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I guess I didn't really know what to expect I would see when I arrived at Liverpool. I knew it was a city that has gone through and is still going through hard times economically, and I knew it was a port city. But not much else.

Because today was one of six "Bank Holidays" in the U.K. and the weather was sunny and warm, it was a day for tourism, not for meeting up with priests and Local Ministry Teams.

Steve Pierce, my Liverpool host, met me at the Central train station and we drove around the touristy areas so I could get oriented for a day of wandering along the shore of the Mersey river.

I started the day looking through shops in revitalized dock area, and then I went into the Tate Museum, an art museum devoted to modern forms of artistic expression. It must be a great place because for an uncultured country bumpkin like me from Suffolk County, it seemed very odd indeed. There's not too much I can say about what I saw there. Many of the items struck me as rather bizarre and some of them as simply obscene.But I must confess that I was very happy that the admission was free. I definitely got my money's worth.

There are three other museums near that one that I could very much relate to, however. Two were in one building-- the Maritime Museum and the Museum of Slavery. I spent at least three hours in them and hurried on eventually to visit the Liverpool Museum which I also enjoyed

The Maritime Museum had two areas that interested me. One was the area where they displayed many different devices used by drug smugglers (unsuccessfully, of course) to bring illicit drugs into the U.K. Intriguing.

The other part was the area devoted to the Titanic which went down just 100 years ago last year, It was fascinating to walk through the many exhibits displaying what the ship was like as well as the details that described how the ship went down. The events leading up to the demise of the Titanic, however, seemed eerily parallel to the situation that underlies my desire to be on this sabbatical journey in the first place. It was strangely symbolic to discover that the captain knew two days in advance that there was danger ahead, but he proceeded at full speed anyway. Also, the ship received six warning message from other ships, many of which were never even sent on to the Bridge.

I bought myself my first souvenir, a keychain with a working replica of a whistle from the Titanic.

The Museum of Slavery was very powerful as well. The horror of slavery was truly demonic. There are no suitable souvenirs from a place like that.

The Liverpool Museum had some interesting areas of sports and rock and roll.

After having a huge order of fish and chips at the "World Famous Dockside Fish and Chips Restaurant," I finished my tour by buying a ticket and walking through the "Beatle Experience."         I learned a lot about the lads from Liverpool who were so important to so many of my contemporaries. It was a walk down memory lane, or was that Penny Lane?

Now I am at the Sisters of Mercy (RC) Prayer Centre in Formby on the coast of the Atlantic. The grounds are loaded with rabbits. I counted 14 of them eating on the lawn just outside my room, and there were many more behind the building as well. I haven't seen any magicians yet, but with all those rabbit's feet around here I'm feeling very lucky.