As you will have previously read, I was very excited about kicking off my festive break with a trip up to Liverpool to see my brother and his girlfriend. We had hoped to leave early on Friday to get up there and have part of that day to enjoy up there too however that didn't happen and as we learnt it was the busiest day of the year for travel we decided we would leave it until the evening to drive up and avoid sitting in queues of traffic - luckily our plan worked.

Hubby photobombed by Father Christmas!

On Saturday sadly my brother and his girlfriend had to work and hubby had to finish off buying his Christmas presents. I had a wander around the Christmas market in Liverpool One while he did that, soaking up the festive atmosphere. This market was the best I have seen in all my visits to :Liverpool over or around Christmas, it was much bigger and there were lots more stalls to browse selling novelty gifts, sweet treats and personalised presents. Not only that but the air was thick with the smell of all the delicious food stalls that lined up and down the centre. Tapas, Bratverst sausages and hot chestnuts were just a tiny part of the selection. There was also festive street entertainment in the form of a singer and a brass band.

Once hubby was done, we had a wander around, grabbed something to eat and then made our way into one of the Christmas pop up bars. It smelt of Christmas! Mulled wine, hot cider and hot chocolate. After we had sampled the Christmas drinks in there we made our way up to another pop up bar where we knew we would be able to sit down, recharge and have a few more festive drinks. While in there, we watched a guy outside creating an ice sculpture. It took him a good hour, maybe more and we spent the whole time trying to guess what he was making before it became obvious that it was the Grinch. 

Our last stop was in a sports bar which we haven't ever been in before despite walking past it goodness knows how many times. I'm glad we did because I really liked it in there, it had a great atmosphere and hubby was happy as he got to watch the football. Once we were done in there, we went back to the flat as my brother and his girlfriend were on their way home. That evening, we walked across the road to the local pub for a few drinks before making our way back and tucking into an Indian takeaway. It was the PERFECT day.