“Ladies and gentlemen… THE BEATLES!” in Liverpool, England – England & Wales trip part X

Four lads from England who changed the world… how could it be anybody other the Beatles?

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a massive Beatles fan. My friend Kristen originally got me into the Beatles during our senior year of high school, and we forged a strong friendship over our love for these Liverpudlians. We even based our AP Calculus final project on songs from the Beatles—we rewrote the lyrics to songs to relate to something in calculus, then filmed ourselves playing Guitar Hero guitars and singing the songs around town.

The video is horrendous. Our singing is just not good, especially for “Help!” because we couldn’t harmonize at all. It will never be shared with the world.

Actually I’m pretty sure it’s on facebook, and I don’t think I ever untagged myself from it. Plus I’m pretty sure my calculus teacher shows the video in class… embarrassing.

It’s quite hilarious though, just because it is so bad. My friend and I sent a copy to Sir Paul himself, but he never replied to us, probably because he was so horrified at what we did to his beautiful songs.

Anyways, I was geeking out about going to Liverpool. When I arrived on April 9^th I just went straight to the hostel since I had already done a fair deal of walking that day, and it was getting late. I fell in love with the hostel instantly because, 1) “A Day in the Life,” my favorite Beatles song, was playing when I walked in the door, 2) paintings of the Beatles were all over the stairwell, 3) the hostel was only $10 per night, and 4) the hostel had free hot chocolate.

So basically the hostel was free, because I probably drank ten dollars’ worth of hot chocolate.

The next morning, Tuesday, April 10^th, I wandered around Liverpool. I first went and saw the Walker Art Gallery and St. George’s Hall, then wandered over to Albert Dock and the River Mersey.

And then I came upon The Beatles Story, an exhibition dedicated entirely to the Beatles.

I was geeking out so much that I couldn’t handle myself. If Kristen had been there, we probably would have been clutching each other and crying.

You know those videos you see of the Beatles performing in concerts, where the girls are screaming and crying? That’s exactly how Kristen and I are when we get together and watch Beatles movies or listen to their music together. We’ll often pick out two girls in the crowd in the videos and then say, “That was us. That was definitely us.”

Unfortunately Kristen wasn’t with me so I had to keep my excitement to myself. I wandered through the various exhibits and happily listened to the audio tour while reliving the early days of the Beatles.

After I left the exhibition, I wandered around the Albert Dock area for a bit more, seeing the Three Graces of the Pier Head, and then I wandered over to the Cavern Quarter.

Beatles explosion.

Beatles, Beatles everywhere! Beatles references everywhere—Hard Day’s Night Hotel, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds café, The Glass Onion restaurant. Beatles statues everywhere, including one of John Lennon (my favorite Beatle) across the street from the Cavern Club.

By the way, did you know the Cavern Club that exists today is not the same one as in the Beatles’ time? The original Cavern Club was demolished. It was rebuilt near the site it once existed, using the stones that made up the original Cavern Club, and with similar dimensions as the original Cavern Club.

Still, I think it’s sad how such a precious piece of history could be destroyed.

I wandered up to Chinatown, which is one of the largest and oldest Chinese communities in Europe. The Chinese Arch there is the biggest ceremonial arch outside mainland China. I also saw two churches—one, the largest Anglican Cathedral in Europe, and the second, an interesting-looking church called the Metropolitan Church. Afterwards I bought dinner then wandered back to the hostel, satisfied by all the Beatley things I had seen that day.