When you hear the word Liverpool, What do you think? Does Slave trade come to mind? Well it should!

My mom and I had this on going disagreement that Liverpool was just more than the Beatles. She said it didn't matter. All that mattered was the best Rock Band ever came out of Liverpool... The Beatles. Ok, Who can argue with that?

Well... I can! That's who.  And since it's my blog I will!  Don't get me wrong... I dig the Beatles. I even have them on my yoga play list. And in fact, I really respect how they all went to India (a British colony, I might add) and took a very Eastern approach to things. George even learned to play the sittar.  But any way... Liverpool is more than just the Beatles!  It's been a famous place in history for a long time. The Beatles is just what we know right now...

And this is your history lesson for today... Liverpool was at the center of immigration to the New World.  In fact, they were considered the last port of call for the Slave trade.  Your probably thinking... wait a minute... slave trade?!?! Didn't they come from Africa?  Well yes! The British rounded up African's and packed them on a boat and brought them to Liverpool and sold them to the New World for fancy goods. Sounds awefully harsh now adays but that's just how it went down.  Liverpool is home to the International Slave Museum.  And if you go to Liverpool make sure you don't miss this museum.  It's free! And right down the street from the Beatles Story.  And in my opinion there should be a duplicate at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

So you could probably tell that I'm anti-slavery.  Because I do believe that our actions have permanent consequences and I do believe that no person should belong to another. And unfortunately we have seen it over and over again that history repeats itself... And this museum sums it up by saying "The story of transatlantic slavery is a fundamental and tragic human story that must be told and retold, and never be forgotten."  Similar to the Holocaust, similar to 9/11. We must never forget these moments in history. As we can learn and evolve from every story.


These are some pictures that I took at this museum.  Our guidebook said it was worth a look at and I highly recommend it.  And again, I still have no idea why this museum isn't in the US.  Because it really should be.


So then slavery was out-lawed in England. And finally someone got the memo that it's not nice to buy and sell other people so then what did Liverpool do?  Well, it was the major Port city in England so the next big thing would be to be the center of the Immigration to the New World. And most likely if your family immigrated to America or Canada in the 1830's to 1930's it was more than likely that they came to Liverpool.

Even the Irish came through Liverpool.  It was the hub of immigration! Just like how Heathrow is the hub now, Liverpool played a very important role on getting people to North America.

And now you know that Liverpool is way more than just the Beatles. And in fact, so much has happened there that it's really the hub of change for all peoples. It just so happened that the Beatles grew there band in an area that was already historically important.  And once again put Liverpool on the map!

Wales

We took a short weekend trip to Mid and South Wales.  This is the land where my people are from... or so they say.  I'm pretty sure that most American's are just mutts and we just need to get on with being American's.  Which brings me to a funny story... One day we took a family member to Ireland and this family member went up to an Irish guy and said "oh my family is from here".  The Irish guy said "oh, I have a cousin in America. You must know them."  HAHAHAHA!!! 1st of all; everyone is Irish on St. Patricks Day.  2nd of all; there was a huge immigration in the 1800's of Irish to America so chances are most American's are Irish one way or the other.  Especially if your family was Catholic Irish because they didn't (don't) believe in birth control.  Just sayin...

I digress... back to Wales. The size of Massachusetts with 600 some odd castles.  Your probably thinking... What!?!? 600?!?!? Yup, you read this right!  The Welsh have been pretty busy fighting off the British for a long time.  So they have tons of Castles and castles ruins.  In the end, they came into the Union. But not before Prince Llewellyn got into a good fight with them.  You might be thinking... Llewellyn?!?!? I know someone with that last name... Yup, that's right... ME!  But who knows if I'm actually related to this Prince. And frankly, I'm not sure I want to be related.  Both his siblings tried to assassinate him but were unsuccessful. Kinda sounds like my family but I'm going to say that we've come a long way from then.

And after all that fighting peace came across the land (or so called peace).  The Welsh still speak their language and have signs written in Welsh.  I have to say that you've never seen so many L's in all your life!  The landscape is amazing! But if you've ever been to Pennsylvania or upstate New York you would probably understand why some Welsh immigrated to this area.  It looks almost exactly the same! Minus the harsh weather. And Plus the un tapped Coal Mining.

