Getting there, Part 7 - Liverpool, England - May 28, 2011

Still wending our way eastward towards Rotterdam in Holland, we had now reached the shores of England or at least the seven miles of docks at Liverpool, birth place of the Beatles. From the time that we lived in England our memories of Liverpool were of dock strikes, industrial action in car plants hastening the demise of the British auto industry and a general 19th century aura of dreary and depressed neighborhoods housing folk who worked in Dickensian gloom. In short we had low expectations.
How wrong we were! Despite a cool, gray day with occasional rain we thoroughly enjoyed a lengthy trek around this exciting metropolis. Modernization and reclamation of the dock area along with an eclectic profusion of striking architecture have resulted in a vibrant and bustling city with few reminders of the drab times of yesteryear.

Liverpool was granted borough status in 1207, and the original seven streets of the settlement can still be identified within the "commercial district". In 2006 Liverpool was visited by 625,000 international visitors alone, making it the fourth most visited city in the United Kingdom and the ninety-first most visited on earth.
Hope Street connects Liverpool's two cathedrals; Liverpool Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral as well as being home to a large part of the University of Liverpool's main campus.
Liverpool is one of the few cities in the world where ocean going liners can berth in the city center, providing a spectacular addition to the waterfront skyline.

For more pictures of this vibrant city, click here.