A Year Abroad: Day Ten. Liverpool.

YThis morning was the first day of the tour, and I'm hoping the earliest. We left at 7am from London, on our way to Liverpool. I didn't really know much about Liverpool before going there, but now I think it's one of the most awesome places!

Before leaving London, we had a bus tour of the city. I didn't know, but the place where we were staying, Russell Square, is the tube station where the London bombings occurred a few years ago. We passed the London courts of justice, and into the London square mile. It was interesting to learn that the actual city of London is only just over a square mile in size. Only about 7000 people live there, but everyday more than 300,000 people enter into it. It was also interesting to learn that the original London bridge was purchased by an American, when it was being rebuilt, and it now sits over a river in Arizona. Passed Her Majesty's ship, All Hallows's church, Tower of London, across London bridge and tower bridge,Cleopatra's needle, Big Ben (which is actually the name of the largest bell in the tower, the name of the tower is Elizabeth tower), Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square, Bank street, Hyde park, Buckingham palace, and pretty much if its in London, we passed by it, over it, or through it.

It was then a few hours until our first break, then a few more hours to Liverpool. We checked in, then got back on the bus for a tour of the city. It's a really pretty city! It's the home of the Beatles, and we saw heaps of memorable places, the hospitals they were born, where they were married, where they lived and their parents met, the buses they took to school, etc. We also passed the White Star Line offices, where the Titanic was registered.

Liverpool Los has these statues called Lambananas everywhere... The front is a lamb and the back is a banana. Designed by a German sculptor, one was a gift to the city a few years ago. Not wanting to be rude, they accepted it, and as it caught on, more were made and now they're everywhere, and all different colours, even a St. Peppers one.

We also heard of the massive football culture there, and were warned to not talk about it at all. The day after we left, Liverpool were playing against a Swedish team, so pretty much everyone in the city was wearing red.

We drove passed Penny Lane, from the Beatles song, and strawberry fields orphanage. And finally, passed the Mersey river, from which you can see the mountains of Snowdonia, in Wales.

That afternoon, we had free time, and I went exploring with a girl from the tour. First off Liverpool cathedral, the largest in the UK. And I discovered she's a Christian too! Then we walked down to the docks, where the slave trade in the UK used to be at its peak. Then back to the white star line offices, and back to the hotel for dinner.

After, we got dressed up and went out for a night at the Cavern Club, where the Beatles played 219 times. For their first gig, they were paid just £5.