Visits to Liverpool and Hamburg | Page 5 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Thank you everyone. I’ll book a ticket for the Beatles story in advanced, as suggested on the website. Don’t know about the other one.

meanmistermustard said
Wouldn’t do the Beatles Story museum or any of the guided tours instead hoping to simply travel around the city as I please going wherever I end up whilst staying a few days.

I feel you, I’m going to explore their neighbourhood on foot (as much as possible) to search for some of their childhood homes and other places of their youth. Going there myself seems more ‘authentic’ than rolling up on Forthlin Road in a tour bus. But I’m still going to check out a museum or two.

Good for you, @sigh butterfly ! Well, this is my report. But first, this was me over the last days:

Saturday. Arrived in Liverpool around 6 p.m. Found my hotel and quickly rushed to Mathew street. After waiting around a bit and bothering several doormen, I managed to get into the Cavern Club to see the resident tribute act (I had failed to properly inform myself that and when a tribute act is playing, and this was my only chance for the trip). I’ve seen tribute bands before, but obviously never in the Cavern. The show was split into three sets (Beatlemania, psychedelic phase and Apple years) with two breaks. Each set opened with a montage of film, music and news clips of the time to set the mood, and of course the band changed into appropriate costumes. The George double looked fab in his 1969 denim suit. And speaking of doubles: Their Macca was good (albeit a bit chubby, almost reminded me of Jack Black in Walk Hard), George was awesome, Ringo was… present and playing drums, but John was from another planet. He looked, sounded and acted EXACTLY like the original, unbelievably authentic. Needless to say his lennonesque comedy bits between songs were hilarious. A fifth musician appearing on keyboard as George Martin and a second keyboard for either John or Paul allowed for songs you wouldn’t usually hear from a four-piece tribute band, like I Am The Walrus . Obviously everyone was screaming and singing and having a good time.

Sunday. After ruining my voice I also ruined my feet on an extensive pilgrimage hike through Liverpool’s suburbs. My first station was Ringo’s birth address on Madryn Street and his nearby home in Admiral Grove. A huge, colourful mural of Sir Ritchie marks Admiral Grove and you can easily picture him stepping out of the little white-rose house to go play with Rory Storm and later the Bottles. Through the beautiful Prince’s and Sefton parks I made my way to Penny Lane , where I found Macca’s signature and quite a few barbershops. Next stop was 20 Forthlin Road, a charming neighbourhood which seems perfect for the McCartney family, with friendly looking people inhabiting the surrounding front gardens. I followed streets that must have been frequented by John and Paul countless times to Mendips, where the gate started swinging in the wind as soon as I envisioned John coming out of the door. Around the corner to a place where nothing is real, but after a while, the gate was hijacked by a tour group so I headed to St. Peter’s and paid a visit to Eleanor Rigby (poor Eleanor had bird shit on her stone, and did you know there’s a John McKenzie buried almost right next to her? I didn’t), before I returned to Strawberry Field and visited the exhibition. It’s a multimedia exhibition about the former building, the salvation army, young John and the song itself, nice but not overwhelming. The only historical object is a piano used in the making of Imagine . My last stop for the day and quite a massive detour was George’s birthplace, Arnold Grove. Unlike at the other houses I found no sign or recognition of the towering legend gracing the planet on this spot, but it was a poignant and intimate moment. The evening I spent with just a stroll by the riverside and a few rounds on the ferris wheel.

Monday. The first day with bad weather as it was raining quite a bit in the morning. I started with the Beatles story on Albert Dock, where I didn’t learn a terrible lot of new things, but it is really well made (actually I work in exhibition design myself at the moment) in reflecting different Beatles events and periods as rooms. I especially enjoyed the four individual displays towards the end, that capture their unique personalities and post-beatles careers. This is also where I spent a bit for merch. In the meantime, George had summoned the sun. I also visited the museum on Mathew street, for @Ahhh Girl , @Ron Nasty , @Rube : Compared to the Beatles story, this museum feels less ‘staged’ and much more home-made and intimate. There are three floors (Casbah, Hamburg and Cavern years, Beatlemania and touring years, later years) and as noted, you’ll find the memorabilia here. Lighters, cufflinks, music equipment and instruments, clothing and accessoires, letters and documents and an abundance of photographs. Among my highlights were the statements / letters the arsonists Paul and Pete had to write to german authorities before they could return to Hamburg and a little desk from Friar Park which is not behind glass, so you can touch it and get a georgegasm. I say take one or two hours next time you’re in Liverpool, for me it was almost a bit too much to see and read everything accordingly, but simply because it IS an impressive collection of photos, details, anecdotes and memorabilia. For the rest of the day, John and George played a heavenly guitar battle between Rain and Here Comes The Sun . Dead on my feet I was strolling, (window)-shopping, enjoying the view from the radio tower and in the evening, when George emerged victorious, one last walk on the Mersey. Today I left early, am back home now with all those fab memories.

Ahhh Girl said
Do you have a step counter? How many miles did you walk Sunday?

 

Actually I don’t, but I could try to figure it out on Google maps tomorrow. I could also upload a few pictures.

I walk a lot and fast, in many cases it feels simpler and sometimes even almost quicker to me than public transportation (but on the other hand, in relation to cars I’m very much a public transportation person). In a foreign city like Liverpool I figured it would be much easier and more productive than constantly trying to figure out which bus lines, bus stops etc. so I don’t mind. On the contrary, I got an unfiltered feel for the areas and locations.

sigh butterfly said
Thanks MMD! Actually, because of this thread I can picture almost every place you mentioned. Btw-I also like to imagine times past (my daughter calls it “seeing ghosts”) when I have had similar experiences on holiday. 

Hey, this photo reminds me of something!

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Ahhh Girl said
I would like to see your map. Maybe I can retrace you path one of these days.

 

I tried, but after the first one I switched to making them in Paint, because Google maps would barely ever, even with five addresses, give the exact same route I did. So there’s no km tracker so far. Roughly estimated I think it must be something between 5 and 10 km.

From my hotel to Madryn Street / Admiral Grove:

From Admiral Grove to Penny Lane :

From Penny Lane roundabout to 20 Forthlin Road (boy, that was longer than I remember):

From 20 Forthlin Road to Mendips:

Mendips to Strawberry Fields:

Strawberry Fields to St. Peters Church (then same way back):

Strawberry Fields to Arnold Grove:

Arnold Grove back to hotel:

I admit, it looks quite insane. But I was on the road from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and that includes the Strawberry Exhibition, some detours, some going into stores, some figuring out the route etc. and I still had a full evening, so it’s not that insane.