British Isles Tour - Day Nine Liverpool, England (My favorite stop!)

Liverpool was a port Beverly, Joyce, and I  had really been excited to see because so many of our European ancestors had converted to Mormonism in the early 1800s and emigrated from Liverpool to America.    I had just been reading my Great-great Grandfather William F. Rigby's life history where he wrote that he left on April 6, 1853, with 228 other Church members on the Camillus from Liverpool, England.  He was only twenty years old when he and his wife left their native land.  We were so looking forward to standing on the very spot they left from, and we actually were able to do this!

This is the Legacy Sculpture given to the City of Liverpool by the Mormon Church and placed right at the edge of Albert Dock where over 9,000,000 European emigrants set sail to start a new life in America.

The plaque in front of the sculpture tells the meaning of the sculpture:  
 
 The child in front stepping forward symbolizes migration to an unknown world . . .
 
 while the child in the back playing with a crab symbolizes the deep association with the sea.  As I said, with ancestors leaving from this dock, we felt so connected and thrilled to be here.


Albert Dock, itself, has been a part of Liverpool’s landscape for over 160 years, but the complex consisting of dock buildings and warehouses was transformed in the early 1980s.  



There are now museums, restaurants, and shopping areas in the old brick buildings, a big Ferris wheel like London’s (only smaller) . . .



 and a carousel that plays Beatles music.   


  An exhibition about the Beatles . . .


 which we decided not to go through because we were going through the real Beatles sights, so we quickly stopped for some hot chocolate and a panini.




We saw many other interesting maritime items along the dock . . .







including this huge anchor.



Everyone had a different way of trying to hold it!  Hah!
 
 George was looking over the tall mast ships and how the sailors hung their laundry out to dry.
 



 


George and Doug putting their heads together to come up with more great ideas, I guess!
And everywhere we went, too many temptations for ice cream!

Let me go back to how this day all started.  It was Sunday, so a really special part of the tour planned by our tour leader included attending Sacrament Meeting at the Liverpool Mormon Ward, which was Fast and Testimony Meeting  Wow!  What a wonderful experience; we really felt a special spirit there and were so welcomed by the members.  All 13 of us didn’t want to leave but just stay at the church and visit all day with the saints and hear their stories.  


Here we were loading up in our van headed for the church.

Doug got to the bus early and waited for everyone else to arrive.  Why does this remind me of all those field trips I chaperoned as a teacher?  Hah!


 Larry and Beverly stopped long enough to snap a picture with the local Liverpool greeter.

After attending church, we went on a Beatles tour, which was a blast!  All of us were huge Beatles fans! We girls remembered being just as crazy as those screaming fans were when Ed Sullivan introduced them on his show back in 1964!   In fact, the reason Doug and Joyce named their first daughter the name Michele was because Joyce loved that Beatle song so much.  

  First stop:  The bench where "Eleanor Rigby" sat.  Since we were the three "Rigby" sisters, we thought it was appropriate that we sat next to her.  

 This song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney could have been about numerous lonely people, but they just chose the name Eleanor Rigby, who was a fictitious person.  The words really touch your heart:  

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong? 


 So, as the next part goes, the tour guide took us to the cemetery where Eleanor Rigby is buried.  Again, since she is a fictitious person, we were so glad to see that this Eleanor Rigby was a beloved wife and had children.  Her life had definitely fared better than the Eleanor Rigby in the Beatles' song.

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father Mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved

All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?


And we saw other Rigbys buried in this cemetery.
 
 Here is the church next to the cemetery.
 



I had to put this picture in of our tour leader--the one who planned the entire British Isles Tour.  She absolutely did such a tremendous job--George and I would travel again with her anytime!
 
 There was another building we passed called, "Rigby's Building."  This must have been a very prominent name in the city.

Next, our guide let us to walk down Mathew Street to see the Cavern Club where the Beatles performed nearly 300 times; thus it is called, "The Birthplace of the Beatles."  The Cavern Quarter is a virtual shrine to the “Fab Four” with lots of little shops, bars and places to eat.

It was so fun to be in The Cavern.

 

 You actually went downstairs to get to the club.  There was such a fun atmosphere there with people enjoying visiting while listening to a 

 guitarist/singer performing a lot of Beatles songs.  He was actually very good.

 Around the alcoves on the edge were actual items the Beatles had used in their band;

 also some paintings;

and the walls were filled with names of people who had been there.  I certainly noticed the name of "Laura" in the middle near the bottom.  Not me, but fun to see how many people had enjoyed this very place.

 There was, also, The Cavern Wall of Fame which showed some of the many artists who have performed there.

We enjoyed the music while looking around with our Diet Cokes.

I just chuckle when I see this picture.  After the three of us had taken so many pictures, we had to be creative so that all of them weren't in the same poses.

 

And, of course, they had lots of memorabilia to purchase to remind you of the Beatles.

 

Look how young Paul looks!  He was only 15 and John was 16 when they first started the band.

After leaving The Cavern, we saw that the entire street was everything Beatles!

 

 

 

 

 This was fantastic!  So many of Lennon's phrases that he incorporated into his music and life.

