Southport pier

Suddenly, I thought that I would go to Liverpool during my thirteenth trip. When I talked about my plan to my English teacher, John P., he said, "If you visit Liverpool, will you go to Southport? It is near from Liverpool."
"Southport?" I didn't know why he had made the suggestion. Then he continued slowly, "Actually, I lived in Southport when I was a child. Southport is a really small town, but the people are kind. Moreover, it has an atmosphere as if it appeared in Agatha Christie's novel. I'm sure you'll like it."
"Really? How old were you when you live there?" "About eight years old. I haven't been there for more than 15 years."
"A town as if it appeared in Christie's novel! Moreover, it is John's home town. I don't have any choice but to go!" Thus, I promised him I'd go there.


We arrived at Euston station at 10:45 and got on the 11:10 train after buying some bread for lunch. Our first destination was Liverpool.
At first, we planed to get on an earlier train because we had a lot of places to visit, so we wanted to go sightseeing in the afternoon. Moreover, John P. had suggested me to have an English breakfast on the train, so I wanted to. He said, "Of course, it won't be so good, but it'll become a valuable experience and be good material for your HP."
However, when we went to buy the tickets, we found out the price would be double if we took a train before 11 o'clock. I asked the station employee if we could eat breakfast on the train if we took an early train, but he answered we couldn't unless we bought a first class ticket. A round-trip ticket using the 11:10 train costs about 20,000 yen per person, so it'll cost about 40,000 yen if we take an earlier train. If we use the first class, the price will be double that! Thus, I had to give up my plan.
We arrived at Liverpool at 14:00. We had planed to visit the tourist information centre first to book B&Bs to stay in Southport and Liverpool. Before that, we wanted to check what time the train to Southport will leave, but we couldn't find the timetable to Southport at the station. "Why? John said that we could go to Southport from Liverpool." Therefore, we went to the information office at the station to ask if there were trains to Southport. The employee asked us if we would go there that day. "Trains to Southport leave not from here but from Central station, the first stop from here. There is a train to Central station in eight minutes times. Do you want to take the train? The train will leave from a platform which you can find soon after going down the stairs over there."
Thus, we rushed into the train to Central station and got on the 14:38 train to Southport. Whew.
We arrived at Southport at 15:25. Firstly we went to a tourist information centre to book B&Bs to stay at Southport and Liverpool.
"How much do you want to pay?", the employee at the tourist information centre asked. "About 25 pounds per person" "So, you can stay at a hotel.". He introduced us to a hotel whose name was 'Bold Hotel'. "Bald Hotel? Does it means 'no hair' hotel?", we laughed. However, it spells "bold, not "bald". Ha ha ha. Nobody names his or her hotel "Bald"!
After we checked in the hotel, we saw some shops and went to the pier which John P. had talked about. The rain which had started stopped for a short time. However, it was windy. The nearer to the pier, the stronger the wind became. When I took some pictures, my hands were shaking because of the strong wind. ", I thought. All the pictures which I took today might turn out blurred." Therefore, we said, "Tomorrow, we'll come again." and went back to the town.

The scenery near the pier. left : The statue of Queen Victoria watches the pier.

However, when we came to the town, most of the shops began to close although it was only 5 o'clock in the evening. For a while, we saw some shops which were still open, but around 6 o'clock, almost only pubs and restaurants were open. "We have to eat supper now." Night comes early at Southport.

The next morning, we finished having breakfast and left the hotel at 8 o'clock because we went to bed early the previous night. The sun appeared. We said, "Today, the weather may be fine." and began to walk towards the pier. Soon after that, it started to rain. Why? However, we planed to take a magical mystery tour at Liverpool in the afternoon, so we had to go to the pier that time. The rain wasn't strong, so we decided to go. However, the nearer we approached to the pier, the stronger the wind was. Again?
We continued to walk againt a headwind towards the sea. It was cold and the wind was very strong although it was a little weaker than the previous day. After we walked several hundreds meters, we found a gate, but it wasn't open yet. If we wanted to enter the gate, we had to wait for another one or two hours. We saw the sea over there, but unfortunately, we didn't have time. I was sorry!

I don't know why, but when we came back to the town, the sun began to shine!
I think that the God of the sea probably hates me!

（2004.1.17）

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Trip to England