for them to arrive. We weren’t leaving anytime soon; my boyfriend was ecstatic and wanted to stay. We waited around half an hour until the Barcelona coach drove passed and then back around. It was a half hour wait to see the whole team exit the bus and walk into the hotel all suited up. It was a sight worth the wait! Crowds cheered for Messi as he got off the bus in a light grey suit accompanied by a patchwork backpack. I was not expecting to be so close to such world-class players when I planned my trip to Liverpool.
After all this we visited the Tate museum, taking a walk along the Albert Docks. After sitting at the waterfront, we decided to book another night in Liverpool. We had chosen to stay at Caro Short Stays situated in the city centre which was a short walk from Lime Street Station. It was a double bed self-catering apartment with modern kitchen space, sofa, smart TV and EnSuite bathroom. This only cost £41 and had a much better view, it was somewhere I would highly recommend anyone to stay. The morning after we visited the National World Museum in Liverpool and visited an exhibition ‘Astronomy Photographer of the Year’ which was honestly breathtaking. It was a series of pictures of galaxy’s, the moon, the sun and night skies across the world. It is worth seeing if you ever have the chance. Hopefully, I will be planning another trip back to Liverpool very soon, only this time I don’t think I will be seeing the Barcelona team.
By Cody Clutton