It was another cold and rainy (not to mention windy!) day when we visited Liverpool, England, but we found the English people warm and welcoming. As I’m sure most are when they visit this city, we were very excited to see the birthplace of the Beatles, and visit the huge tribute museum to their work, which we did. But we also had a wonderful walking tour and learned quite a bit about the history of Liverpool. One thing I hadn’t realized, is the prevalent role that Liverpool had played during the slave trade. This history is not surprising, of course, but even the famous Penny Lane is named after a slave ship and there have been municipal attempts to rename it, among other streets similarly named. I was impressed with the city’s honest attitude about the dark history of slavery, and the fact that the prosperity of the city itself is rooted in this past – transforming it from a small village to the industrial city it is today. Though we didn’t have enough time to really dig in to Liverpool, we enjoyed the restaurants, seeing The Cavern (where the Beatles performed regularly before they were famous), the Beatles Story (museum), and learning more about the complex history of this English city.