Off to Blackpool, England... Expectations of tackiness and faded glory...
Our time in Scotland was over for this trip, and we were now going south. We packed up, got the car, parked it on an angle and filled it with our stuff. Actually, fewer bags now as we have eaten up a lot of the food.
We started off by following signs to Glasgow, but the closest we got to the actual town was the ring road, signs like the below and some drive through of outer suburbs. Sorry, it looked pretty grim.
And yes, just to confirm, we were going south...
About 4 hours later, Blackpool arrived to our car... Eh?... not long after midday. Too early for the official check in time, but being a Monday in September, they were not that busy and so we got a nice seaview room on the first floor immediately.
Di chose this hotel, Ibis Styles, and did very well. It is on the Promenade and directly opposite the North Pier of Blackpool - and it cost about £40 for a night, including continental breakfast. Good deal.
Just to confirm again, our hotel to the left, North Pier to the right, and a cute girl in the middle.
Hans hanging outside North Pier.
Yes, we decided on a wander along the Promenade and to explore the 3 piers. The weather started off being overcast, with a few spits of rain, but soon improved substantially and we even had sun for long periods of time. This is North Pier...nice and old, some sections rotting...not not Hans...yet...
Looking back towards Blackpool Tower from North Pier.
There were amusement arcades (fun for the whole family) and rides everywhere in Blackpool. This old Venetian carousel was on North Pier, wonderfully run down and taped up in places. Di was pleading for a ride... can I? Can I?
Not today - too much to see.
This looked a bit sad. Monday afternoon maybe 3pm, two entertainers on stage, she is warming up her voice and perhaps 10 older people looking on and listening. Windy and a bit cold.
Although, from what we heard, she could actually sing. She did "Summertime" which we found a bit ironic given the situation... "And the living is easy..."with a thick coat and a shiver!
The structure they were performing in was known as the Sunset Lounge and hung on the very edge of the North Pier.
All self respecting piers should have run down and rotten benches...we loved them.
We were back on the Promenade wandering south and another English seaside tradition... Blackpool Rock. No way Jose, for Hans. He would be shitscared of damaging his teeth. Even Di looked at the ingredients - sugar, sugar and artificial flavour - and changed her mind.
This was fun. This venue was advertising tribute bands. A lot of them... Yep, Blackpool "Rocks".
We walked into one of the amusement arcades as Di wanted to use the facilities... And then got stuck on these (Hans started it...). It is amazing how much "amusement" you can have for a few coins. You throw in a 2 pence and hope to get more back as the coins push other coins which push other coins...
Only one more... This time, it has to come down...
40 pence later, we were out on the Promenade. Check out the weather...
As we walked south on the Promenade, Central Pier was next, and we had to do one of the quintessential Brittish seaside things and eat donuts. Everyone advertised them for 5 for £2.50 but we got 5 for £2. Crap coffee added for an extra charge, but the donuts were pretty good and cooked fresh while we watched. We shared the 5.
Di looking content after enjoying her couple of donuts too. The gang in the background was one of those rowdy bunches that you see in places like this. Overweight, loud, seen better times, drinking beers... Fantastic. Part of the scenery too.
This was a bit sad at the end of Central Pier... Various flower bouquets and plaques. Some were clearly for old timers who loved this place and probably had their ashes scattered from the pier, but several were for young people, including this for a young Everton fan and there was another for a young boy, not yet 15 years old, who appeared to have suicided here. It was moving...
Back onto the Blackpool Promenade and then on to the "beach". The beach is actually only there during low tide. At high tide, you are either in the water or confined to the concrete steps. Nevertheless, this guy did the Northern European thing of face towards the sun and getting sun on his lily white belly. No, not a good look...
Di was checking out the water. Given that this is September, end of season, the water should presumably be at its warmest... In one word, No!
