Liverpool - where to start & what a day!!!

For the last couple of hours into Liverpool we passed hundreds of water based wind turbines over many km - by far the biggest numbers we have ever seen. We also had ocean racing yachts, in combat, adjacent to us - very strange for so early on a Saturday morning. It turns out that we were in the middle of the concluding stage of the 2017/18 Clipper Around the World Sailing Race. With strong winds, the 11 remaining yachts were beating hard into the wind right alongside us for about an hour.

Liverpool began life as a small fishing village on the Mersey River and its convenient location made it an attractive base for english troops before King John granted it a Royal Charter in 1207. It was the mid 1600's, however, before it became a major international trading port. It has great maritime history, including the Titanic and the Lusitania - and, of course, was home to the Beatles, its most famous export.

I came to Liverpool 38 years back, at a time it was suffering badly from the decline of manufacturing industry. To some degree that suffering remains, with many low socio economic members in its population - quite a few beggars and homeless. On the other hand, it has a modern CBD with some wide streets, grand harbour buildings, numerous malls and a vibrant population - and vibrant it was today. Masses of people around the docks and the CBD taking in the conclusion of the yacht race and its associated celebrations and, as we found out, Liverpool's Pride Parade.

We first walked to the Adelphi Hotel where I had stayed. It was a grand hotel then and remains so today. Then up to the Liverpool Cathedral (now a Council owned place of tranquility after being severely damaged by war tme bombing), to the gates of Chinatown, and back to the waterfront via the CBD, only to land in the Pride Parade - and they were all there in their thousands - including dogs in the rainbow colours. We then saw the final parade of the yachts and their crew's welcome home with family and friends. The whole of Liverpool was a abuzz with people. Our attempt at getting into the Beatles Story Centre was fruitless - queue more than 1 hour long. So we settled on visits to the Tate Modern, the Slave Museum and the Maritime Museum (all free and very well presented).

Across the day we experienced four seasons, always strong winds, drizzle when we got off the ship, periods of sunshine, and we beat a short violent thunderstorm storm and hail, by about 30 seconds coming back on board.

Full table for dinner tonight and then off to see The Mersey Beatles in the theatre. An excellent, lively show, where they played almost all of the Beatles most famous music.