Love Liverpool

What an amazing day!  Apart from a two hour restful train journey have not stopped all day.  Well sort of restful....seems I picked the only carriage that had no air conditioning....even the shop lady nearly had a fainting fit.  Can you believe that some of the trains had to reduce their speed yesterday in the  heat wave 'cause the overhead wires stretched so much in the heat and were in danger of touching the trains travelling underneath. I think that funny.

Liverpool is an amazing city.  I had no idea.  The city was packed with shoppers and it took me half an hour to trundle my suitcase and bags to the YHA ....a little bit further than I imagined. The Y here is very  modern and very comfortable.  I had no towel and was not going to pay 4GBPs for one so the lovely young lad at the desk snuck me one into my room....sweet.

I was intent on doing a Red Bus Tour but was disappointed to find I had left it too late.  However, all was not lost when I discovered the Yellow Duck Marine (Yes I know ...we even sang the song!).  It was an aquatic bus (surprise, surprise) and we plunged into Albert Dock at the speed of knots......hilarious.  Not what I was expecting to happen today.  The whole of the dock area on the Mersey has been revamped (not unlike Darling Harbour and Pier One in Sydney)  but here with huge old warehouse buildings dating back to the days when cotton was king.

I missed taking a photo of the Cavern Club on the Duck so I was determined to go back and have a proper look.  So glad I did.  I ventured inside and down all the stairs.  It is actually like a huge cellar under the ground.  Fabulous atmosphere and packed out.  I felt quite at home with all the other camera clicking crowd.

I ordered a Savion Blank 'cause the bar man didn't have any Shardonie and revelled in listening to a Look alike Beatles twosome belting out She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah and Money Cant Buy You Love.  Could have stayed there for hours but had to get back to the Y for Chicken Korma.

So had a great day and ready now I think to take my LOL (lovely old lady) under my wing.  I heard she is very anxious about me coming.  Changeovers are always stressful for carer and client alike.  Tomorrow is a new day and another beginning.  Life is one long adventure.  So glad the fog has lifted and the sun is still shining.

Heat Wave!

Phew!  It is very warm.  Daily Mail says temperature will be hotter than Miami and Barbados.  However, heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast for tonight....Ah well! Was good while it lasted.

Did some local tourist stuff today and walked my ankles off.  Went to the Harrow Heritage Centre but unfortunately the brochure was more interesting than the centre.  All done in 15 minutes.  Ate an egg sandwich in the rose garden and went home.

The bus ride was probably the most exciting part of the journey filled to capacity with the League of Nations.

On the way home, for a little quiet interlude and a spot of let's feel-sorry-for-Jo contemplation, I ducked into a little ancient church tucked in between the city's modern shops.  I felt rather affronted to be greeted with the wild, clear and ear piercing blasts of a trumpet.  I sat down in a pew, nevertheless, and the thought maybe this is God saying 'Get a grip Jo and just be glad you're still alive and kicking'.  So I just sat there and enjoyed the moment.  It was quite brilliant really.  Talk about  Blow the Trumpet in Zion. Was only half a dozen in the audience and I wanted to clap but didn't feel bold enough to initiate an applause. 


Packing again tonight and back on the trains again tomorrow.  Work begins on Wednesday.

A Bit Further Along the Way

This blog is born out of an effort to be occupied and to resist the tendency towards boredom.  A plan to visit the British Museum this afternoon was foiled with the realization of weekend repairs and maintenance on the train tracks into the city.  Am not up to navigating London via different routes esp by bus.

Harrow School founded in 1572 during reign of Elizabeth I, began with one recorded pupil, then settled into its gradual growth towards fame. Famous old Harrovians include Lord Byron, Winston Churchill, and King Hussein of Jordan

Am currently staying in Harrow and was warmly welcomed as usual by my friend Carol.  It has been over a week since I arrived back in England's green and pleasant land and I am sure I don't know where the time has gone.  Four hours after I landed I was invaded with British germs and have battled a cough and cold all week.  Jet lag is behind me and the enjoyment of long, light nights is ahead.  The weather has not been exactly very summerish but it is warm enough to wander out without a hat and coat on, in between the rain that is!

It was great to see my son, Scott, again; enjoyed a pub meal and shared past highlights and concerns.I had a bad moment on the way back to the Underground when I sickingly realized I had left my travel purse back at the pub along with passports.  Oh! the relief to see it lying there under the table was profound.  Nearly kissed the barman!

My big adventure of the week was to go to the theatre in the west-end so ended up seeing Billy Elliott, mainly 'cause I loved the movie but also to reconnect with my roots in Co Durham where the story originates.

 Fortunately, I have long got over doing things solo but I seem to have lost the skill of managing time on my own and stumbled into my seat seconds before the last call.  My seat was square in the middle of two lovely English ladies who took every chance to tell me how great the show is and I must go see The Lion King.  I reckon the theatre was built in the days when people were five foot nothing as even at five feet two I still had to bend my knees sideways to fit in.

Billy Elliot is set against the background of the British miners' strike of 1984/85 and charts the fortunes of the striking men alongside Billy's personal struggle to become a dancer in a world of hard hats and boxing gloves. The story is also mirrored by the young actors who play Billy, whose own true-life experiences of coming from obscurity to command the West End stage are an inspirational demonstration of the power of dreams. 

That I have no memory of this significant event in the history of  my origins from the north-east of England (though I do remember something about the mines being closed - thanks to Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher) only seems to reinforce the reality of how entrenched I must have become in my new life in Australia.  However, I still  well remember the stomp of the miners' boots coming down the hill from the mine past my house as a little kid and I'm pretty sure my granddad was a miner or at least one of my Dad's uncle's was one.  Somebody in the family was a miner, I'm sure!

I still feel some sadness leaving Aus behind but hopefully the fruit of the financial benefits will make it worthwhile and the opportunities to reconnect with friends and family and a planned trip to Scotland in September is something to look forward to.