And so I realize that I could do the work to trace my family roots back to Wales (probably northern Wales) or I could just enjoy the nostalgia from saying I'm probably welsh.  Because after all people immigrated to the New World for all sorts of reasons... And sometimes the stories of better living out weigh the stories of Oh your great grand father might have been involved in a scheme involving a fire and insurance money at a coal mine that ended up with him having no choice but to move to America.  And this is why the old people in your family "Don't talk about it!" Le sigh...

Grandma goes to Ireland

Just recently my Mom joined us for a trip back to Ireland for 4th of July.  If anyone is Irish, I would bet it's my Mom.  She looks like a leprechaun! Red hair and all!

Any way, we did a 10 day road trip around Ireland.  And boy will that take a lot out of a car!  This was our itinerary...

Day 1 - Drive to ferry in Wales - 6 hours in the car - over night ferry ride. Arrive in Dublin at 6am
Day 2 - Drive to the Rock of Cashel in Cashel. See where St. Patrick baptized the heathen Pegan King (insert funny story where St. Patrick accidentally stabs King with his staff and King says nothing thinking that is the pain of being Catholic- hahahaha) - Continue drive to Cobh - last port of call for the Titanic and family genealogy research (insert - no real findings... boo hoo) - Continue drive to Kinsale - Culinary Capital of Ireland. (insert delicious pub food and beer!)
Day 3 - Drive to Dingle - Enjoy the country side. Stop at random Castle ruins (thanks a lot Cromwell - jerk) and explore Dingle. (insert more beer and Irish music)
Day 4 - Drive the Dingle Peninsula - See famine houses and fields.  Make Grandma hike almost vertical hill to see amazing view of Skelling Island and Dingle! (note - next time remember wind gear)
Day 5 - Drive to Doolin - Make Grandma hike difficult level trail to the Cliffs of Moher (insert - oops! but hell of a view) - Get a coffee at visitor center and take the bus back. It's not nice to make Grandma hike 2 days in a row - Finish the day with Beer and music!
Day 6 - Drive the Connemera National Park - enjoy the scenery! See the famine trail, famine ship and enjoy the weather (note: Ireland may have super HOT or super COLD weather). Stop off to visit the only family that mines Connemera marble. Buy stuff at their gift shop! Finish in Galway and collapse!
Day 7 - Tour Galway in the morning! See the Latin Quarter, the church, the claddagh ring maker, the crazy people down by the river. (Check that box!) Then drive to Laurencetown to visit Grandma's family town.  (Insert - Car almost breaking down, no part places in site and no tools - DAMN!  That's what we get for driving a 1999 van around the EU) High tail it pass Laurencetown to Dublin (stop at every part store on the way!). Check into Dublin and relax!
Day 8 - Let Man on road trip fix car! (sexist but S&%t he knows how to fix it). Women go tour Dublin. Visit St. Patrick's Cathedral, The Chester Beatty Library, The Dublin Castle, Walk the tourist trap area, shop!
Day 9 - Drink Guinness and tour more Dublin - get on ferry (filled with truckers) headed for Liverpool. Eat amazing trucker ferry dinner and have some beers (your among truckers - have a little fun)
Day 10 - Arrive at 6am in Liverpool! Drive around to Paul McCartney and John Lennons house (stalking them quietly as it's a residential area), Stop by Penny lane while people are trying to get their morning coffee (hahaha, they must get that all the time).  Wait for Beatles Story to open then take the tour (insert - Amazing!), See other sites and finish it all off with a 5 hour drive back to Ely.

I could practically run a touring company with a schedule like that! Hell of a trip and apart from missing the most important site on Grandma's list of places to go.. I think we did a pretty decent job of showing her the real Ireland.

As for missing Laurencetown (the place where they think our family comes from), I'm going to say that I'm fairly certain that it was not meant to be. Our car has never broken down in a foreign country before and it hasn't since (knock on wood). I wonder if those skeletons in the closest got the word that we were on the way and they had God intervene and break our vehicle. Just a thought...

