Aberdeen to Manchester and the wonders of time travel in Liverpool

Started hitching from Aberdeen nice and early so i had a chance of getting to Manchester in one day. Got to my spot by about half 9 and stuck out my thumb. Hitching was going well and it took me a few lifts to get to Glasgow. After the problems of hitching out of the city the last time i decided to get a bus to a town on the outskirts and hitch from there. I got the bus to Hamilton and looked for a good spot. There was none and before i know it i am at the start of the motorway with my thumb out. It was a horrible spot and i never will recommend anyone hitching from there. I was stuck at that spot for about 2 hours and that is when i though i would make a sign saying ‘please help’. got a bit more of a reaction from people but nobody was stopping. Finally i got a lift to the nearest services which i thought would be great. As it turned out there was a police quardon at the services and it looked as if someone had been killed or attacked and then there I am standing at the exit hitching away from the crime scene. Not suspicious at all. I eventually got a lift after another couple of hours from a guy heading for Leeds. he was a nice guy but i cant remember his name. he was also a DJ and his DJ name was Chalie Farley after his pet monkey or something. was a strange 49 year old but very interesting and very open. it seems to me that people who pick me up do so so they can rant at someone and they do it at hitchers because they cant be bothered going to therapy. Charley gave me a lift right to the Manchester ring road and i got a tram from there to the centre. Was a good enough hitch except the problems at Hamilton which were demoralising.

Once i got to Manchester centre i was met by my very enthusiastic welcoming committee for a memorable reception. I was then shown to Percy Palace where I’d be staying for the night. Percy Palace is an interesting place. I didn’t really like it but i am glad i had the experience of being there. there were 8 people staying there in a big place but they treated it like a squat but they still payed very high rent. i was a bit surprised that they were even paying rent at all let alone how much they were paying. It was situated right beside the curry mile which is great. A road full of curry houses. Had a wander about but not much of else of note happened in Manchester. We went to bed late, woke up a bit late and decided to catch a quick bus to Liverpool which only took about half an hour.

Arriving in Liverpool we contacted Kieran, the couchsurfer Gabrielle was meant to be staying with and he didn’t mind me tagging along. While waiting for Kieran to be available to meet us we wandered around the city a bit and ended up by Albert Docks. While there I learnt about some of the history of Canadia and aboot Quebec and their attempts for Independence. Had a heated debate about the FLQ, something at the time i knew nothing about but i like debates and i liked this one especially.

We were then met by Kieran and given a lift to his where I had a chance to do all 3 things i like to do when i arrive in a place: change my pants, have a pee and have a cup of tea with good banter. After staying in the flat for a couple hours we went to meet some of Kierans friends at the pub via the park; Richard, Ian (i think) and Laura were all welcoming and great fun to chat with. after the pub we decided to head back to theirs and have a curry on the way (only the second indian I have ever had). At theirs there a plentiful supply of tea and talk and even peep show on too. It was a great relaxed evening where we seemlessly fitted into the group and were at ease instantly. it was as if we had all known each other for months or years. It was so good that we were trying to extend our time in Liverpool as much as possible but we had to catch a ferry the next evening. in the end we found a ferry leaving at 2am and a train that got us to the ferry that left liverpool at 9pm which ave another full day in liverpool.

The next day started in the best possible fashion; with a cup of tea in bed and a blue sky. After much dilly dallying we went for a wander about the sights of the city in a lazy fashion but the main part of the day was the chats we had while walking. Kieran was (and hopefully still is) a very interesting guy with free thought, good ideas and great stories. Another good relaxed day in Liverpool was coming to an end and i was glad we had decided to pay for the train as we had gotten more out of the trip because of it.  Before we left we met up with R, I and L for food and then said our goodbyes.

We walked to the train station and said endless thank you’s to Kienan for a great time. it really was superlative and i don’t know how we managed to fit so much and be so comfortable with the people when we had spend only one night there. We got on the train and headed for our next destination; Dublin, Ireland, Home.