Day #10 – Liverpool!

The day started out sunny and beautiful – an oddity for Liverpool I’m told.  We headed out around 9 looking for a proper English breakfast.  After a stop at the visitor’s center to buy Magical Mystery Tour tickets for noon, we walked into the main center where there are plenty of shops and nightclubs (including the Cavern Club where the Beatles first played!)  We found a place called Witherspoons and proceeded to have an egg, baked beans, a rasher (English bacon), grilled tomato, flat mushroom, sausage and toast.  A proper English breakfast!

While at breakfast, we called Linda and Stewart as they wanted to come visit us for the day.  Linda and Stewart are the parents of Nicola, who we are going to see on the Isle of Man.  We consider them our ‘adopted’ parents as well! J  Turns out, they were planning on taking a train that would get them into Liverpool around 2pm, which is right when our Mystery Tour ended…it would be perfect! (They live in a suburb of Manchester which isn’t too far).  

So, after breakfast, we headed back towards the hotel to catch our tour.  The tour guide was a lot of fun, and the tour was very informative – not only on Beatle history, but on Liverpool as well!  We saw Ringo, George, Paul and John’s childhood homes, as well as places that inspired some of their songs. Some fun things I learned on this trip:

1.     P.S. I Love You was a love letter John wrote to a girl.  She was angry with him and threw the letter back in his face.  He re-read it and decided it would make a great song!

2.     All You Need is Love isn’t actually a fun happy song.  It’s cynical and means that no matter what you do, it’s never enough.

3.     The beginning of the end of the Beatles was when Brian Epstein died in 1967.  They started having managing and financial troubles and couldn’t agree on how to proceed.

4.     John’s mother, Julia, died right outside her home after his aunt Mimi called to her as she was crossing the street to get the bus and turned back and was hit by a car.

5.     Strawberry Field is a place owned by the Salvation Army and has been, among other things, a home for girls.  When John was little, he lived nearby and heard the Salvation Army band, asked his mother what that was, and when she explained, he decided then and there he wanted to be a musician.  The place is Strawberry Field, not Strawberry Fields.  John is actually singing “Strawberry Field is forever.”

6.     Liverpool has the largest anglican church in all of England, and it is the second largest in the world (New York has the largest.)  It was designed by a catholic, and the other large church in Liverpool, the catholic church, was designed by an anglican!

7.     Paul’s last home before he left Liverpool was in a development that was built from 1951-1954.  I couldn’t help but notice the similarity in feel to the Park Forest homes built at the same time.  Funny coincidence!

After our tour, we headed back into the square where we met up with Linda and Richard.  We had a lovely afternoon having lunch at a pub and and then taking a walk around the Cavern Club.  There was live music going on, and we, of course, had to make a few purchases before we left!

After being Beatle’d out, we headed back into the square to check out the shops.  There was a piano sitting in the middle of the main path, inviting anyone walking by to sit down and have a go.  Both Andy and I sat and played a tune or two before moving on.  What fun!

Peter and Linda were in there somewhere!

We headed back over to our hotel area, and Grandma Linda was sweet enough to take Peter up in the ferris wheel (he had been dying to go all day!)  It began to rain, so the rest of us slipped in next door to the Pizza Express and had hot tea and doughballs with nutella (sounds gross, but it was really quite good!)   Linda and Peter joined us after their ride. 

Goofy Americans!

Peter ‘Photo Bombing’ a lovely photo of Steve and Andy

After a long visit, it was time for them to go back to catch an evening train.  We said our goodbyes, and headed back to the hotel to freshen up.  It was getting cold, and we all wanted warmer clothes.  We headed back out for a lovely Italian dinner at Jamie’s Italian (Jamie Oliver’s restaurant – we couldn’t get into the Jamie’s Italian in London!)  It was a fun night with just our family one last time before we join up with the Jagus family tomorrow. I have a feeling that from here on out it’s going to be busy, busy busy with the Jagi!

There we go!