Liverpool, England - A Magical Mystery Tour

Waterside dinner menu from last evening.

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We dined at Umi Uma with one of the Senior Officers.

Last evening we enjoyed dinner at Umi Uma the special Japanese Restaurant featuring the cuisine of Nobu with one of the Senior Officers.  

Dinner was great and mainly included sushi and sashimi with an entrée.
 
While dining, we arrived to Liverpool at around 9:30 pm.

Today is turn-around day for Crystal Serenity. Today marks the end of the our second of six voyages from Oslo to Liverpool and the start of our third voyage from Liverpool to Reykjavik, Iceland where we first boarded Serenity.

Before we dive in, we can't wait to share why our love for The Beatles is still going strong! Picture this: we were just eight years old, halfway through Fourth Grade, when The Beatles burst onto the American scene on the Ed Sullivan Show. We were glued to the screen for three thrilling Sundays in a row!
 
Many people watched them on TV on the first show. Keith watched them with his Mother, Father, Brother and Nana. At the same time twenty three miles away Anne Marie watched them on the TV with her Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Nana and Grandfather.  
 
For the next several years, we had the thrill of growing up with The Beatles, who stayed together until we reached the 9th grade, with their records spinning constantly! Even after they went their separate ways, they embarked on exciting solo careers, releasing countless songs and albums that filled our lives throughout the rest of grade school and into our college years!
 
If you think about it, their music evolved faster than a teenager's wardrobe choices, with each album taking them to new heights. Just like kids who outgrow their shoes every year, their tunes kept changing and reaching new levels. Keith remembers when he would buy a new Beatles album and play it that sometimes he had to put it away for a few months as it was completely different than the prior album. Then he'd play it again and love it. For us, like a wine the music gets better with each passing year and we can't say this about most groups or solo performers.
 
We're thrilled to be back in Liverpool for our third visit! Our most recent trip was last September aboard the Crystal Symphony. Our first adventure here was in 2015, when we celebrated a special milestone birthday for Keith!

Every time we've been to Liverpool, we've had the incredible experience of touring with Jackie Spencer! Jackie is an outstanding tour guide with an impressively detailed knowledge of not just Paul, George, Ringo, and John, but also other fascinating figures like members of the Quarrymen, Pete Best and his brother Rory Best, Freda Kelly—who was the Secretary to Beatles Manager Brian Epstein and the Secretary and President of the Beatles Fan Club—along with many more amazing people!

Jackie has been showing folks around Liverpool for thirty years—she knows the place like the back of her hand, or maybe even better! She kicked things off with the Magical Mystery Tour Bus, where she perfected the art of herding tourists. Then, she decided to up her game with Beatles Taxi Tours, offering private tours for those who prefer their Beatles history with a comfortable ride to boot. Eventually, Jackie went full luxury and started rolling out tours in fancy cars with a driver, because why not? Her expertise even caught the eye of Cirque Du Soleil when they were putting together the show Love, and She's been in many documentaries. She's a regular on the Beatles Channel, which we tune into religiously on Sirius Radio—because she is Jackie who is such an expert on The Beatles.

During our initial two Beatles tours with Jackie, we explored Strawberry Fields, the residences of all the Beatles members, Eleanor Rigby's grave, and St. Peter's Church, where John Lennon first met Paul McCartney. We also visited schools and colleges, the Beatles statue, The Cavern Club, The Casbah Club, and several other iconic locations. 

​We had the pleasure of meeting two original Quarymen, Colin Hanton and Len Garry—aka the guys who jammed with John Lennon before Paul and George crashed would become part of this band. At the Casbah, we met Rory Best, Pete Best’s brother. Pete is best known as the drummer in the Beatles before he was replaced by Ringo Starr.  And as if that wasn't enough, we also chatted with Freda Kelly, who had multiple jobs, working for The Beatles including being in charge of their fan club and for working directly for their manager, Brian Epstein. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

For today’s tour we were originally going to have lunch with Colin Hanton but he is now doing a concert in Germany with the Quarymen. We understood but was hoping maybe we could have lunch with Paul McCartney. Well, that’s not going to happen.


Today's tour included visiting various sights in North Liverpool and in downtown Liverpool and visiting with Freda Kelly once again.
 
As to Liverpool its name comes from the Old English term, lifer po, which means muddy pool or creek with muddy water. It was first recorded as Liuerpul referring to a tidal creek that flowed into the Mersey River.
 
Liverpool entered the 20th century with a strong economy. It suffered greatly during World War II and was bombed repeatedly by the Germans. It took many years before rebuilding occurred and challenging times for its residents. It appears those in-charge didn’t recognize the importance that The Beatles could play in this resurgence until many years after they disbanded and this has to do with tourism. Many travels were interested in visiting Liverpool because of the Beatles. With that said many items related to the Beatles have about through public and corporate funding rather than from local government funds. Liverpool has a rich history and there is a lot to see that is not Beatles Centric.  
 
We will post some photos from today and others tomorrow.

​Early morning photos.

​We first bumped into the legendary Freda Kelly during our Liverpool adventure in 2015, and fast forward ten years, we were lucky enough to hang out with her again! There's a documentary about Freda called "Good O'l Freda," and here's a little sneak peek from the film.

Today, we embarked on a “magical mystery tour” that had us visiting places around North Liverpool. It was a fab day, a term from our younger years, and all about the Beatles and the city that raised them and as Ed Sullivan would say these young lads from Liverpool. We also spent time with the lovely Freda Kelly who we last saw in 2015.

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This is our route for this third voyage of our adventure.

Cheers,

​Anne Marie & Keith