We had heard about the Blackpool Illumination which is a "light display" on at the moment, where parts of the decorated beachfront is lit up after dark. We decided that we had to come back later, but we couldn't help taking an early photo of a Doctor Who prop... the good Doctor featured heavily on this stretch, with Donna, Darleks and other enemies.
What we also liked about this section were all the old guest houses/hotels. Most "faded glory" and some offering rooms from £12 pp per night. In fact our hotel, which has been on their site in various forms since 1780, is possible the largest here. No high rise, which we love too. Blackpool has no fishing nor industry - just one purpose for hundreds of years - tourism. And it is still popular today and we could see why. Even if it rains there is lots of ways to stay amused (spending money) for adults and kids, and they even have the UK's largest indoor water park.
Finally, the South Pier and a self portrait looking north. We had walked further than we thought. Our hotel is further north of the tower.
Another classic British seaside scene...sheltered from the wind and faces to the sun...most still wearing warm jackets.
The Petulengro family must all be fantastically blessed as so many of them seem to be able to tell anybody's future from their palms. They were everywhere along the Promenade and on the piers. Carmen had the most colorful shop from what we could see. And yes, they had been fortune tellers to the stars too... even Jason Donovan had been to one of them...
Yes, fish and chip shops were also everywhere, as you would expect. This guy was the cheapest we found. We didn't try anyone but he seemed to do good business. His advertising was certainy distinct.
South of the South Pier, you can't even see the water from the Promenade. Instead, this...?
We had to investigate. This is how it looked on the other side of the concrete barrier. OK, we can understand that Blackpool may have ferocious weather at times, and that the current could be dangerous, but this is ridiculous. Are these ugly ugly concrete "features" really necessary? And you should at least be able to see the water from the promenade...
Pleasure Beach is not a beach at all, but a big amusement park at the southern end of the promenade. Huge rollercoaster which looked very inviting. We went in to investigate, but it closed at 5pm and we were then only a few minutes away from that AND you had to pay to get into the grounds, in addition to pay for riding the rollercoaster. We dropped the idea...
Looking north along the Promenade... All this will be lit up later...
There is a tram running along the promenade and we decided to take it back to North Pier as we like trams and knew we would walk this again tonight with the Illuminations.
Hans thought that both the exterior, but in particular the interior looked a lot like the new Sydney trams, down to the yellow colour scheme. Need to check it out when we get home.
We went back to Ibis for a cup of tea in their common / breakfast room. Hans momentarily lost Di to... this...
Sunset view of North Pier from our room. We took a break before heading out again.
So, some time later, we found this place with bargain meals and a lot of punters inside so we decided to give it a shot for drinks and dinner.
First a drink each... Enjoying the last rays of the setting sun through the front windows.
We assumed that The Albert and Lion was populardue to good prices and a nice environment. Not the best food in the world, Di had roast chicken (she wanted pork but they were "out" ) and Hans had Chicken Tikka Missala, but certainly good enough for the price.
While we waiting for the food to arrive, Hans popped out for a few sunset pictures...
The promenade looking south...
A very orange sunset...
By the time we finished meals and drinks, it was dark outside and the Illumination had started. This section of lighting reminded Hans of Christmas and Di of a fairy tale. Of course, a place like Blackpool has to have horse carriages on offer...
Is it a boat... Is it a plane... No, it's a... Tram.
Blackpool Illumination in full swing...
A couple of close ups...
We liked this. The Royal Carlton was "Hotel of the Year"... In 2001 and 2002. Now... Perhaps not. Not even open.
Of course, a trip to the English seaside is not complete without being drenched at some time. After all the good weather we had earlier, and despite no indication of wet weather from the Weather Channel, yep, the skies did indeed open when we were furthest from our hotel and we got wet wet wet...
Well, time now was after 10pm so that will do for us. Back in our room, we are trying to upload photos using the s.l.o.w.e.s.t. wifi we had the whole trip, and this was a big photo day, but leaving the iPad on overnight uploading and hoping for the best, did eventually do the trick. Bye from us for today.
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