Planning and Liverpool

So this week got a lot of the big travel plans underway. Various days, I met with Trace, Anna, and others to plan any travel plans for part of the six weeks of traveling I'll do after leaving London. Among those decided and solidified were a tour of Ireland, including two days in Galway (apparently the centre of traditional Irish music) over St. Patrick's Day and a tour of Egypt immediately following Ireland. If you're curious/bored, feel free to google them at the following websites: Ireland (http://www.shamrockertours.com/HTML2/NewSite/Default.aspx?MenuID=450&CountryID=57&WebID=4) and Egypt (http://www.topdecktours.co.uk/content.asp?Document_ID=1901)

I had a bit of a cold this week, as did everyone it seemed, though it didn't stop me from trying to still make the most of my times. Tuesday GP and I went to see "A Man for All Seasons," about Sir/Saint Thomas Moore, Henry VIII, and the creation of the Church of England. Wednesday, I went to the V&A Museum and broke down to buy the pair of wellies that I'd been eyeing for some time, which made me feel particularly more British. Thursday, after booking the trip to Egypt, we went to the pub on the corner (with free wireless!) and updated blogs and such while listening to fantastic live music. Friday, I actually worked overtime to get a big part of one of our office's mailshots finished. A mailshot is some sort of a mailing that we sent to at least a couple thousand of our candidates, that it was a good chunk my responsibility to coallate, fold, stuff, frank, and post. We'd already done at least a week of mailshotting the previous work, and then spent this week doing as well... ugh... Anyway, that same day, Trace and I went to the cheap theatre to see "Crash," a most excellent film that I v. much enjoyed and had been v. excited to see for quite a while.

The next morning, Trace, Amanda, Ross, and I went to Liverpool. We'd meant to go to the Lake District the next day, but there was too much engineering work on the train lines that weekend and for the next few weekends, killing just about any chance for me to go this trip (but definately next time!). Once getting to Liverpool, we tried to find food, and then lodging, about at the same time and with no real idea of where to go, resulting in quite a bit of wandering for a while. Through it all, we happened to also be wandering through some of the less-impressive parts of town (over-crowded shopping area, empty business area, and nasty dock/construction area). The docks were pretty stinky and after wandering nearly aimlessly on an empty stomach, we were getting v. frustrated and came to the decision that Liverpool more or less sucked. However, after finding the tourist info place, and from there a place to stay, we got rid of our bags and high-tailed it to a place to eat. By that time, all of the tourist places were closed, so we shopped around and then went to a movie before heading to a Weatherspoon’s for a drink and, most importantly, dessert.

The next morning we made our way down to the docks to the museums, in particular The Beatle’s Story (a museum of their entire history, a bit cheesey, but also some cool stuff like a reconstruction of the Cavern Club, where they really got their start; John Lennon’s yellow glasses; and a huge yellow submarine. After the Beatles, we split up with Amanda and Ross going to the Tate Liverpool and Trace and I going to the Maritime museum. There we saw a wild exhibit on smuggling (from a few hundred years ago up through modern times), and exhibit on slavery, and one on immigration. Liverpool, besides being the home of the Beatles and various other rock bands (ex: the oldies song with “Mary, across the Mersey…”, was always a huge shipping port and thus a huge site for smuggling. Also, being a huge shipping port, in the 19th century was the home port for the largest number of British slave ships. (photos: Amanda, Ross, Trace, and Me (blinking) at The Beatle's Story; the street featuring the Cavern Club (may not be visible, but in the rear on the left) and the Grapes); Eleanor Rigby; and a view from the docks back towards the town centre.)




After the museums, we went back through town to see the actual (though reconstructed) Cavern Club and grabbed some food at the Grapes (the pub the Beatles went to to escape the hoardes of underage fans), even sitting at the same table the Beatles were photographed at, before heading back to the train to London.