After an early start in the office, tying up some loose ends, we set off on our journey to Liverpool. Stepping out under a somewhat grey sky, laptop and cameras in hand, we took the brisk walk to the bus stop, to catch a bus bound for Stockport Station. Upon our early arrival at the station, we decided to have a coffee and a chat whilst waiting the 20 minutes for the train we had booked. Both myself and Toby were please to notice a sign on the wall as we waited for our drinks informing us that ‘LK Gourmet’ were Fairtrade Friendly. As part of our ethical business practises we try wherever possible to support fair trading. Hot drinks in hand we headed back to the platform ready for the 11.26 to Liverpool Lime Street. Upon boarding the train we noticed there was a slight issue with communication between TheTrainLine.com and the train operator regarding reserved seats. This is something we went on to discuss during the journey, about how it would be annoying if when you boarded there were no reservation signs, and then when the people with reservations boarded there were no seats. Fortunately this was not the case and the people in our seats gave them up without too much fuss.
On the plus side the train operator, in response to the number of people working on laptops whilst travelling, has incorporated a handy pull out support to the fold down tables to make using them with laptops far more accessible.
Upon arrival at Liverpool Lime street it dawned on Toby that even spending a penny costs much more than that these days… 30 times that in fact!!
Stepping out of the station into sunny Liverpool, we spotted a nice little pub on the corner called The Castle, and decided to pop in for a drink while we waited for Mike and Wayne. No sooner had we ordered our drinks than they arrived! A short drive later and we pulled up on Bond Street to a quaint little Café with a menu that was anything but! Obviously a regular at this popular little haunt, the waitress pre-empted Mike’s order, and 10 minutes later we were sat eating arguably some of the finest Italian inspired café food I have yet had the pleasure of tasting! Though being of Italian origin we expected no less in a recommendation from Mike! So much respect and gratitude to The Italian Club.
The hour and a half that followed was a fully fledged onslaught of ideas, laughs and the usual banter. Coming away from it all truely inspired, myself and Toby went on two our second meeting, in a second café, Bold Street Coffee, equally as relaxed, sleek and trendy! The topic of the second meeting was iPhone apps amongst other things.
Having to get back to the office, we left one of Toby’s old colleagues from Multimap and took a short walk around some charity shops featuring the infamous ‘Banksy’ designs, and some very nice furniture. We also had a look around the bombed out church, which had been bought and preserved by the Council, as a place of tranquility, as well as an open air exhibition venue. Shortly after that, we settled in at Yates for a well deserved bottle of wine. And at £4.95 not even our accountant could moan at us overspending!
On call as ever I secured two more video contracts in Bournemouth for the bank holiday weekend!
As we were already in Liverpool, and had a tip off from John McKerrell, about a great little venture called Social Media Café Liverpool, we decided to go and check it out. A mix of people, ideas and information in an informal setting with drinks and laughs! What an awesome idea, and one that we intend to take to Bournemouth with us!
Met a great bunch of guys and got alot out of the evening, but as with anything, the time drew near for us all to part company and go our separate ways. Although with the likes of Twitter etc I’m sure we will manage to keep in touch with each other.
A short walk back to the train station, via Tesco for some sustanance, and then the short journey home.
As we entered the station we passed a cake shop with cake designs that couldn’t have been more appropriate, including Vinyl Decks and iPhones, though it did look the 3GS model!
We arrived home safely, still buzzing from the days activities, and full of positive energy! So here’s to many more days the same!!