THE nip of winter embraced me like a family friend, engulfing me with a sharpness not felt since our journey first began some three hours or so earlier. It was a brisk interaction that sharpened the senses for what was to come with cold air filling our lungs as we stepped off the train on to a derelict platform, ready to swarm into the bosom of the city. A city that for the next two days would not only be our keeper, but our entertainer, teacher and invigorator.

Braking through the throng of people cluttering the station, the open air as we stroll out on to Lime Street is filled with the intoxicating aroma of Christmas, transporting us further from the hum drum of life back home than any train had managed on this bracing, frosty November morning. The sweet smell of mulled wine tingled the nose before the whiff of freshly-made gourmet sausages and burgers managed to penetrate the 14 layers of clothing thrown on earlier that morning to fend off the Glasgow freeze.

Despite the still far-from-balmy conditions experienced in these new surroundings, an extraordinary warmth insulated us immediately and would not leave us until our well-walked feet would carry us on to a train the following night. That warmth is Liverpool.

On the face of it, it is easy for two visitors flocking down from Glasgow to feel an instant connection with this place, a prosperous city built up by industry, galvanised by a love for two football teams and iconic music and now pushing its way to the front of the queue as one of Britain’s top tourist destinations. Yet it is the manner in which Liverpool is using its history to build a bright future that struck me more than most as I whizzed through its busy city centre street, bending eventually towards the River Mersey looming in front of me and down along the rejuvenated docklands.

After a short five-minute journey we were brought to our home for the weekend, the simply stunning Titanic Hotel. Inspired by the doomed British passenger liner that had Liverpool registered as its home port before that fateful maiden voyage in 1912, the understated site of this five-star luxury hotel does not hint at the treasures hidden inside it’s huge brick façade.

A former 19th-century warehouse at Stanley Dock, it has been transformed into a gorgeous hotel devoted to class, excellent food and providing gigantic rooms for its dwellers. Donald Trump will have had smaller overdrafts than the amount of square feet inside the grey and bare brick walls of our superior dockside room, one expansive space separated into a sleeping space and a living one. It was so big you needed a set of binoculars to watch Thomas the Tank Engine in bed.

Prints of the doomed White Star Line ship are subtly placed in our grand quarters, complementing the odd piece of memorabilia dotted underneath the high vaulted ceilings throughout this hotel, including in the Maya Blue Spa, a sanctuary encased in red brick beneath the Stanley Dock site.

As already mentioned, Liverpool’s history is one the city natives are rightly proud of and keen to show off, a fact that is unmistakable as we return to the heart of the city to explore our surroundings.

Our first port of call was to the newly-opened Shankly Hotel, another living and breathing dedication to a man who helped mould Liverpool. It was Bill Shankly, a young kid from East Ayrshire, that would go on to leave a legacy that shows no sign of dissipating today, 35 years after his passing. Over a 15-year period from 1959 to 1974, Shankly became one of the most iconic managers in British football at Anfield, leading Liverpool to three first division league titles, FA Cup, Uefa Cup and four Charity Shields.

His influence flows way deeper than trinkets in a trophy cabinet. The Scot was awarded an OBE in 1974 has a statue in his image still outside the famous Kop stand at Anfield, while his name is spoken about with the same warmth normally reserved to tales of lost family members.

It is little surprise then that so much effort has been ploughed in to the hotel on Victoria Street that bears his name. The £20m development was opened last year and it was in its plush Bastian Bar restaurant that we devoured a monstrous afternoon tea. As an afternoon tea virgin, the strawberry milkshake that accompanied the stacks of scones, cakes and freshly cut sandwiches was a welcomed surprise, as was the football touches adorning the walls of the grand reception and restaurant. I’m assured this is not normally the case.

Fully refreshed, a short stroll brought us to one of the highlights of the weekend, the Dreamworks Lights Lantern experience. Housed right next to Lime Street station within the huge St George’s Hall, we were taken on an unusual tour through some of the studios top movies. From giant dragons to Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, an afternoon was spent wandering through giant lantern creations of some the films main characters.

After being dragged away, a quick snack in the Christmas market outside set us up nicely for the meal that was to follow. We went for a meaty banquet at Viva Brazil, followed by some mulled cider at Bar Hutte, a cluster of outdoor chalets beneath the huge electronic Christmas tree, the largest in the UK.

After a good night’s sleep at the Titanic, it was a quick hop down to the iconic Albert Dock for lunch at Pan Am, a two-tiered restaurant beneath vaulted ceilings offering some quality homemade fare before a day’s Christmas shopping. This was a highlight. There was still enough time away from the city’s Liverpool ONE shopping centre for some fun, this time at Pier Head. Just a five-minute walk from Albert Dock, the Ice Festival awaits with an ice slide, fairground rides and attractions not to mention more food to titillate the senses. An opportunity to fall over on the massive covered ice rink beneath the historic Liver Building was not ignored either.

The cold snap of a UK winter was present throughout this memorable stay, but it only added to a trip to a winter wonderland that already has us counting down the months before we are warmed by Liverpool again.

Scott Mullen was a guest of One Magical City as part of Liverpool’s winter celebrations. The festivities are enhanced this year by Dreamworks, bringing their light show to St George’s Hall from November 26 to January 2017.

Scott was also a guest at the Titanic Hotel, located at Stanley Dock.

For more information, visit www.visitliverpool.com/christmas and www.titanichotelliverpool.com