Chester & Liverpool Weekend Trip

Liverpool.  Home of the Beatles.  Masters of the Maritime trade.  Home of the Liverpool Football Club and it's many, many fans.  The city has a lot going for it and perhaps a lot going against it.

This tale begins on the morning of Friday, February 5th.  I was the first to wake in my room.  I was also the first to go to bed the night before, so this wasn't much of a shock.  What was a shock was the feeling of nausea that overwhelmed me.  At first I thought it was the same nausea that had held me for a short time before I came to London.  A combination of nerves and excitement.  I was wrong.  Let's flashback to the night before.  I made myself a small humble meal that consisted of a chicken and cheese pita sandwich.  However, the chicken I used had expired on the 3rd of February, a whole day before.  The sealed chicken seemed fine even when I opened it, but in retrospect, I don't think it was.

An example of the Medieval structures through Chester.

The most photographed clock in the world.  Move over Big Ben!

The three and a half hour bus ride to Chester was a struggle.  I couldn't stay awake because I thought I might get sick, and I suffered from what seemed like hot flashes that could only be cured by the coldness of the window.  Needless to say, it was not a fun coach ride.  Chester was a unique little town.  It has the most photographed clock in the world, the most complete roman wall in the UK, and Medieval buildings in its center.  I thought it was quite cute, but didn't explore it much.

Pretty self-explanatory.  Penny Lane was on Paul and George's bus ride to school.

When we arrived in Liverpool around 5, I was feeling tons better than I had before.  We had about 2 hours to explore until we went on our first organized group event.  A few girls and myself found a fabulous open air mall and went to town.  Bailey bought a whole bunch of stuff, but I decided not too.  I am not a fan of our exchange rate.  Fifteen pounds might seem like a good deal, but that's really $22.  I will have to budget better.  Anyway, our first activity was called Shiverpool, and it was a walking ghost tour of the city.  I found it quite entertaining, especially with since we had a guy named Benji in our group.  They picked on him quite a bit.  After the tour ended we had beers at the Philharmonic Pub.  I got back to my bed at the hostel around midnight I believe.  We had to walk about 2 miles back, that was fun.  I thought my bed was pretty comfortable.  I had nothing to complain about because I slept like a rock.

Also pretty self-explanatory.  Strawberry Field was a boys shelter that was and still is run by the Salvation Army, but also sports strawberries.

The Beatles Story Exhibition.

The next day marked our Liverpool and Beatles tour.  It was a 2 hour coach ride and I got some amazing pictures.  It was a good thing the tour was early because by the time we were done, a crazy fog had moved in and we could no longer see across the Mersey river.  Bailey and I went through the Beatles Story, which is an interactive museum of sorts.  I learned a lot about the Beatles that day.  Afterwards we grabbed lunch and went shopping a bit.  I got some new flats.  When we got back to the hostel around 5 people were preparing for the night already.  They wanted to to Liverpool like a true Liverpoolian.  By 7 we were a a pub called the Flute celebrating Michelle's 20th birthday.  It was a good night for a lot of people and a not so goodnight for others.  I was again back at the Hostel by 1am after meeting a bunch of friendly Liverpool men.  They were all really willing to chat.  All proudly claiming to be "scousers" and extremely lively in their conversations.

The next morning, after hearing some crazy morning after stories and hearing people piece together their nights (One girl didn't get back to the hostel until 7 AM, and one girl was brought back by the police because she got lost while following someone she thought she knew) we all boarded the bus.  This time my bus ride was quite enjoyable, but I don't think I can say that for too many others.

Liverpool was quite an interesting city.  Here are some of the observations that I have made. 1) It has a lot of History that is hidden throughout the city, and the modern parts are really cool as well. 2)  All that History seems to be buried in dirt.  I can't believe how industrial and run down some parts of the city actually were.  It was much "dodgier" than any part of London I have spent a significant amount of time in.  3)  People in Liverpool have a much more relaxed fashion than those in London.  I saw a lot more sweatshirts, skaters/punks, and girls wearing tights or leggings as pants.  4)  The men are much much friendlier.  Like I said before, they were not afraid to come up and say hello or start a conversation.  They were funny, and very animated with everything.  If I do say so myself, the men were also more attractive, and all the girls would agree with me.  5)  The streets were louder.  People were not afraid to yell across the street to say hello or tell someone off.  On our Ghost tour someone yelled from a car that we should all "get a life, you twats".

OH Liverpool.  You have given me some fun memories.  To see more pictures follow this link: Pictures

Pip Pip Cheerio!