Monday, May 15, 2023 - Liverpool, England

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Monday, May 15, 2023 – Liverpool, England 

As we sail up the Mersey River this morning towards Liverpool, we are surprised by the beauty along the banks. We weren’t real sure what to expect in Liverpool, but what we are seeing is not what we expected. I think we expected a heavy industrial port. Although Liverpool is the 2^nd largest port in the British Isles, it is really quite lovely. Similar to Greenwich, the docklands have been revitalized (moving the dock activities to a more remote area) and are very welcoming. The city itself is right down on the water and it is one of the more attractive ports we’ve been to.

 

Until the 19^th century, Liverpool was a small fishing village. Then they got involved in the slave trade and that made the difference. The city became rich on the slave trade. The included tour today is mostly drive around and about 3 hours in length. We wandered in the cultural quarter for a little while and admired the buildings. Then on to the University Quarter to see the Catholic Cathedral from the outside. In my humble opinion, that is one ugly church. I didn’t even take a picture.

The double eagle is the symbol of Liverpool. The birds on top of this building signify that but don't look anything like eagles.

An old gate in the docks area

These birds were scattered around the dock area and signify Liverpool's connection to Ukraine

These lamp posts were all over the cultural center of Liverpool

 

The next stop was the Anglican Cathedral just a few blocks over from the Catholic Cathedral. It was constructed between 1904 and 1978. It is the largest religious building in Britain. It is the 8^th largest in the world. It is also one of the world’s tallest non-spired churches. Big, but so well proportioned, you don’t realize how big it is. The organ has 10,268 pipes. Most Christian churches inspire in me a feeling of peace. This one I didn’t “get”.

With the number of universities in this area of Liverpool, there is a ton of student housing. In a whole variety of buildings.

This certainly does not look like my dorm.

This is a very big building. Just not very appealing to me.

The cemetery in the church yard.

Back in the docks area.

A bit better picture than the one taken this morning.

This was taken from our balcony.

This bird is interesting, but certainly does not look like an eagle.

As we sailed away from Liverpool, we noticed lots of windmills along the shore.

 

We were delivered back to the ship in a timely manner, and I had a nice rest of the day. For dinner we took in Chef’s Table which, once again, was excellent.