The three Queens!

My first back blip! Yesterday Liverpool!  We stood on the shorefront, in front of  the Arena, (Where the Cunard people were stood on Arena balconies !) and watched the three Cunard vessels come up the Mersey: the Queen Elizabeth,  The Queen Victoria and the biggest:  The Queen Mary 2;  till the middle one was level with us! With the three in position, they proceeded to all three turn 180 degrees and then the first two went forward to line up on either side and just a little behind the Queen Mary.  These huge liners are surprisingly manoeuvrable!   The red arrows flew past - only once!

After that we went for a meal, all 11 of us!  in Jamie's Italian with a Liverpool duck sitting in front of the restaurant!  (Liverpool is full of painted ducks at the moment!)

The women went for a ferry ride to see the remaining two Queens close to!  The men were waiting to go to the Arena for an Istanbul reunion night!

The ferry ride was great, not only seeing the Queens but also the iconic Liverpool skyline etc.  Afterwards a Starbucks rest, shop at Tesco express and back to my eldest son's family hotel rooms from which we had a view over Liverpool and watched the day end.  Later I watched the fireworks by myself as my grandson was fast asleep! Then Ro collected me and it was the home run to arrive back past midnight!

My Blip was taken from the Ferry. The Queen Victoria, moored in the middle of the Mersey  with the Royal Liver Building with its two Liver Birds dominating the city skyline! (It's clock faces are larger than Big Ben!) Next to it is the Cunard building partly hidden by the Liner. These are two of the 'Three Graces' at Pier Head.

Wikipedia:    Atop each tower stand the mythical Liver Birds, designed by Carl Bernard Bartels. Popular legend has it that while one giant bird looks out over the city to protect its people, the other bird looks out to sea at the new sailors coming in to port. Alternatively, local legend states one Liver Bird is male, looking inland to see if the pubs are open, whilst the other is female, looking out to sea to see if there are any handsome sailors coming up the river. Yet another local legend, reflecting Liverpudlians' cynicism, avers that every time a virgin walks across the Pier Head, the Liver Birds flap their wings. It is also said that, if one of the birds were to fly away the city of Liverpool would cease to exist, thus adding to the mystery of the birds. As a result, both birds are chained to the domes upon which they stand...