Next Stop Liverpool

     Jay ate something bad. He started feeling it as we were approaching Liverpool. While waiting in the passport line he headed straight for a chair. He was pale. Then he got up, butted in line and was told to get back. Another official in the desk nearby motioned to him, checked him in and then Jay left without looking back. I wondered what got into him. I found him again by the baggage claim. He told me he almost didnt make it to the bathroom before throwing up. We found our hotel, about five minutes´walk (we took a bus, not knowing how close it was), checked in, and Jay was sick all night and most of the day. It was okay, though. I caught up on sleep.
      Around 5pm we went out to find the streets he wanted to visit. One bus took us quite a way, then we needed to transfer. We went to the next bus stop but couldnt find the bus we needed. A kind young woman walked us around the corner, down the steps, under the large street, up the stairs, down the street to the next bus stop. She showed us on the schedule which bus numbers to look for. Then she went back to her bus stop. We waited over an hour, and in that time, two appropriate busses passed by without even pausing. I was getting cold, the sun was going down and the breeze was chilly. Finally, a man joined us and expained that we had to flag the bus down by putting our arm out. Haha, silly us... Sure enough, the next bus stopped when Jay put his arm out. The driver let us out about two streets from where we wanted to go: Sydney Street. It was a short, narrow lane with houses right on the sidewalks, both sides. They were identical, only the doors were individualized. All were only one room, wide and two stories (3?) high. This is where Thomas Karran lived in Liverpool. Jay took pictures of every house! I was really feeling bladder pressure by then but there was no place to go. Jay approached a taxi to ask for directions, and ended up agreeing to ride to the next place of interest. He took us to #10 and #17 Holly Street. Number 10 was the LDS Church headquarters in 1840. It was just like the Sydney St. houses except it looked more prosperous and stood out amongst the houses around it. Number 17 was probably the home of Ann Ratcliffe´s sister. She was the one who recieived the body of baby Joseph Karran who died due to exposure. He died just before his family boarded the ship to Amercia.  Her home is where the death certificate was signed. So little Joseph is buried somewhere in Liverpool.
     The driver then took us to St. Peter´s church (Church of England) for Jay to take a few pictures. The he drove around a few streets to find a place to eat. We found a nice little Chinese restaurant called Ying Wu. We had sweet and sour chicken and leek and prawns with oyster sauce. Both were VERY good. The fried rice was very mild, which I liked. The meal started with sweet corn soup (egg drop) and rice crisps (like puffy chips). I ate most of them, as Jay still didnt feel ready for solid food. He drank three glasses of Coke and just sampled the food. The taxi driver had told us to call Delta taxis because they charge a flat fee. He said the hackney taxis charge on a meter-based fee. The restaurant people called the cab and it took us five minutes back to the hotel. We were close.
     The bed looked good - it was calling my name. I checked on the "laundry" and found it read to be packed by morning. We went to bed anticipating spending some time downtown, seeing the docks, riding in the double decker bus, and going into some shops, then getting back to the airport for our even flight.  We woke around 7:30, ready for the days´ plans. I thought to look at the printed itinerary and it said the plane would leave at 8:27 a.m. I said, "Uhhh, you´d better look at the schedule. I think we have a problem." Jay checked and said, "Uh Oh, what should we do? Shall we try to make it?" We had thought the flight was in the P.m. I answered, "Yeah, lets try." We hurriedly finished packing and to check out. The receptionist called a taxi, "We need a taxi. NOW," he said. In five minutes, we arrived at the John Lennon airport. We quickly walked to the information desk where they told us we were too late. We had to buy tickets for the noon flight, pay to check luggage. It was another U$100 plus. We bought Subway lunch and sat on the floor (no chairs) and had a picnic. I never drank a soda so fast! But we had to get rid of the fluids and there were no bathrooms or sinks anywhere, just bare hallways.   Liverpool John Lennon Airport isnt very big. In an hour we would be in Isle of Man.