I ♥ Liverpool

Today I went to Liverpool with my American friends: Liz, Kellie, and Chelsea. They are some really sweet girls that I feel so blessed to know and we're good traveling buddies, too, because we're all up for doing the same types of things and trying to them inexpensively!

Before I came to England, Liverpool just sounded like a weird town with a disgusting sounding name. I mean, "liver" + "pool" just sounds gross to me. However, ever since being here, it's all I've heard about! Everyone I meet asks me, "have you been to Liverpool yet? You must!"

They were definitely not kidding. I don't even really like big cities, but Liverpool was GREAT.

We saw Matthew Street, where The Cavern Club is- the first place the Beatles ever performed and the place they performed hundreds of times during what they called the best years of their career. The stage is SO tiny, and people from all over the world have signed literally every square INCH of the walls in the place.

A little down Matthew Street from The Cavern Club, we had our first meal of fish and chips in England (very yummy, by the way) in a pub called The Grapes, where the Beatles are also famous for having been a part of. At The Grapes we met Sam Leach, the man who was the original promoter of the Beatles. (At first I just thought he was some crazy guy, sitting there selling his book in this random pub, but we visited with him for a few minutes and saw his pictures with the Beatles and then later saw an exhibit on him at the Beatles museum later in the afternoon!) He really enjoyed talking to us four American girls. He learned all of our names and where we are from (Texas, Utah, California, and North Carolina) and let us take a picture with him. He even gave me his business card because he apparently owns a modeling agency now and thinks I should get in touch with him. Haha right....

Leaving the pub, we ran into a street musician. We got to talking to him after we asked him to take our picture, and he played a couple of our favorite Beatles songs for us while we sang and danced along right there in the street. A fan of America, he also played "Heads Carolina, Tails California" for Kellie and Liz. We had so much fun with him- and the video we made is better souvenir than ANYTHING I could ever purchase.

After that, we walked (or skipped, or ran, etc...whatever you want to call it...) across the cold, foggy, and vibrant town to the Merseyside docks, home of the Titanic, Lusitania, and Empress--three ocean liners that sunk within three years. Right off the water, we learned about them at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The museum was really fasicinating because I never knew much about those ships before, and the docks and water themselves were beautiful. It's funny how if I were touring New York and it was foggy and cloudy I would be sad, but because it's England and it's supposed to be like that--I like it.

After the Maritime Museum we headed to the Liverpool branch of the Tate Museum, which is supposed to be the best art gallery in London. We saw some great art, but our favorite part of the museum was the gallery that contained a "silent disco." Before you walk in the room, you get a pair of headphones that play disco music. Around the edges of the gallery space are some pieces of modern art and conceptual art, and then in the center there is a full-out disco floor with flashing lights and a disco ball. We danced to the music on our headphones (but silently to everyone else) like crazy for, like...thirty minutes. The concept is that we actually became a part of the art exhibit. Pretty cool, huh?

Lastly, we went to the Beatles Story Museum. It was the only one that wasn't free, but well worth my eight pound fifty. I really enjoyed learning more about the long journey that the band took together.

As we left the museum, we were greeted with a beautiful night sky and the cityscape glistening in the reflection off the Merseyside waters. I guess if it has to get dark at 5:00 here, that makes it okay :)

It's fun going on daytrips because after a long day on the go and a trainride back to Chester, when I arrive I can say "I'm home." And I guess, for now, that is true ♥