Here Comes the Sun

After days of rain and dreary skies, sunny and beautiful Liverpool was exactly what I needed.

I think it's fitting that I begin writing about this part of the journey with a bit of my history in mind. As I sit here and try to describe my family, particularly on my mother's side, I find it to be much harder than I had anticipated. My family is fun. One of the things I remember most from my childhood is watching as my mom (Lee), my aunt (Julie), and my grandmother (MeMommy) danced around our camp in the Adirondack Mountains, singing every word to every Beatles song ever written while harmonizing each line perfectly. It was beautiful. Memories like these just radiate happiness to me, and despite every bad things that's every happen to me, I think I'm the luckiest person in the world for having the privilege of growing up with a family as wonderful, loving, and joyful as my own. That being said, this post is dedicated to the Maitland family.

Liverpool, England is the home of the Beatles. John, Paul, George, and Ringo were all born there, went to school there, met there, and founded unarguably one of most influential bands of all time there. During my stay, I was so luckily graced with warm weather and a few (almost completely) rain-free days. (That's about as good as it gets in the UK...) Brian and I settled in to Hatters (or according to Brian, "Haters") Hostel, which was great (aside from the fact that we had to pay for internet, which is obviously my excuse as to my lack of blog posts... although that's a lie). We arrived around nightfall so we grabbed dinner and spent the night making friends with fellow travelers.

For our first full day in Liverpool, we hadn't made an prior arrangements for tours or anything. We really lucked out, though, when we were able to book a "Fab Four Taxi Tour" for the day. Our driver, Danny, arrived at noon and took us on the most all-encompassing tour I've ever experienced. I mean, we saw everything! If I wrote about each Beatles-related attraction we visited, this post would be miles long, and I'm sure no one would read the whole thing. (Also, it's sooo much easier to just add photos and describe those. Besides, you only look at this to see my beautiful face, right?)

The Fab Four Taxi Tour:

Each of the suitcases in the statue behind us is dedicated to someone from Liverpool who contributed art (in some form) to the world. All of the members of the Beatles had a guitar case in that stack.

This cathedral doesn't have anything to do with the Beatles but we stopped by it along the way because it's just beautiful... and massive.

Sloan, this is for you. There's a debate going on in the city right now about whether or not to tear down Ringo Starr's childhood home. On the door of that home, travelers from all over have signed their names, etc. The large J.B. is none other than our very own Justin Bieber, who visited the week before we were there.

This is a shot of Ringo's old home, which may not exist anymore in the coming weeks. Sad.

I don't even feel like this needs a caption. This street sign, however, was placed on the wall because the city grew sick of replacing the signs on the street that were often stolen by tourists.

The Penny Lane Barber Shop.

Our tour-guide insisted that Brian and I get these pictures in the barber shop. Note the gentleman in the background actually getting his haircut. That must get old.

Another picture that requires no explanation. One interesting story that our guide told us at this sight was about Yoko Ono. In the weeks after John Lennon's death, Yoko was seen wandering through the field at midnight. It is apparently an old Japanese tradition to spread a loved one's ashes at their favorite place at midnight. It may just be a legend but it is rumored that John Lennon's ashes were scattered here.

This is another photograph that our guide insisted we take. The picture I'm holding is a picture of John Lennon posed the same way in the same spot. The house in the background is the house he grew up in with his aunt, Mimi, who took him in after he was abandoned by his mother at age 6.

The man in the photo was a childhood friend of John Lennon. He was present the night that John first met Paul McCartney. The brick building in the back left is where they first met. It is said to be the most important meeting in musical history. It was great to meet him because I actually asked him, "So, where did you and John meet?" I mean, have you ever met anyone who was friends with John Lennon?? (He gave me his business card!)

On our second day in Liverpool, Brian and I explored Albert Dock, which houses the Beatles Story museum among other cool attractions.

These people love their ferris wheels.

Another picture of Albert Dock and part of Liverpool.

This picture was taken in Cavern Pub. In the beginning, the Beatles often played in Cavern Club (located across the street).












Overall, Liverpool was such a great city to see. It's strange, though, because whenever we told people we were visiting Liverpool, they looked at us with surprise. I guess, to them, it's a pretty random place to go. Regardless, with my family's history and everything, I'm so happy that I was lucky enough to be there, even if it was only a few days. I wish my mom could've been there, too.

Well, I'm in London now and have finally gotten my blog up to speed. We're staying at the home of Sophie Blake, who did a study-abroad at Ole Miss for a year. (London to Oxford... Really?) Tomorrow, we're going to some fancy garden party or something at the University of Cambridge. How "posh!"

My goal for the week: find Prince Harry, marry him, get hair as great as Kate Middleton, become Queen on England. Piece of cake...

Caroline