Rome - The Eternal City

So I've taken a month to reflect on our trip to Rome.  I have to say that Rome is Amazing! And if you get a chance to go there... you should! It's got everything.. nice people, great food, amazing wine, history, ruins, culture on top of culture, art, and that all famous thing you don't talk about... religion!

Roman Market Ruins

1st off we were told "Watch out! You'll get pick pocketed in Rome!"  And yes, we did see this happen.  I kinda think we luck out though. We've never had any trouble (maybe due to the baby).  But we did see it happen to others.  At the main train station there were quite a few instances. First while buying a metro ticket people would help press the buttons for you and demand a tip. This only happened to us once and the other times we never had any trouble. But then in the supermarket (cause with a baby you always find the closest super market) there was an instance of a lady trying to pick pocket another lady and she found out. A near fight ensued and they both were kicked out.  The next day sure enough the pick pocket was back in the shop looking for new

where Caesar's body burned 

targets. And all this with a security guy watching... which leads me to this...  You wouldn't think that Italy is super poor or a needy country but it actually is in need. Look up their history.  It hasn't been that great since the Roman civilization crumbled. They have been in and out of political mess and struggle for a long time. And it's a shame. It's such an amazing place with lots of people that go out of their way to make you happy to visit. But it's a reminder that people gotta eat and if you get pick pocketed it's probably because they need it more than you.
We did almost get pick pocketed; as I leave a diaper bag just hanging out. But it only had diaper's and wipes and I think the guy that was going for it realized that it would probably not help him at all. But if it had... I would have gladly gave it over to him.

While in Rome we did as the Romans did. Drink the house wine! Wine flows like water in Italy and it's amazing.  This breaks one of my trip planning rules but heck... while in Rome!

Tombstones at the museum

The reason I like Rome is because it holds so much history and it corresponds to religious history. Hands down I should have been a history major. I love it!  And Rome's got it! Roman ruins are everywhere. Catacombs can be found in the city and out. It's amazingly preserved! And this is why it's the eternal city because it will always hold these great cultures from years past. But one of the most amazing things is... Rome holds the tombstones from a very important time in history. The time when religion changed history! When Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.  Before then all Christians were treated really badly and I mean burn you on a stake badly. But Rome ruled the known world and the emperor converted to this little religion and bam! it changed everything.  This is reflected in the tombstones. They have Roman pagan tombstones, Christian tombstones and Jewish tombstones.  This was a HOLY COW moment for me... when the world changed. In the history books they even say in Rome you were

St Peters in Vatican City

killed to be a Christian and just 100 years later you were killed if you weren't a Christian. Crazy how fast something like that can move through the world.  But even then... the most amazing thing about these tombstones (no matter which religion) is that they all hold a positive message. A message of Peace and Love... time honored and humbling to see.

I can't post a blog without touching on the one topic your not supposed to talk about, Religion! We spent a lot of time in Vatican City. In fact, we ended up sacrificing a stuffed

Sistine chape

animal there (joking - we always loose a toy in every city we go to).  As a raised Roman Catholic (and a I don't know what I am now) I have to say that my initial impression of St. Peter's Cathedral was "Wow! This is over the top!" and I felt.... ASHAMED!  Yes, I said it ashamed to be Catholic (must be the catholic guilt).  It was so over the top that I thought of the people begging in the streets and pick pocketing and I couldn't get over it.  Logically I know the church does things but emotionally I was sad.  The grandeur and wealth was too much.  This is why I needed a month to reflect on our visit.  Because my whole life I was brought up to believe this certain thing (shoot I was even an alter girl) and here it was in front of me and I held this overwhelming guilt. And what brought me back from this was found in my yoga studies (believe it or not).

What I have come to understand is that each of us (as in each human) holds this capability (what we are good at) and that is a reflection of God (or what ever God means to you).  And so... these stone masons, artists, architects, etc have created through their own hand what God means to them and through their work we have a brief view of divinity.  I think this is why the Sistine chapel is so moving.  One man (Michelangelo), created this work of art. One man had a vision. And one man made it a reality. And in the end, that one man questioned if his soul would go to heaven.

Oh, Rome... I think the wine makes me think too much...