Home of the Beatles

I continued my London sightseeing with a day at Tate Modern, London's famous modern art museum on the South Bank. I spent a few hours wandering around the exhibits, fighting the crowds. I really enjoyed the vast amount of work on display, but it was way too packed for my taste. It's frustrating when you're trying to stand back and enjoy Dali's "Metamorphosis of Narcissus" and people's heads keep bobbing back and forth in front of you.

The next day I picked up Sam at the National Theater and we set out for Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. When we got off the tube station on Baker Street, I could already see the line for the museum, and not just one line, but three jutting off in different directions for different purposes. We ended up on the appropriate line for those who hadn’t purchased tickets and Sam went to inquire about prices. She came back with a price list in her hand and we decided against going to Madame Tussaud’s. The admission price was 25pounds – that’s 50USD to look at some wax figures. I can do that in New York. We decided instead to check out the massive Victoria and Albert Museum, which is coincidentally free, and we spent a few hours roaming around. My favorite exhibit was that on fashion, which was initially closed, but was open to the public when we checked again before we left. Afterwards we hung out at her hotel for a bit and then headed out for a pizza dinner. It was the first real meal that I’d actually eaten since I arrived in the UK; I’d been subsisting on pot noodles and sandwiches so I enjoyed it thoroughly. I dropped Sam off at the theater for her play that night a little while later and we hugged goodbye. It was so good to see her and I can’t remember the last time that we had a whole day like that to enjoy together.

To conclude my London sightseeing, I walked all the way from Shoreditch to Leicester Square (over an hour’s walk) to see the Photographer’s Gallery. I was sorely disappointed. I really love photography and I was looking forward to the gallery, but it was tiny and only featured a handful of not-overly-impressive photos from three artists. I stayed for a bit, and headed back out into the city. It was still really early and I was bored so I found a ticket kiosk and inquired about matinees for the day. It was 1:45pm at that point, and most matinees start at 2:30pm or so, so I’d left the gallery at just the right time. I asked the cashier what she suggested out of what was available and she recommended “We Will Rock You,” the Queen and Ben Elton production at Dominion Theater so I bought a ticket on a whim. My seat was crap and in the second to last row but the whole back section of the theater was empty so I moved to the second row of the last section and actually had a really good view of the stage. At first I wasn’t too keen on the play, the set was a bit minimalist and I’m more partial to all-out productions, but I was clapping and cheering along with the rest of the crowd by the end of it. I really enjoyed it, and I was happy that I got to see a genuinely-English production, not something that I could easily see on Broadway in New York. Plus, the main characters’ voices were fantastic and I enjoy the music of Queen, so it was totally entertaining.

On my last day in London, I met up with Tracy and Jules, friends from England I had met in Australia, for dinner and drinks. I felt so bad because I was late meeting Tracy. I first had to go all the way to Victoria Station so I could reserve my seat for the bus I was taking the next day (and you all know how I feel about reserving seats). I didn’t want to get shut out of the bus though with it being Easter weekend and all. So anyway after taking a few different tubes, I finally got to the National Express office at Victoria Coach Station and was dismayed to see that there was a 20-person line. I waited though because I had no other choice – I needed to be on the bus the next day. It was one of the slowest moving lines ever with people asking the dumbest questions (I couldn’t believe half of them actually waited to inquire about buses in two weeks) but I finally made it to the front, made my reservation, and jetted back to the Underground. I finally met up with Tracy and we joined a few of her friends out at a small pub in Soho. We stayed for a bit and then moved camp to an Indian restaurant in the same area that advertised a decent happy hour. When we arrived, we found that the drinks weren’t as cheap as we had thought but decided to stay anyway. Everyone ordered the most outrageous drinks from Jamaican Mules to Cardamom and Pineapple Martinis to Passion Fruit Mojitos and passed them around for everyone to try. After the happy hour ended, we went upstairs for a fantastic Indian meal – the best I’d had in a long time. There was heaps of it, and never one to leave food on my plate, I was stuffed by the end. We found another bar after dinner for a few more drinks and then decided to call it a night soon after.

The next day I took an extremely packed bus to Liverpool. The journey was five hours anyway and we got stuck in tons of traffic so it took us an hour and a half longer to get there than expected. When I arrived in Liverpool, I asked the woman behind the counter if she could point out where my hostel was on a map and she informed me that it would only be a 10-minute or so walk. I thought that was doable so I started down the street. I met two girls with backpacks on the way who were obviously headed to the same hostel, and we arrived at the front door forty-five minutes later. Though I’d unloaded as much stuff as I could in Sam’s suitcase, my backpack stills weighs a decent amount and I was beat by the time we got there. Since the bus had been late and it was night by the time I arrived, I stayed in and enjoyed my book rather than going out.

After breakfast and a shower I set out for Albert Dock to see the Beatles Story, my main reason for visiting the city of Liverpool – Home of the Beatles. I entered the audio-guided exhibition and spent two hours learning about the history of the Beatles from start to finish. The exhibition was well executed and I learned so much information that I had never even known. If anything there was too much information between the audio guide, the memorabilia and recreations, and the written information on the walls. I was going to also go on the Magical Mystery Tour, a bus ride around Liverpool that points out major Beatles sites, but I was all Beatled-out by the time I left the exhibit so I opted out. I did however make my way over to the famed Cavern Quarter near Mathew Street to check out the Cavern Club where the Beatles used to rock out on stage and The Grapes bar where the Beatles used to hang out before and after their gigs. I really enjoyed the day and I was happy to see some kind of history that didn’t involve a cathedral.