A Day in Liverpool

    Ever since I had gone through a major Beatles phase in 2010, a bucket list item for me had been visiting Liverpool. My Beatles phase back then was my very own version of Beatlemania. It came on randomly, and developed into an obsession. I wanted to learn everything I could about them. I downloaded most of their songs on my iPod. I watched every documentary about them, and owned 10+ Beatles shirts, and owned a ton of Beatles memorabilia. I'd talk about them a lot in conversation and even converted three of my friends into becoming big fans with me. 

     It was definitely a strange interest for a teenage girl, but luckily a few other people in my grade shared my interest. I remember being at Walmart and trying to decide between three CDs. A Lady Gaga CD, A Ne-Yo CD, and The Beatles. I ultimately decided on the Beatles CD since I knew my dad really liked classic rock. Even though he's a big fan of classic rock, he wasn't a particularly big fan of The Beatles, but I still thought it would be cool to get the CD anyway. I knew he would definitely not be into Lady Gaga, or Ne-Yo, not that he would ever have to listen to the CDs I bought. This was a major turning point in regards to my music taste. Before getting really into the Beatles I liked pop music. I mostly listened to Taylor Swift, and the Jonas Brothers. I would discover new songs from the "Now Thats What I Call Music" CDs at the store which had the most popular songs. I would sometimes listen to Hannah Montana songs as well. (My brother did burn copies of two of his Green Day CDs, so I did have some taste before that point. Those CDs being "American Idiot, and "International Superhits.") To clarify I do still like Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers. I do think they have some great songs, but I do like my new music palette a lot more. Lyrics with deeper meanings then just being radio hits, beautiful melodies, and actually talented musicians. I do think Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers are musically talented, but a lot of the top hit songs on the radio feel really lacking. Surface level cringey lyrics and autotune. 

  What really got me interested in knowing more about the Beatles was when I did a report on Elvis for my English class. While gathering information about Elvis for my presentation I stumbled upon a website that talked about when the Beatles had first met Elvis. For some reason this sparked interest in my first wanting to know more about the Beatles. That and listening to the Beatles CD I had bought. ("The Hard Day's Night" album if anyone was wondering.) and the rest was history. 

     Wow, okay so that was a long introduction for this blogpost. Basically going to Liverpool had been a long time coming, and with Manchester being only a half hour train ride from Liverpool I asked Kez if she would be willing to go. She agreed even though she wasn't a big fan of the Beatles. We booked the train tickets the night before as well as tickets for a Beatles bus tour that would take you to various spots around Liverpool including Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, John Lennon's Childhood Home, and Paul McCartney's Childhood Home. The train to Liverpool ended up arriving later than scheduled so when we got to the train station we decided to take a taxi to where the tour would be happening. Once the taxi driver learned that I was from America he talked passionately talked about (America and their f***ing guns.) This seemed to be a common topic among Europeans. We made it to the starting point of the tour with about 5 minutes to spare. It was easy to spot the tour bus. A yellow double decker bus with "The Beatles City Explorer" written on the side of it. The tour guide was also wearing a Beatles shirt. I immediately began geeking out before the tour even had started. We sat at the top of the bus which is where the tour guide stood. It was a wet/rainy/windy day in Liverpool so we brought our umbrellas along. Kez's umbrella ended up breaking after the tour due to the strength of the wind. I eventually opted to stop using mine after a few wind gusts had almost broken my umbrella too. 

   I really enjoyed the tour, and learned even more facts about the Beatles that I hadn't known before which is saying something. The tour guide asked a few trivia questions, and can you guess who answered those questions.....yeah it was me. For answering the questions I was given two fake British pounds with a picture of the Beatles on it. There was one question I didn't know the answer too though. I don't think the tour guide was planning on giving out prizes, but definitely seemed impressed by the young girl in her 20s and her Beatles knowledge. (I say this as if I'm not almost 30 now.) The other passengers seemed to be impressed by me too, and seemed to find me amusing. When the tour guide brought up that we were approaching a famous street, I couldn't resist shouting "Penny Lane!", which had been what the tour guide was alluding too. I stood proudly by the Penny Lane sign once we arrived with Kez and pointed to Paul McCartney's autograph. (Paul McCartney had visited Liverpool in 2018 for an episode of Carpool Karaoke, and autographed the Penny Lane sign while on his visit.) The tour guide secretly took a selfie before taking your picture with the sign. The Strawberry Fields gate is pretty close to the street so I was almost in the street while trying to get a good picture. Kez protected me from going too far back as she didn't want me getting injured during the tour. :P. The bus also passed a bar with the lyrics to Penny Lane written on the side of the building. (all of them). 

    After about an hour and a half we arrived back at the starting point, near the Royal Albert Dock. On the dock there is also a museum called the Beatles stories that has different Beatles artifacts and info, but we didn't go in. We went to a Beatles gift shop as you do and I got a Liverpool mug shaped like a drum with the Beatles on it. On the dock there is also a statue of all of the Beatles walking on the dock so I posed with them for a picture. For our next stop I really wanted to visit the Cavern Club which is where the Beatles had performed 292 times. For a Beatles fan it seems like an incredible place, but apparently back when they performed there, there had been sewer problems, and mice according to the bus tour guide. This had all been fixed since then. The actual Cavern Club was shut down and reconstructed down a couple of feet from the original entrance. The Cavern Club was originally a cellar, and opened as a music venue in 1957. The Cavern Club was shut down in 1973 due to the British Rail building underground railways. They originally planned to excavate the buried remains of the Cavern Club, but discovered it wouldn't be possible. In 1984 the Cavern Club had been reconstructed, and contained bricks from the original building. The Cavern Club was only about a 10 minute walk from the Beatles statue, located in an alleyway. 

   To get into the Cavern Club you did have to pay a $5 coverfee in advance. The Cavern Club today is basically a mini music memorabilia museum with a bar and live music. Security guards stood in the entrance of the Cavern Club, and due to this probably end up in the background of a lot of tourist pictures. To get down to the actual club you have to walk down like 7 flights of stairs. It's like an underground bunker. When Kez and I first got down there we went to the bathroom, and now have bragging rights to say we went to the bathroom at the Cavern Club? Paul McCartney had also done a surprise show here in 2018 when visiting town in Carpool Karaoke. It was cool to get to see some music memorabilia from bands like Oasis, the Arctic Monkeys, and of course the Beatles as well. In the Cavern Club there's a red phone booth with a picture of the Beatles in a red phone booth, but I don't know if it was the same one or just a replica. After looking around and taking pictures we climbed back up the seven flights of stairs and went to the Cavern Restaurant across the street. The restaurant was inexpensive even though it was literally a few steps away from the Cavern Club. One of my missions for being in England was to get authentic fish and chips which is what I ordered at the restaurant. We were sat right next to the window that looked out at the Cavern Club so every now and then we could see tourists posing for pictures in the entryway of the Cavern Club. After lunch we walked further down the alleyway. Down the alleyway there was a few Beatles shops, another Beatles museum, and a bar called the Rubber Soul Bar. (named after a Beatles album.)   We went into one of the Beatles shops, and a random British souvenir shop where I got a classic Union Jack mug. 

   While walking back towards the train station we came across a radio tower with a 360 degree view of Liverpool from above at 400ft. The radio tower is known as St. Johns Beacon. A ticket to go to the top of the tower cost around $8, and you can stay as long as you want. We ended up circling around the tower 3x. Even though it was a rainy day, you could see things pretty clearly. Parts of the windows have different buildings pictured that you can see from that view and their purposes. The views were stunning even with the cloudiness. After heading down from the tower we went to get on the train back to Manchester.