Roll up… Roll up for the Mystery Tour

Hello friends, hello family! Here it is, the blog entry you've been waiting for: my trip to Liverpool!

I had a great time this Saturday exploring Liverpool with my friends Aussie and Liverpool…hmmm, maybe I should change his name… how about Bill? Okay, so I went to Liverpool with Aussie and Bill! We took a train from our fair city to the birthplace of the Beatles. It took almost two hours, but it was well worth it! After some coffee and croissants, we hopped aboard 'The Yellow Duckmarine' for a tour of the city. The Duckmarine is one of those amphibious bus/boats that can travel on land and in water. I have never been on one before and whenever I have seen anyone in Toronto on one, I think 'haha, tourist!' But I guess that's what I am. It was a great way to hear a little bit about the city and get an idea of the main sites. I saw so many places that I wanted to get off and explore, but I eventually found that it was too much to see in one day. I learned some interesting facts on the tour:

• Charles Dickens worked as a constable in Liverpool and much of his writing reflects his experiences in the city
• The Titanic was registered with the White Star Line shipping company and many of the great ship's victims were from Liverpool
• Liverpool is in the county of Merseyside
• Liverpool is currently the 'Cultural Capital of Europe'
  

The Duckmarine took us out into the water of the Albert docks. Liverpool is known for being a port and the many docks were used for the import and export of rice, flour, etc. The amphibian was really cool, but it also felt a bit unsafe.

Unfortunately, it was raining for much of the day. Fortunately, we spent a good deal of it inside! After our trip out into the docks, we went to 'The Beatles Story'-- probably the BEST museum I have ever been to. It was spectacular. They had each section done up in the style of the era, with some rooms emulating Brian Epstein's record shop, a 747 jet and even a scene in 'Yellow Submarine'. You get a free audio tour, so we were able to hear different Beatles, their friends, family and co-workers speak about the band's history. The audio tour is narrated by John Lennon's sister. It was especially cool to see the mini-replica of 'The Cavern Club', which is famous for having the Beatles play there 292 times. I am a bit of a Beatles fan, so it was really fun for me to hum along to all the music. The museum includes a room dedicated to what each band-member pursued after the break-up of the Beatles. We had a great time taking photos at the Beatles museum. Check out our awesome wigs!

After our trip to the museum, we had lunch at a pub and  and took a walk to Matthew St, the location of the famous Cavern Club and the 'Harddaysnight Hotel'.  We quickly hopped on a train to get home. I have a feeling that there is MUCH more to see. I would love to go back to check out the Liverpool night-life! Think of what the music scene must be like!

This week has been pretty good so far (I mean, it's only Tuesday, but whatever). Sunday, I had a chance to check out the Birmingham Frankfurt Market, which is pretty cool! It's a whole little village with all these German crafts, food and products for sale! I had a white sausage and some roasted chestnuts (yes, roasted on an open fire, yum yum!) I will have to go back, though, because I went with the England family and we went through quite quickly.

Tonight I went to the quiz and we were doing quite well until the 4th round or so. We lost again, but we beat our all-time high score by 2.5 points! We got 45.5/80!

Holy moly, it's late! I'm off to bed! See you soon, Canada!