Sunday on the Albert Docks, Liverpool

Sunday afternoon finds us along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary in Liverpool, England. Inhabitants of Liverpool are sometimes referred to as Liverpudlians (silly) but I prefer the term "Scousers", in reference to the local meal known as 'scouse'. Scouse was originally a variation of "lobscouse", the name of a lamb stew mixed with hardtack eaten by sailors.

Liverpool is remarkable city with a long history. An 800 year old city, in fact! My curiosity about this city stems from my maternal grandfather. Thomas Bantin visited this port many times and I often wonder what he thought of it the 1920’s when his ships docked here. Liverpool's waterfront were declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004 and the docks are a large part of Liverpool's history, with Albert Dock as the best-known. This was the first enclosed, non-combustible dock warehouse system in the world and was built in cast iron, brick and stone. It was designed by Jesse Hartley and restored in the 1980s.
The Albert Docks are home to everything Beatles: a museum, shop and tour company. The music is everywhere! Liverpool is a must for any Beatle fan! I love it but we have done the Beatles thing years ago. Our original room in the Premier Inn (located right on the dock!) was on the first floor but we asked for a higher floor to avoid the repetitive noise( must be getting old....).
I think Liverpool has an interesting history. One thing about Liverpool is the substantial profits made here from the slave trade. By the close of the 18th century Liverpool controlled over 40% of Europe's and 80% of Britain's slave trade. Another bit of scouser history is that during the Great Famine of the 1840s Irish migrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands and by 1850, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. America was not the only place the Irish fled to in great numbers. OK, well I think these are interesting things............

Every where we look are signs reminding us that Liverpool is a European Capital of Culture for 2008. Hurray! I also like the Royal Liver Building It has very large and very cool bronze liver birds on top! (liver rhymes with "fiver", rather than with "river"). The mythical bird was originally been intended to be an eagle, but is now officially a cormorant. According to local legend, they are a male and female pair, the female looking out to sea, (watching for the seamen to return safely home) while the male looks towards the city (making sure the pubs are open- I believe that- oh boy, did we meet a trio of Belfast drunks in the hotel lobby). Local legend also holds that the birds face away from each other as, if were they to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist.

We are here for the Gustav Klimt Exhibition at the Tate Liverpool on Monday morning. This is a special show that is not expected to travel to London or New York, so here we are on a lovely June afternoon. Like my Aunt Fran, I am a fan Klimt’s work. I haven’t forgotten to get some postcards for you! So more on the exhibition probably on Tuesday! The Tate Liverpool which opened in 1988 in one of the converted warehouses here on Albert Docks and was created to display work from the Tate Collection in London with a focus on contemporary art. I am excited about the exhibition tomorrow and the opportunity to learn more about Klimt!