A Life In The Day (58)

THE NEW OLD WORLD

The rest of the voyage went without many rough seas'. Joel and I were pretty much accepted by both crew and officers, mainly because we kept out of their ways and asked intelligent dumb questions. hahaha (oxymoron? ) . Joel was the darling of the ships personnel, due to His ability
to draw REALLY GREAT FUCKING PORTRAITS!, of both Officers and Crew!
As we passed the AZORES, we were told we were beyond the halfway point and to be ready to arrive in ENGLAND within a fortnight. First Port of call.........LIVERPOOL! THE BEATLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first sight of land we saw was the IRISH coastal port city of CARNSORE at the extreme S. E. corner of Ireland. It was beautiful after so many weeks at sea, and the cliffs! WOWSER! From there we were to sail into the channel and N.E. to the port of Liverpool where the BEATLES WERE BORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! remember this was 1964 !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neither Joel or I had any baggage to speak of, so for the most part of entering the port and docking, was watched by us amidships.
Never having seen a 64 thousand ton ship dock before , it was a sight to behold!
Try to remember that scene from "2001", where the space shuttle attempts to dock to the space station and Wagner playing in the background...
It was awe inspiring to behold! The tugs pulled and pushed us in, and when we were close enough to the pier/dock, one of the crew threw a line, attached to a hawser, to a man on the dock. It was something to see a 64,000 tons ship taken in with the caress of her mother's hand on her newborn baby. The whole process took about 40 minutes Joel and I stood there looking at the power of something we had never seen before. When we were securely tied to the docks and the gang plank was finally let down and customs had come aboard and seen our passports we were free to go into the country of the Beatles. As we were about to leave, Joel gave out all the portraits he had drawn of crew and officers, I had gone to seamen Williker and made my goodbyes and thank Him for the knowledge He gave me, For what might come in my future on this time ship called life. As I turned to leave, Williker said, "Take this note with you and find a cabbie passed the docks and ask him to take you to, "the Weeping Eye", it's the seamen's hostile, and open 24 seven for seamen. Give this note to Andre. He is normally on the 4 to 8 watch, Tell him this comes from me, and you will have a bed and food. We will be off duty for at least 17 hours shortly. While they unload and load cargo. We will come by, Myself, Moriarty and Farare. Be safe Laddybuck!"
The first thing we noticed when we got past the warehouses to hail a taxi, was even though we all spoke English, it was COMPLETELY different ! The second thing we noticed , was that no matter where in England you wanted to go , the cabby's knew how to get there! Apparently , ALL cabbys'
had to not only take a driving test, but also a "MAP", test on all routes in the county they wished to drive in! WE arrived at the "WEEPING EYE", as tired as any kidd could be, seeing as how we were in a New country THAT SPOKE ENGLISH! hahaha.