Merseyside

Monday morning, we left the bucolic Lake District countryside and headed for Liverpool mainly on the very busy M6 motorway. Thank heaven for Mindy (aka our Garmin) and my mobile. Because of them, we located the Europcar drop-off office with no problem and, somewhat amazingly, the car was returned in pristine condition, except for the mud and dirt from the rain and grit on the road. Whew! We had driven over 1700 miles; yes, miles not kilometers and survived with very few close calls!

View over the Ambleside rooftops from our B&B

We took a taxi into Liverpool and, while I didn't have any preconceived ideas about this city as I'd never been here before, I wasn't prepared for how fabulous it is. I know that wasn't the case back in the 1970s and 1980s but it has really cleaned up its act. So much so that it was granted a UNESCO World Heritage distinction a few years ago. From what I've seen so far, it is well deserved. Monday, we got here just past noon and we really maximized our time. After checking into the Ibis hotel on Albert Dock - perfect location, by the way - we went to Tourist Information and bought tickets for the Hop On/Hop Off bus which included a boat ticket. After an hour on the bus (the time to do the entire circuit), we went to the ferry dock for our boat trip. Well, I totally lost it as we boarded the ferry - tears streaming down my face when Ferry 'Cross the Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers started playing. Little did I ever imagine as a 15 year old loving the "Mersey Beat" that I would ever get here and actually be on a ferry crossing that iconic river!

Kath and I on the "ferry 'cross the Mersey"

View toward the docks from the river

One interesting thing about Liverpool is how many achievements it has claim to and I cannot even begin to list them all here. It has been a "first" in so many things that, during the commentary on the bus tour, I actually lost count of them. They include: first passenger train (running between Manchester and here), first girls' grammar school, first school for the blind. Other achievements are: largest Anglican cathedral in the world (and 5th in terms of churches of any denomination), longest running ferry service across a river as it has been running prior to the year 1000), the first Chinese community in the UK, the largest Chinese gate outside of mainland China, the only city in the UK which has a museum solely dedicated to the city, and so on, and so on! Google it and you will find a lot more that I've missed!

Albert Dock

Gate to the Chinese area

The Metropolitan Cathedral

Tuesday, after walking to and visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral (the big one), we did another circuit on the bus tour. The weather had improved and we could take better pictures. Then, we took our 3 hour Fab Four Taxi Tour. Phil, our driver, had obviously done his research and we learned a lot about the Beatles. He also put so many of their songs into context. I did not know, for example, that Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, written by Paul and John respectively, were meant to reflect their childhoods. Paul passed Penny Lane on the bus every day on his way to school (there really is a barber shop, a fire hall, a banker on the corner like the song says) and John used to play in the grounds of Strawberry Fields, the orphanage near his home. After the tour was done, we popped in to see the Cavern Club where the Beatles played so many times and then went across the lane to its sister establishment, a pub called the Cavern Pub, for a drink - less noisy and less crowded. After that we walked back to the river and stopped in at 30 St. James, the building which once housed the offices of the company that owned the Titanic. It is now a Titanic-themed hotel. We went up to the 7th floor and had a drink overlooking the docks. A perfect way to finish the afternoon. Will I ever get back to Liverpool? I have no idea but "listen, . . . do you want to know a secret?" . . . I really hope I do!