 A great thought:  "A dream you dream alone is only a dream.  A dream you dream together is reality."

 

This is one of my favorites:  "Life is what happens while you are making other plans."  So true! 

 

After reading all of these thoughts from Lennon, I am reminded of how very sad his early death was--so unnecessary!  "You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.  I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one."

Our guide then took us to see the Liverpool Institute and School of Arts, formerly was Paul and John’s Liverpool Institute High School for Boys. 

 Paul rescued the crumbling secondary school building and it is now a prestigious college for performing arts on Mount Street.  Our guide said that Paul hands out the diplomas each year. 

Located on the sidewalk across the street are two concrete sculptures—one of stacked suitcases and the other of guitar cases entitled “A Case History.”  

Commissioned by Paul McCartney’s Institute of Performing Arts (and winner of the contest), the sculpture is a celebration of the area’s arts, people and institutions, each identified on individual pieces of luggage.  

 

We then drove to the famous Penny Lane.  

They have had to bolt and cement the sign in because it has been stolen so many times.

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
Four of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back

Behind the shelter in the middle of a roundabout
A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway

 

The shelter (meaning a bus shelter) in the middle of the roundabout where the nurse sells the poppies became a restaurant named Sargent Peppers Bistro, which is now closed.

Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim

Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello

 

Our guide then took us to Strawberry Field, John’s favorite place to play when he was younger (he jumped over the wall to play there—the place was so magical for him), which was close to his home.  It was actually an old Salvation Army children’s home that opened in the 1930’s in what formerly was a strawberry field. 

 

  Let me take you down
Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

At this time, Lennon was living with his Aunt Mimi who kept telling John that he shouldn't go over to the orphanage, but he kept saying, "Well, they won't hang me for it."  So the words:  "Nothing to get hung about. . ." came into being.  But his aunt said he just loved to go over there to hear the Salvation Army band.

 So the gates are actual replicas of those during the days of the orphanage.

 Everyone trying to see beyond the gates, but it' no longer used and all you can see basically is the shrubbery.

Close to the fields is St. Peter’s Church where John and Paul first met in 1957 at a Garden Fete at the church where John was playing in a band.

Then, we went to see John and Paul’s childhood homes. Paul and John wrote many of their earliest compositions in Paul’s home. 

  

 

 

Our guide with Larry in front of Paul McCartney's childhood home.

 When our guide took us to John Lennon's home, we were excited to see it, too . . .

 

But, we really were excited when our guide  pulled out of his pocket the house number tile that was on the outside of John’s house.  His uncle bought the home as his residence years back, didn’t know that it was formerly John Lennon’s home, and when he sold it asked his nephew if he wanted the tile. 

Our guide also took us to see the Anglican Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool, which took 74 years to complete and is the longest cathedral building in the world. 

 

 

 A very interesting sculpture of Joseph and Mary with the baby Jesus.  In this artist's rendition, Joseph is kneeling along with Mary.  Usually, the artists have Joseph standing.

 

 

 

 

 

 The Lady Chapel was the first part of the cathedral to be completed and was very beautiful.  Although it was smaller, it was much more intimate that way.

 

 

 

 

 As we were finishing our tour of the church, the choir was warming up.  Although they were small in number, in this huge chapel area, they sounded like a hundred and so angelic.  It was absolutely beautiful!

 The organist sits above the choir, with the organ pipes above him.

 

This was a miniature version of the cathedral.  So well done!

 In addition to having a real telephone booth inside the cathedral, they also have a cafe to eat at, as well as a store which sold gift items.

 

 On our way back to our ship, we all so enjoyed the sights of Liverpool--the city we had learned to love today.  What a surprise that it would turn out to be one of our favorite ports!

 

 Our guide pointed out the colorful doors, plus how all the buildings have the smallest windows at the top.  That's where the help always stayed, plus it was cheaper that way for taxing purposes.

 

And even a gift from China!

 

We saw a bus with advertisements of hurling and camogie.  I knew very little about hurling and had never heard of camogie.  So, I did my googling and found out that it is a stick and ball team sport played by women and is almost identical to hurling for men.  What, then, is hurling? 
The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for over 3,000 years, and is thought to be the world's fastest field team game in terms of game play.  The object of the game is for players to use a wooden stick called a hurley to hit a small ball called a sliotar between the opponents' goalposts either over the crossbar for one point, or under the crossbar into a net guarded by a goalkeeper for one goal, which is equivalent to three points.

So, there you have it!  Will I ever get over being a school teacher? 

 Soon, we were back at port.

As you go through the port shop before getting back on the ship, they always have fun pictures and cutouts.  I really liked these two pictures.

And we were off again for a new adventure tomorrow.  I was amazed at how many windmills we noticed out in the ocean.  Great idea for energy since it always seems to be windy out there.

I loved watching the sun go down as we were eating our evening meal in the dining room.

 After dinner we went to see the vocalist and pianist Claire Maidin, who was excellent.  We had seen her on another cruise, and she is definitely one of our favorite entertainers. 

What a great day!  So many different types of activities, plus going to church the first thing this morning made everything in the day so special.

Tomorrow:  Glasgow, Scotland