Liverpool

We went on our fourth field trip this past weekend to the English city Liverpool. Here we visited two cathedrals and the Beatles Story. It is also called the City of Pop and the Capital of Northern Wales (because they established the city), and Liverpool is known for the Beatles, the dockland area, and its history as a major slave trade port.

The bus let us off at the Anglican Cathedral. This is the largest cathedral in the UK and fifth in the world. It was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott at age 22 (same man who designed the famous red telephone booths) and took 74 years to build, complete only since 1978. It has survived two world wars; and needless to say, I was impressed. It is ginormous! I loved the tall ceilings and the beautiful wood work. The alter was covered with intricate carvings of biblical scenes and there was even a bridge in the middle of the building for choirs to sing from. We would have gone up to the bell tower too, which I have heard is amazing, but we couldn't because they were putting in a new lift (elevator) or something.

Our next stop was to the Metropolitan (or Roman Catholic) Cathedral. It is much different from the Anglican Cathedral, for it is completely modern. The benches inside are placed all around the circle with the center being the alter area; and there are little side spaces along the outside of the circle for smaller services, baptisms, etc. The stain-glass in the middle of the ceiling was gorgeous; otherwise, I could not feel the same astonishment as for the Anglican Cathedral.

Next, we journeyed past the docks and to the Beatles Story. Being that Liverpool is where the Beatles got started, there is a lot of information about them here. The museum actually had two sites to it but we only visited the first building. We had an audio tour again both here and at the Anglican Cathedral, but this time they were much better and easier to follow. Though I like a lot of their songs, I'm not a crazy Beatles fan. But I still found it fun to see how they all met and how at the beginning, nobody wanted to sign with them. I learned many random and interesting facts such as Ringo's real name is Richard Starkey and that the Beatles were actually in Bangor when they found out their manager Brian Epstein had passed away. After the museum, we were free to wonder around Liverpool for a little over an hour. By the time we ate and looked through some shops, we didn't have much time to explore. We quickly saw the River Mersey and walked through a business area and docks before heading back to the bus. It was a fun day and I enjoyed seeing another side of the UK.