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Ticket to Ride
Today is Saturday and we're traveling from Edinburgh, Scotland back to England by train. We're going back to Liverpool to visit the place where The Beatles grew up and got their start. The train ride was pretty smooth except for the part where we had to change trains and we only had 7 minutes between them. We had to run (and I mean RUN - can you imagine me running with all my luggage and crap we were carrying around?!) to catch the next train at the platform that was completely opposite direction to the one we got off on. But, whew! We made it - out of breath and everything!
So, we get to Liverpool train station and we need to get some money from a cash machine before we can go anywhere because between the 3 of us, we have maybe 50 cents to our name! Now, finding a cash machine at a railway station should be easy, right? Well, you'd be wrong! We went back-n-forth through the station several times before we found a "official looking" guy to tell where the heck they were. They were down some alley that I would've never guessed. So, now that we had money, we caught a cab to our hotel.
We stayed at the Jurys Inn Hotel in Liverpool. It was in a fantastic location- right next to "The Beatles Story" museum!! I couldn't believe how close we were. I visited the Beatles Story when I was in Liverpool 12 (!) years ago and it was just empty cement in front of the museum. They also had built a new arena called Echo Arena that just happened to have Simply Red playing there the night we got there. Simply Red is a pretty horrible band from the 80's. All I remember is that the main singer had bright curly red hair and it sorta stuck out the sides. But, MAN! there were tons of people going to the show and the hotel was right next to the arena. The hotel has an interesting history in that seemingly ALL hen party and stag paries (we call them bachelor and bachelorette parties) take place there. I couldn't believe all of the girls with strange costumes around the place. And I mean strange: devil ears, playboy bunny ears, witches hats, and guys in superman outfits (?), bright lime green and bright pink outfits. Plus the shirts and dresses the "hens" wore didn't leave much to the imagination (if you know what I mean!). They were pretty loud and drunk the entire time we were there!
Anyway, I'm not here to talk about weird hen and stag party customs! We were here in Liverpool to take in the sights of where the Beatles grew up and hung out. The first day, we went around Albert Dock and had lunch outside - it was actually sunny and warm! The lunch sucked, but it was nice being outside! Then Jude and I went to the museum, which is located at the end of Albert Dock. Suzie isn't much interested in the Beatles, so she went back to the hotel (is she related to me??!).
The Beatles Story museum is pretty cool. The museum is made up of these separate rooms that look like the places and clubs where the Fab Four used to hang out. We got tons of pictures, so when I can finally upload my pics -I'll get them posted. We spent about 2.5 hours there.
The next day, we had a special chauffered personalized Beatles tour. Only the three of us were in the car. This was so much better than the last time I was here when I went on the "Magical Mystery Tour" bus. The bus was cool, but this was sooooo "fab"!!!! Jackie was the tour guide and she met us at our hotel. We drove around the town and got to see the mop tops birthplaces (Ringo and George were born in the homes where they grew up). We also saw the primary schools where Paul and George attended a school right next to John's but they didn't know each other then.
We also got to go into a place called the Jacaranda. Any true Beatles fan will know that this is the place where John Lennon hung out with his first band called "The Quarrymen" and later with Paul and George in the "Silver Beetles." It was amazing to go in there and feel the history of the place. It's still an active cafe now with live music every Tuesday night.
We also went to Penny Lane and Strawberry Field where we posed for pictures. The tour guide is obviously a Beatles fan and she played the appropriate Beatles tune when we got to certain places. She even played "Hey Jude" in honor of Jude's namesake. It was such a blast!! The tour lasted almost 3 hours and it finally ended at the Cavern. The Cavern is the club that the Beatles played at 294 times when they started out. The original Cavern club is no longer there, but they have replicated it just down on Mathew Street. We went into the club and had some drinks. It was pretty cool to just sit there and feel all the fantastic vibes of the place. It truly was magical.
Later on, Jude and I went to a 4D movie - which was pretty cheesy, but fun! It was "4D" because it shot water at you and the seats moved around to what was going on the screen. After that, Jude and I went to a special exibit called the "White Feather" which was put on by Julian (John's son) and Cynthia (John's ex-wife) Lennon. They had lots of memorbilia like old photos, letters, postcards, and even a grammy for "A Hard Day's Night." It was really well done. And I'm glad we had a chance to see it because Julian only plans to keep it in Liverpool until the end of this year and then he might move it to some other location.
It was very special to be in Liverpool with my daughter who is named Jude for a reason!
Hey Jude, don't make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.
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