Liverpool and Cranage (or the night Ross exploded)

It was a bright sunny day and we had the morning to ourselves so what better than a leisurely drive to Liverpool (where my dad's from!)  Okay so maybe the Mersey was a rather interesting shade of brown but the new waterfront and dock developments courtesy of Liverpool's stint as European Capital of Culture have definitely lifted the place.

Liverpool - at the waterfront with Royal Liver Building in the background

Albert Docks - Liverpool

The town centre was equally rejuvenated and we spent some time walking around the new Liverpool One retail centre to pick up a few items.  Lunchtime crept around so we went to Jamie's Italian - purely for the novelty of being able to dine there when we felt like it unlike the Perth restaurant which still has ridiculous queues.  Well, as we found out later - there's definitely NO REASON to ever return to any of the restaurants in the franchise.  Ever.

Ross started complaining of a headache and tiredness so we made our way back to Manchester for a few hours rest.  In the early evening we made our way to Pat and TD's home in Cranage and soon were immersed in tales of the new house, spark plugs, good food, laughs and exceptional company.  

The Cranage get together
(from L to R: TD, Pat, Dave, Maggie, (their friends) Mike and Stella, Karen, Tony Mac, Rona and Ross

All the while Ross couldn't touch a single morsel/drop of food and drink and as the evening wore on became more and more pale, nauseous and uncomfortable.  We made our apologies and left before 10pm for the drive back to Sale but sadly couldn't even reach the B+B before Ross exploded violently across the dashboard and then again all over Washway Road after hastily stopping the car.  Fortunately our hosts were not home yet and so it was that at 11pm I was cleaning spew from the inside of the car as best I could with whatever cleaning products I could find in the laundry/kitchen.  It was an absolutely appalling night for Ross with several more explosions.  With no sleep to be had for either of us, I have never been so relieved to see the thin grey light of dawn creeping in through the windows at 4am.  Hopefully this terrible terrible night can be banished to history never to be relived.

Whatever it was that Jamie put in his Italian cuisine, it has certainly put us off for life.  One theory is that it was Solanine poisoning from an evil aubergine - not too outrageous a theory given that I've had bad run-ins with aubergines in the past.