Previous to the weekend, I had been at the library working towards this final project and trying to lay out a road map of my final essay for the term. I was excited to head off campus on Saturday, but also a bit tired after all that time spent researching. Not only did an arrival in Liverpool prove to be re-energizing, but it was full of Beatleamania adventures!
Bec and I left Heronbank at the early hour of 8:00am to catch the International Office coach bus which was to deliver us to Liverpool - traveling in true style! Apparently the trip to LPool was a popular choice as they filled three buses of international students. We checked the list as it was passed around, Bec was the only Australian and I was the only Canadian. Andrea is the only other Canadian I've met here but I've been told there are a few others kicking around. They weren't going to Liverpool. The bus ride was three hours which was a bit long on a Saturday morning. I also had to sacrifice tea and breakfast for 15 more minutes of sleep so I was happy when the bus pulled into the city.
The bus dropped us at the Albert Dock. The area, which reminded me of the Distillery District in Toronto, is situated on the River Mersey and was built in 1846. It was the first non-combustible dock warehouse system in the world (ohhh, ahhh). After the facilities became obsolete, it was closed in 1972 and then completed gutted and refurbished for an opening in 1984. It now is home to shops, restaurants, the Tate Liverpool, and a variety of really neat exhibits. We first stopped in at a small cafe and had some breakfast. Having not eaten that morning, I had the full English breakfast, which I'm enjoying more and more, accompanied by a really great cup of brewed coffee.
After filling up, Bec and I were off. The unfortunate aspect of the trip is that we arrived to the city at 11:30am and needed to meet the coaches back at 6:00pm so there was limited time to see everything. We first stopped at a small Liverpool house down by the river that had been preserved, or maybe recreated, to depict conditions during WWII when families were fearful of attacks from the Nazis. The velvet ropes separating the room from the spectators meant I felt like something of a voyeur on the scene, which was a bit unnerving, but also quite powerful as what was depicted was how a family rationed food and how they prepared for the worst types of conditions. It was a really interesting look into another time period. I was impressed when the lady at the front door pinned me as Canadian. She's part of a handful of people I've met here that insist the differences between the Canadian and American accents are easy to spot. She said our best exports were Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, but that she would have been happy if Celine had never left Quebec.
We ventured through the Liverpool shopping area, which was structured like a giant outdoor mall. Like a lot of the city centres I've visited, this mall had just about every store you could imagine and since it was a Saturday, people were everywhere. The shopping find of the day was PRIMARK which is the British Winners. The trouble is, like most UK shopping, it puts Winners to shame. The clothes are completely trendy and are at absolute bargain basement prices. I characterize this as trouble because it puts my monthly stipend in question. The lineup for checkout looked like a customs line at the airport.
Leaving Primark was easy since it was packed to the brim in there - it's nice to know if I need to pick something up (a tie, dress pants, etc.) I can get it extremely cheap and not worry. Our next stop was the Metropolitan Cathedral I checked out online before coming. It was built in the 1960s. I know what you're thinking - a Cathedral from the 60s, why even worth your time? This church is like any other I've ever visited. For one, the design is something akin to theatre in the round where the pulpit is in the centre of the building and the pews encircle around it in rings. In fact, the church has many theatrical elements in its designs - lights to illuminate various pieces of art work and the main stage, an exhibit type framing of the various rooms around the main space, and a pit for its choir and orchestra. I quipped to Bec that it felt like the Ikea of Cathedrals. Definitely worth a look if you visit Liverpool. The outer building was voted the fourth ugliest building in the world on Virtualtourist.com, but the interior is certainly inspiring.
From there we ventured to the other notable cathedral in the city (yes, there are two cathedrals). The Liverpool Cathedral is much more traditional in design and is actually the largest Anglican Cathedral in the world. Before venturing inside we walked around the grounds of St. James' Garden which was the original quarry where the stones for the city of Liverpool were excavated. The park was lined with enormous gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries. You don't often see such old gravestones in Canada, but they can be found all around the UK. We were stopped by a strange man asking for change because he claimed had lost his wallet at a karaoke bar and needed to catch a train - a likely story. I think it's the type of park that is gorgeous in the day but attracts a different crowd once it gets dark. The cathedral itself was beautiful, opulent, and humbling. I've seen a few Abbeys since arriving (although not of the Westminster variety), but the Liverpool cathedrals were much more impressive. The enormity of their design often overwhelmed.
At this point Bec and I had a problem, we had just under an hour and a half before we had to catch the coach back but we still had to get back to the Dock to visit The Beatles Story, the top Beatles attraction, find some food and drink before the three hour ride home, and of course check out the Beatles merchandise in the store. A tall order in the time crunch we faced. After kicking into a higher register we bolted back to the Dock and checked with the attendant about the Beatles exhibit. His name was Jim and he actually looked a bit like John Lennon. I wondered if he was hired because of this, or if his job environment had bled into his physical features. He said it usually takes about an hour and a half to two hours, when you listened to the audio guide. We told him we had forty-five minutes. He offered to let us in for a child's rate and we were more than happy to accept. Score! Maybe it was because we received child's tickets, but Bec and I were positively floating with excitement as we ventured through the exhibits (much quicker than the people around us, and yet with enough time spent interacting with the different sections).
It was definitely the highlight of the trip and of an unbloggable nature but I'll do my best to give you an idea of why is was so exciting. The exhibit goes chronologically from the forming of the group to their final rooftop performance. Throughout there is memorabilia on display (George's first guitar and a pair of John's glasses that fetched 1 million pounds at auction), interactive recreations (the place they played their first gig, a Liverpool street, the Casbah), and really neat additions reflective of their music (a Yellow Submarine, a psychedelic room, and a Lennon inspired Imagine space). I think Beatles culture is so much a part of the everyday, at least for those of us that love their music, that you sometimes forget the incredible journey of four adventurous boys from Liverpool.
True to our word, we explored the exhibit in 45 minutes taking a plethora of cool photos along the way. We had just enough time to pick up some Beatles merchandise, some buttons and a John Lennon guitar pick, and do the essential Starbucks run before boarding the coach back to Warwick Uni.
Doc's Prescription of the Day: It's a pretty simple one. Turn on, tune in, and drop out with your favourite Beatles tune. Although it's difficult, my two picks would probably have to be Hey Jude and Let It Be. What might yours be?
