Page 45 - washington state wine

Photo courtesey of Wikimedia Commons

Festival, where the voices of lost genera- Liverpool’s prominence as a major port quarters of the White Star Line, operator
tions come alive in the words "Remember also gives the city a diversity unique in of the Titanic. Albion House recently was
not that we were sold, but that we were Europe. It has the oldest black African refurbished to become a smart, boutique
strong." community in the United Kingdom, and hotel. Called 30 James Street, it features
Europe's oldest Chinese population. 64 Titanic-themed rooms.
In a city known today for its music, it
should first be remembered that the I stayed in the city's Commercial District A block from the Atlantic Tower Hotel is
hymn “Amazing Grace” was written by at the modern Atlantic Tower Thistle one of Britain's best-kept secrets from
former Liverpool slave ship captain John Hotel, which offers commanding views World War II, a museum simply called
Newton. He composed the stirring song of the nearby waterfront, the Mersey fer- Western Approaches. From an under-
after his career at sea when he became a ry dock and of the Three Graces — the ground warren deep in the bowels of a
minister and anti-slavery campaigner. Royal Liver Building; the Cunard Build- block of offices the Allies conducted the
ing, former headquarters of the shipping Battle of the Atlantic. The top-secret
Recognizing this past, the Liverpool City line; and the Port of Liverpool building. command post directed the tenuous sea
Council in 1999 passed a motion apolo- The Liver Building is "the nest" for the link that kept Britain supplied during
gizing for the city’s role in the slave trade city's symbol, two Liver (pronounced lee- the war. A huge map room shows in
over three centuries and acknowledged ver) birds sculpted in metal that perch on detail where the cat-and-mouse game
the continuing impact of slavery on Liv- separate clock towers. pitting naval convoys and their escorts
erpool’s black community. against Nazi U-boats, warships and air-
Nearby is Albion House, the former head- craft was played out in a prolonged bat-

Wine Dine & Travel Summer/Fall 2015 45