A tale of two lanes

If there was one city which was at the top of my list to visit while in England, it was probably Liverpool. Liverpool has a special place in my heart, as it was once home to some of the coolest people you will ever meet. I'm referring, of course, to the Myles/Donelan clan (I bet you thought I was gonna say the Beatles, who are alright as well I guess). Having spent a year or so of my formative years in Liverpool I was keen to take a trip down memory lane. To be fair most of my memories come from photographs, but I still like to think my stay had some lasting effects on my childhood. In any case, Liverpool also has a reputation as a pretty cool city, with some quality museums, its famous docks, and the inescapable legacy of the Beatles. I'm sure every other international student was as grateful as I was when a travel organisation for students announced a daytrip to Liverpool, and they would never again have to hear me say "okay I'm definitely going to book a trip to Liverpool soon", for the hundredth time. And so it was that I found myself surprisingly eager to be getting on a coach at 7am on a Saturday morning.

The past two daytrips that I took were with societies run through the University of Nottingham, but this one was run by an external organisation, and it was unbelievably better organised than either of my previous trips. Instead of just dropping us off in the middle of a new city with a map and a thumbs up they actually had a planned itinerary, which you could follow or not as you pleased. Our bus dropped us off first outside the Cavern Club, a nightclub fashioned after the original club where the Beatles once played. This was definitely the biggest tourist area of Liverpool, and no one was turning up the chance to advertise their link with the Beatles, with hotels such as the Hard Days Night or Eleanor Rigby. We went to a cafe on Mathew Street for breakfast which ostensibly had nothing to do with the Beatles, and yet the walls were covered with photos of the Fab 4, in case we were in any doubt about where we were. I chose to stay with the group for the morning, before heading off on my own, which turned out to be a great plan as I got to visit the Anglican Cathedral. I hadn't heard anything about the Cathedral before the trip, so I probably wouldn't have gone there if it weren't for the recommendation, and it was well worth it. 

The cathedral is the fifth-largest in the world, and the longest, so in other words it was huge. I certainly have never been in a cathedral anywhere near as big. We were there was at least a good half hour just wandering through the whole building. At the west doors was a large floor space with surrounding very impressive stained glass windows and a Tracey Emin art installation, which seemed somewhat out of place in a cathedral. We walked more or less the length of the cathedral, up to the main altar and into side galleries which included various other art pieces, and details on the construction of the building which took a good 74 years. It would have been great to also explore the bell tower, arguably one of the largest in the world, but unfortunately we didn't have time. I was definitely glad to have seen the cathedral though, I doubt I will get a chance to see another cathedral which is comparable.

From there I separated from the tour group with a couple of international students, to head to my old house via some Beatles landmarks. It took us at least an hour to walk there, but it was actually a good chance to explore the suburbs. Living on a University Campus, most of our time outside of the campus is spent in major city centres, so it was nice to see an English city outside of the tourist hotspots. There were a few of these amazing old red brick houses on our route, with overgrown hedges and black steel bar fences looking like something out of American Horror Story. Also luckily our route took us pretty much in a straight direction, meaning it was difficult for me to lead us astray (as is usually wont to happen). I still nearly managed it, when I got confused between the misleading similar Greenbank Drive, Gorsebank Rd and Greenbank Rd. I mean, who is naming these streets, honestly. Eventually we made it to Penny Lane, made obvious by the massive crowd and hard-to-miss Magical Mystery Tour Bus. It must be a pain for local drivers to have these tours coming past, as the road is inevitably blocked up with people taking advantage of the photo opportunity. Once the tour had moved on we took our chance, and then walked along Penny Lane, which turned out to be a very long road.

Eventually we made it to the real destination, No 7 Centreville Rd, AKA my old home. The street did look familiar from the old family photos, although to be fair, English streets are all very similar. It was pretty cool to see the house at an age when I am likely to remember this visit properly, and to visit the area where little me spent a whole year, so I was quite excited.

Having exhausted ourselves from the long walk we opted to take a bus back into the centre city. We wandered around Albert Dock, and then decided to visit the two best-known museums, the Maritime and International Slavery Museums. We had under two hours before being picked up so it was very convenient that the two were located in the same building. The most prominent exhibition in the Maritime Museum was probably that on maritime disasters involving the Liverpool docks, in particular the Titanic. There was also a lot about both world wars, and the navy in general, and a exhibiton on immigration and customs. On the top level was the Slavery museum, which detailed both the introduction and abolition of slavery in Europe, and the after-affects on black culture particularly in America and Britain. It was unfortunate that we had so little time, as both museums were really interesting and well set up. I could have stayed and seen much more in the museums with a couple more hours. This goes for the city as a whole as well. After the Slavery Museum we had to head straight to the busstop and back to Nottingham. I could easily have stayed another day and had much more to see. Even though I try to avoid looking too much like a tourist I would have loved a whole day just to explore the Beatles side of Liverpool, and then another day to see all the museums. I never get tired of a good museum, and Liverpool seems to have an abundance of them. The city centre also had a very cool vibe, with lots of little cafes and niche shops which would be worth exploring. I can only hope that I get another chance to go back in a few years time.

 
Byyyeeeee!