Liverpool

On the bus back to London from Liverpool.

            Last night, we were picked up by Kyle’s friend from camp Jenny from England (or Jengland) and her dad, Mike (her mom’s name is Carol, which makes them the same as the Brady Bunch. When I mentioned this to Kyle, he said I was weird). We had some tea, and Kyle and I finally got to skype well with some family. Kyle and Jengland caught up, and I went to bed.

            The next morning, for breakfast we had bacon butties (bread, butter, and bacon) with Jenny’s family and watched a little rugby. We took the train into Liverpool proper (Jenny lives just outside it) and Jenny started the tour with the Albert Docks with the pump houses, the old White Star line headquarters (of Titanic fame), and Liverpool Eye (a Ferris Wheel), and the Liver building, with two birds on its roof. Legend has it that one points towards town to protect the people of Liverpool, and one points towards the sea to protect the ships. A lot of the streets around here are named after the slavers that plied their trade on these docks. We also saw a black building that was once voted the ugliest building in Britain, and the open air market lined with stores that was built with cultural improvement money supplied by the government for such purposes. Jenny was very disappointed that we didn’t get to see someone roaming around with curlers in her hair, a true Liverpool sight.

            We then went to the Beatles Museum, and got to see, among other things, Quarrymen instruments, George’s 1^st guitar, John’s wire frame glasses, the white piano, John’s mohair suit, recording equipment from Abbey Road Studios, Ringo’s Sgt. Pepper’s suit, John and Yoko’s marriage certificate, and a replica Cavern.

            Jenny then took us to the real Cavern, which still smelled as the audio-tour at the museum described: a certain mix of smoke, disinfectant, sweat, alcohol…hard to describe.

            On St. Matthew Street, we also saw The Grape, where the Beatles used to hang out, and the Beatles Store, which is well-known for selling vintage Beatles things. This area is kind of Beatles Mecca, and there are Beatles things everywhere, including the Beatles hotel, with Beatles statues hanging off of it.

            We then went headed toward Liverpool Cathedral. On the way, we went through Liverpool’s Chinatown with its ornate arch (“trying too hard”, said Kyle). We also saw St. Luke’s (or “the bombed out church”), which is still missing a roof from the battle
of Britain, and an original Banksy, which was partially obscured by scaffolding, but still very cool, especially since it was his signature giant rat. Additionally, we stopped at a large pub for lunch. I got tikka masala and Kyle wanted fish and chips, but they were out, so he got fish cakes and chips. Over all grade: B. Especially nice to get out of the rain.

            We then arrived at Liverpool Cathedral (gorgeous and awe-inspiring) and toured its cemetery (sufficiently old and creepy, even lining its walkway with old headstones).

            By this time, it was time to head back to the station to catch the bus for London. We passed by St. George’s Hall, their massive town hall, and boarded. So far, it’s a pretty uneventful ride. The guy who was making sounds like unclogging a toilet disembarked and Kyle’s asleep.

            When we got back to London, we actually had time to visit Covent Garden, busy with shoppers and street performers. We saw a mime, some magic, and a decently amusing juggling/unicycle act. Back to the hotel: shower, bed. Tomorrow the chunnel to Belgium!