DAY 9 - GREENOCK, SCOTLAND

We had mentioned yesterday how much we enjoyed our tour of Liverpool.  A couple of items made it very special.  One was our tour guide Jackie and her extensive knowledge of The Beatles, her organization of the day and her kindness.  She put together a most memorable tour for us and we learned so very much from her.

Another unique part of the tour was the three plus hours we had one on one with Freda who was secretary to Beatles Manager Brian Epstein and Secretary of The Beatles Fan Club, Len and Colin of the Quarrymen and Rory Best, brother of original Beatles drummer Pete Best.  They were all very informative and so good about answering all of our questions and we learned so much about John, Paul, Ringo and George from each of them.  

We thought we would begin today by including a video from a Beatles 1966 Live Concert in Munich, Germany.

Last night continued The Beatles on board Crystal Serenity.

We began the evening with dinner and decided to dine in our room given the time we had gotten back from our Beatles Tour and it just made it easier to freshen up for the rest of the evening.  We also wanted to arrive early for the show.  We ended up arriving very early to the showroom and we chatted with Karl who not only plays Paul McCartney in the show but is producer for the company that  has a total of five Beatles Celebration groups that perform on several cruise lines/ships.  

We first met Karl and saw the group perform on Serenity on three previous voyages including the 2014 World Cruise, a voyage that followed the World Cruise from London to Rome and earlier this year on the 2015 World Cruise.  

For those of you who saw them perform in 2014, the band members who performed last evening were the same ones who performed in 2014.  

The group was fabulous and yes we got there early so we could sit in the first row and we did dance. 

The show also included the Astoria Strings and three members of the Galaxy Orchestra on horns.

We enjoyed it so much we stayed for the second show at 10:30 PM.

Keith wore one of the two Beatles Shirts that Anne Marie had surprised him with.

Galaxy Orchestra Member David Ashley who was recognized as the fifth Beatle for all of the work he did in preparation of this concert and the ones earlier this year.

Cruise Director Gary.

We slept very well as we always seem to do when cruising as we sailed to our next port of call in Greenrock, Scotland.  Getting to sleep very late also helped too.

We began the day close to how we normally do except that Keith slept a little later and after he awoke he went directly to the Lido Cafe for coffee, skipping the Fitness Center.

Afterwards, we had breakfast in our room and then afterwards he  attended an indoor Cycling Class.  There were three other people in class and it was taught by Fitness Director Claire.  For the last song in the Playlist before we cooled down, Claire challenge everyone to a race as this song involved pedaling as fast as we could.  She said she would select who was the fastest and Keith ended up being the one she said was the fastest, even beating out one guest in their early 20's.  Not bad for an "old" man.  

Afterwards, we went into Greenock, Scotland.




This port serves Glasgow which is located about 45 minutes from the port.  While this was our first time visiting this port, we have been to Glasgow before as Anne Marie's sister (now deceased) lived there for a few years before moving to Edinburgh.  We have been to both cities multiple times.

Greenock is a former shipbuilding town on the River Clyde.  It is the birthplace of engineer James Watt who perfected the steam engine.  

Since we had been on an all day tour yesterday and have another all day tour for tomorrow in Dublin, and have been to both Glasgow and Edinburgh, we didn't plan any type of formal tour for today.  Rather, we just walked on our own.

We first walked a couple of miles in each direction on the Greenock Esplanade which offers nice views of the hills, and lochs of the Scottish Highlands on one side and views of several charming homes on the left side.

Our walk included a view of the Old West Kirk Church built in 1591.  It was originally in the centre of town but was moved stone by stone to its existing location in 1925.

Most of the homes we saw were built in the 1800's.

This home was built in 1840 and was home to ship-owners, wool manufacturers, and country owners.

This was the home to Captain Edward Scott and his family.  Scott was commander of the steamer City of Aberdeen which was sued as a transport ship for troops in the Mediterranean.

We then walked around the downtown area.

Some of the store front signs were humorous.

One of several churches in the downtown area.

The weather ranged from sunny to overcast and the temperature was in the mid 50's.  We spoke with some of the locals who were very friendly.

Back on the ship we enjoyed lunch at the Lido Cafe.

Anne Marie walked for an hour on the Promenade Deck.

Keith played Paddle Tennis. It was a lot of fun and with just four of us we kept playing.

We spent the rest of the afternoon, reading and writing and enjoying the ship.

This evening we will be back in the Crystal Dining Room.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY........

"One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen." - Paul McCartney

Keith & Anne Marie