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With time on his hands, Nicks embarked on a series of visits to Museums and Art Galleries, his favourite being the Walker in William Brown Street, opposite the magnificent St.George’s Hall.
He and Anca had met each other for the first time there. Staring at a Walter Sickert painting in fascination, he’d become aware of someone standing behind him. He’d turned, briefly, and she’d smiled at him saying: “It’s interesting, isn’t it? Do you know the story of the artist?” and so began a conversation that led to Nicks buying her a coffee in the café downstairs and eventually to their life together in Romania.
He broke up the intensity of his cultural activity with a couple of trips out. The Lake District, staying at the Sun in Coniston from where he trekked up the Old Man and Helvellyn and then on to North Wales where from Penmaenpool he ‘climbed’ Cadair Idris, on the pony trail from Tŷ Nant farm and spent a pleasant fifteen minutes at the top, chatting with another loner whilst drinking sweet tea from the man’s flask. Now with only the Museum of Liverpool left on his ‘bucket list’ he’d run out of ideas. There should have been a badge for this sort of thing.