Day 3 - Liverpool

Day 3 feels like day 2, very much because of the entire 24 hours we spent traveling.

This morning we had breakfast at the Devonshire House Hotel--the brands for things are the same but not always the product. Jess had "Wheat and Fruit" for breakfast!

We met up with some of the other band members as well as Rotarians who are hosting us went exploring Liverpool. We saw the street where the Beatles got a bit of there start--and met Sam Leach! It was rather interesting, for sure. We tried to find some Beatles' memorabilia, but even with as many shops as there were, they didn't have much of anything. We also explored St. George's museum--so beautiful! Jess may make an album entirely out of pictures from that.

We ate lunch at The Grapes, where an early picture of the Beatles was taken. Then we set out on our own, away from the group to explore! We found a huge outdoor mall, which was beautiful. Andrew had to find some shoes for him this evening's concert, so we worked on that. We ate dinner at Subway--terribly American but we were running late to get back to the hotel and change before the concert. It is terribly embarrassing to be an American abroad?? Andrew has been trying his hand at his British accent when it is just the two of us, but has yet to be brave enough to try it on a real Britain. We were thinking of carrying a Canadian flag or wearing buttons saying "we voted for Obama" so that people will be nicer to us. Unfortunately we brought neither :-( It is rather strange. A woman on the street asked Andrew for directions, but as soon as she heard him answer, she went "OH." rudely.

In contrast, the reception for the big band at the Rotarians' club was overwhelmingly well-received!! It was just outside of Liverpool. A rather elderly English gentleman named Graham, who Andrew referred to as "crusty," supplied the drums. He has been playing drums since 1926--his cymbals, drumkit, and hardware was from when he came to New York in the 1940s. For any drummers – the kit was an 5-piece Rogers kit in a beautiful blue wrap, the cymbals were various Zildjians from the 50s, a Ufip crash from the 70s, and 16” china with 2 rivets. Also, the cymbal felts were foam reinforced with duct tape and the wingnuts were literally "nuts". Dave, our bassist, was playing on an electric upright and Mike, our piano player was playing on a toy Yamaha keyboard. You know, the one that everyone has in their basement...

Anyways, Graham told many stories, some of which Andrew could understand… After he came over from England and landed in Newfoundland, he joined the Scottish 148th Airborne band, because he couldn't join the musicians' union. Fast forward 70 years- He's still playing in a big band based in Liverpool! There were adorable little old couples dancing -- it is one of Jess's favorite things to see little old people dancing. One even invited the vocalist, Amy, to dance with him!

We got back to the hotel and of course immediately updated the blog. We both brought a travel journal but have yet to write in them; hopefully tonight we'll have some more time, but we also have the "steak and strawberries" barbecue and dance to go to! Today we also leave Devonshire House and Hotel to go to a Rotarian host family -- more to come!