Liverpool: love it, live it and never forget it.

Don't expect many personal posts on this blog but after moving away from the Liverpool area through finishing university, I just wanted to write one post about how much it found a place in my heart. If you've never been, put it on your bucketlist.

The first time I visited Liverpool, I was 18 and only a month away from beginning my course. I had the good luck to stay in the Crown Plaza hotel which in itself is stunning, has fabulous views and is only minutes away from the Liverpool One, the main shopping district.

Over the next few years, Liverpool became a home to me. At first I was nervous; I live in a quiet village by the sea normally, and a city seemed big and daunting. But, I was pleasantly surprised.

Liverpool is big and bustling, but the main streets are wide and easy to manoeuvre through which is great when you're normally a personal-space-loving claustrophobic like me. The whole place feels really open, not like in some cities where the skyscrapers shoot up as far as the eye can see and you feel cramped.

Oh, and the shops. Liverpool's main shopping district is called Liverpool One (so called from its postcode) and is packed with everything from clothes shops like Forever 21 - a personal favourite - to Menkind, Game and the Krispy Kreme hut. There's even the bubble tea shop, Mooboo! The best part is the whole of L1 stays open 'til 8pm on weekdays which is great if you work a 9-5 and still fancy a bit of shopping afterwards (or you forgot to buy a birthday present and the party starts at 10!).

What's even better is the variety of places to eat. I get bored of the same food over and over, so I like to change it up a lot. Bem Brazil, the Turtle Bay on Mathew Street and Yo! Sushi are my favourite spots but there's loads of others and I kid you not, it's taken a full hour for me and my boyfriend to decide on a place to eat before now.

Two spots all of you need to check out if you're hitting up Liverpool, though, are Forbidden Planet on Bold Street and Worlds Apart on Lime Street (near to the station). I was in Forbidden Planet a few days ago and they've always got a load of merchandise in there, but this time they had loads of original 151 pokemon hats. If I'd had the money, my friends would definitely be seeing me in an eevee hat right now. They've got loads of different fandoms in there - off the top of my head Adventure Time, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, DC, loads of cult classics, oh, and Harry Potter to name a few.

One of my favourite parts about Forbidden Planet is its number of Mystery Mini Figures boxes. They're so addictive. Pick a fandom, pick a box and grab a random character from the fandom for roughly £7 a pop.

My favourite's the Best of Anime boxes. I went in hoping for a Happy from Fairy Tail, ended up with a Sebastian from Black Butler but hey, I'm not complaining.

Unlike Forbidden Planet, Worlds Apart isn't a chain store and is a great place to find some interesting items. Also, if you're into your comics or manga, you're in the right place. If I'm honest, there's a lot of similar merchandise to the stuff in Forbidden Planet, but also a lot more. There's a great choice of card sleeves and funky pop vinyls - in fact I'm not sure I've seen a bigger collection, particularly the Disney ones - but the place I like to orbit to is the top of the stairs. Inside the shop there's a set of stairs that lead down into what I can only assume is storage for the extra stock, but perched just by the railings is a select few fabulous items that I haven't seen elsewhere. A while back it was a 25th Anniversary Chocobo plush, and this time it was a Meow Wow plush from Kingdom Hearts DDD. Yes, I bought it. He sits on my desk.

Worlds Apart is a great spot to nip into or stay in for a while and I pretty much always venture in on my way to Lime Street train station.

Another part of Liverpool that I love with a passion is its nightlife. Like with my food, I like to change scenes and Liverpool has a few good ones. The main area is by Liverpool central station where you can hit the clubs like Popworld and Krazyhouse - which can be great for charts and cheesy music, as well as house, dance and all sorts mainstream.

Then there's the gay village in the Stanley Street Quarter and I absolutely love it there. There's a spot called Superstar Boudoir. If you like brilliant 90s cheesy music and a really friendly atmosphere, this is where to go. Not to mention, the DJ is a fabulous and completely sassy drag-queen who is happy to chat to everyone.

The other area, which I go to most, is the bars at the Albert Docks. I like going places where you can sit with a drink and chat with friends. My favourite at the docks is Revolution. A vodka bar that does fabulous food through the day, and 30 different vodka shots for £54 (which is only a good idea if you're splitting money and drink between friends. Drink responsibly). The atmosphere inside is really friendly and generally quiet unless there's a match on, in which case be prepared to get your elbows out when you get to the bar.

And the final reason I love Liverpool is because of how beautiful it is and how much there is to do and see. There's not just shops, there's not just a nightlife. There are museums, galleries, historical buildings, strolling through the picturesque docks (at sunset no less), hunting down the lambananas - and yes, they are half lamb, half banana - libraries, the giant Liverpool Eye ferris-wheel, and the Echo Arena which hosts everything from musicals to concerts to the Liverpool MCM Comic Con on a regular basis.

You could visit Liverpool a dozen times and still find something new. Only last week I visited Liverpool's china town for the first time!

Now that I've left, I realise just how wonderful a place Liverpool really is and from the bottom of my heart I say if you have never visited it before then do. There is literally something for everyone.

Until next time!
Sarah x x x

Currently reading: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Currently watching: Adventure Time
Currently looking forward to: Watching Warcraft