Liverpool: I Love You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

Hands down, my favorite day trip so far. I couldn't come to England without making trips to Stonehenge, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and Liverpool. It's May and I've been to all three!

I almost went with a packaged tour to Liverpool and I'm so glad I didn't. By purchasing separate tickets for everything, the day ended up being MUCH cheaper. The Beatles attractions have concession tickets for students, and after booking the train tickets early, everything was about 50% less than it would have been if I went with Golden Tours. So, just a word of advice for anyone weighing the options. Also, I would suggest going on a weekday.

Ok, so here is a brief summary of my time in Liverpool.

Daytrippin’ in Liverpool

The Beatles Story

After arriving at Liverpool Lime Street Station at 8:00am, I just walked around the city for a little while. I like walking along the streets and getting a feel for the area. Since I stayed in the city centre, there were signs everywhere, so thankfully, I didn't get lost! I was nervous because it was cloudy and there were a few sporadic showers. I was hoping that it wouldn't rain the whole day. Thankfully, the sun came out around 9:00am and my time in Liverpool wasn't plagued by stormy weather. After enjoying a cup of coffee in a little coffee shop and looking over my itinerary, I headed over to Albert Dock for the Beatles Story.

[caption id="attachment_1195" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Beatles Story entrance[/caption]

This exhibition is very well-done. You essentially walk through the history of the Beatles. It starts with the birth certificates...

Then you go through the history of how they met, the first performances, recordings, Beatlemania, the break-up, and the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison.

Some of the locations were also recreated, including The Casbah, The Cavern, Abbey Road, the Yellow Submarine, John Lennon's apartment (where he wrote Imagine).

This is not a good video (I don't know what I was doing), but it was the very last portion of the exhibit before walking into the gift shop...

[vimeo 95654707 w=500 h=281]

Something emotional happened while I was going through the exhibition. Because we went very early, there were only about 5 of us in the exhibition. So, we kind of walked through together. One guy, who was probably in his early 60s, became overcome with emotion at one point. I think it was right outside of the section that talked about the break-up. The Long and Winding Road was playing, and as you can imagine, this set the tone for "the end" of that era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9kG0hgIoxo

Between the song, pictures and memorabilia in the room, I guess it took him right back to 1970 and he was crying. I found it very moving. Never underestimate the impact that a band or artist can have on a person's life. If you think about it, this guy was probably a teenager when the Beatles broke up and they were a part of his life for years. He was totally genuine and it almost moved me to tears to see him get that affected by the exhibition.

In short, The Beatles Story is a "must do" if you go to Liverpool. I really took my time and spent about an hour and a half going through the museum. The audio guide is included with the ticket. I listened to all of the audio recording. The people featured on the audio guide include Cynthia Lennon, Julia Baird (John Lennon's sister) Sir George Martin, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo, Alan Williams, and many more. So, you're essentially getting first-hand information from the people who were actually there. I should also mention that there are two sections to the exhibition. The Beatles Story is located on one part of Albert Dock and the other portion is at Pier Head. I only went to the latter because it was included in my ticket, but there wasn't as much to do/see there. It's only one floor and it has a gift shop, a small gallery of pictures, a 4D short film (more for kids), and the Elvis and Us exhibit--which explores the influence of Elvis on the Beatles. I got through everything in about 20 minutes. It was nice, though.

Magical Mystery Tour

After leaving Pier Head, I headed over to the Magical Mystery Bus for the tour.

Stops included Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and the homes of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

[caption id="attachment_1235" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Penny Lane[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1236" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Strawberry Fields[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1237" align="aligncenter" width="224"] This is as close as we could get to John Lennon's childhood home from the bus.[/caption]

Overall, the tour was a good investment. It's the best way to see all of the "Beatle landmarks," as long as you don't mind riding around in a multi-colored bus for two hours. ;) To be fair, people smiled and waved at us as we drove along, so it wasn't that bad. The tour guide was really passionate about the Beatles and knew his stuff. Oh, and we found out that Paul was just in Liverpool the week before and stopped by his old house. The tour guide said that he missed him by 7 minutes! I think it's cool that Paul drops by Liverpool occasionally and is friendly with the locals.

With the Magical Mystery Tour ticket, you also get a free souvenir at the Cavern Club.

The Cavern Club

Before heading over to the Cavern Club, I took some time to shop and rest (and to charge my iPhone). There is a wonderful shopping and restaurant center in the city. It was nice to relax and browse the shops before going to the Cavern. Once inside, you definitely felt the history. You saw pictures of The Who, The Beatles, and Cilla Black on the walls.

Right outside of the Cavern, there were a few more Beatles-themed pubs and restaurants.

Souvenirs...

I did get a ton of souvenirs, including this vinyl of The Magical Mystery Tour (I wanted Abbey Road, but it was sold out--not a single vinyl available that day :( ). I don't feel like taking pictures of all of the souvenirs--sorry. But they include t-shirts, 2 bags, pink John Lennon glasses, a mug, and other small trinkets.

Overall, I had a wonderful time in Liverpool. I found the people to be EXTREMELY nice and friendly! It reminded me of Stratford-Upon-Avon.I've never met nicer people. Everyone smiled, people held doors for me, I can't count the number of times I was offered help with directions, people on the street waved to us when we were on the Magical Mystery Bus, the shop owners engaged in small talk--everyone was just so pleasant. And I loved hearing the Scouse accent all day. :)

If you ever have the chance, definitely visit Liverpool. Even if you're not into The Beatles, there are plenty of things to do.