Day Trip # 13, Liverpool

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We walk to the Albert Dock to take a Magical Mystery bus tour.
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This is the kind of sight seeing touristy thing that we usually avoid, but it seemed like the easiest way to see many famous Beatle sites which are quite spread out over this large city.

The tour guide gave a good mix of informative narration and playing of Beatles songs.  We drive by Ringo Starr’s house at 10 Admiral Grove in Dingle Liverpool.  He lived here with his mum Elsie who was a barmaid at the nearby Empress Pub. This pub was immortalized in 1970 by being featured on the cover of Ringo’s first solo album, Sentimental Journey.  We learned that Ringo was a sickly child and due to his many absences from school and hospitalizations for pneumonia and peritonitis from a ruptured appendix he did not learn to read until age 10.

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Ringo’s home is somewhere in the jumble on the left.
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The Empress Pub.
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The album cover with his grandmother’s back.

Our first of four stops was Penny Lane which was written by Paul McCartney.  This song is resonant with the memories of McCartney and Lennon at Penny Lane junction to catch a bus into the city centre.IMG_1300

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This is the quiet end of Penny Lane.

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In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he’s had the pleasure to know
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello

IMG_1306    Our next stop was George Harrison’s house at 12 Arnold Grove.  We could not go down the street to get a picture because there was an ambulance parked out front.  When George Harrison traveled he would check into hotels under the name of Arnold Grove. IMG_1308

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St. Peter’s church, where John Lennon was a choir boy, and a real Eleanor Rigby is buried in the church graveyard.

IMG_1317  Next stop, Strawberry Fields; which was actually a girls school near John Lennon’s house.  He used to climb a tree there so that he could watch the school girls.

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Let me take you down cause I’m going to…..
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Drive by of John Lennon’s house.
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Our last stop was at Paul McCartney’s house where we read on that sign that we could book a tour through the National Trust to go into the house.
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Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts was founded by Paul McCartney.  It was formerly the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys where Paul McCartney attended.  The school had closed and the building was becoming derelict when Paul founded LIPA.  It was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1996 and has been recognized as one of the leading performing arts schools in the world.

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After our tour we wandered around central Liverpool.

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A very interesting mix of old and new architecture on the River Mersey waterfront.
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We spent some time here going through this museum of memorabilia following the timeline of The Beatles rise from humble beginnings as four young lads in Liverpool rising to dizzying heights of fame and then splitting up into four separate continuing careers.

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John Lennon’s glasses.

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We wrapped the day of “all things Beatles” up by sharing a half pint at the famous Cavern Club where the former Beatles known then as the Quarry Men played when they were discovered by Brian Epstein.  The club is down many sets of stairs into a brick vaulted dark cellar with 1960’s memorabilia.  We sat and listened to a performer.

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St. George’s Hall.
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We had a really great meal at The Monro just around the corner from our apartment.  Recommended by us for very good local food.

Immediately after returning home from our busy day Sandy went on line and booked tickets through The National Trust for tours of Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s houses tomorrow.

One response to “Day Trip # 13, Liverpool”

  1. Victoria Kinnally Avatar
    Victoria Kinnally

    Thanks for sharing your magical mystery tour.

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