Tourists

Welcome to Liverpool

Campanile Hotel - Sunday 23rd July

The weather today was warm and sunny and it seemed as though everyone had decided to make the most of it, causing a huge increase in volume of traffic. This made us late and we arrived at the Campanile, threw the bags in our rooms and went down for dinner. Claudette and David were there - halfway through their starters. They were late too because they'd been told in America that they would have to change flights. They did, but at Amsterdam - not London - and the airline forgot to change flights for the luggage! The hotel chased it for 24 hours and eventually retrieved it. We all had an 'early night' and went to bed.

Monday 24th July
Breakfast finishes at 9am in the hotel - too early for a tourist who has not long arrived and is still suffering from jet lag. We decided to skip breakfast, agreeing that a 9am finish was OK for business people, but an extra hour (10am) would be more tourist-friendly.

We had booked a 'Magical Mystery Tour' run by Cavern City Tours - setting off from the nearby Albert Dock at noon. Booking is easy, either direct with Cavern City Tours or at the Tourist Information Centre in the Albert Dock.

We had a delicious hot chocolate in Lucy's Café in the Dock and then walked out to meet the bus outside 'The Beatles Story'. The guys thought it strange to see the authentic 'Magical Mystery Tour' bus pulling up for us to board - as if we were part of the film. Our guide for the tour was Edwina who was bouncy and full of fun. Our driver Les and Edwina kept a full busload of us all entertained with some enjoyable banter.

As we made our way around the city, the many 'Beatle' places of interest were pointed out. Places such as the hospital were a young Ringo spent time during two long illnesses - in fact it was here he first found his liking for the drums.

Our first stop was at MADRYN STREET where Ringo was born on 7th July 1940. At the end of Madryn Street is High Park Street and the Empress public house - the pub featured on the cover of Ringo's first solo LP, "Sentimental Journey". A short ride to our next stop where we actually disembarked and yes, we were in the famous PENNY LANE.
The street name is now painted on the wall, as the traditional cast iron signs were constantly being taken as souvenirs. We saw the barbers, the bank and the shelter in the middle of the roundabout!

Our next stop was 12 ARNOLD GROVE where George Harrison was born on 25th February 1943. Back on the bus again and after passing Aunt Mimi's and Brian Epstein's houses, we saw ST PETER'S CHURCH in Woolton and plus many more historic landmarks, including the old gates of STRAWBERRY FIELD - the Salvation Army Children's Home and on to the last stop at 20 FORTHLIN ROAD. This was the home of the McCartney family, mum and dad, Mary and Jim plus Paul and Michael.

Sadly they had only been in this house a year when Mary passed away and the boys were then brought up by their dad. The house has been bought and restored by The National Trust and Claudette and Dave decided they would just HAVE to come back to see inside the following day. The tour ended back in the city centre at The Cavern, with a surprise free gift!

Their verdict: "As well as the fascinating content of the tour, the great thing was being able to get off the bus and take pictures of the real places - more or less just as they were in the 60's". Did they enjoy it? A big "YES - a brilliant couple of hours". Thank you Cavern City Tours!

With tummies rumbling we walked into the nearby Cavern Walks mall and found the 'Lucy in the Sky' café. The food here was superb and very reasonably priced. Claudette chose Ciabatta with Roasted Vegetables and Cheese and Dave had a toasted tuna & mayonnaise sandwich.

It had been a long warm day so we decided to head back through Albert Dock via the waterfront. We stopped in a bookshop in the dock and found a great Beatle book - reduced from £24.99 to £10! We then stopped at the Tourism office and bought tickets for the Forthlin Road tour. We asked about a trip to Ireland, which it seems we couldn't do in a day. The lady appeared to be very brusque and could be off-putting but we don't think it was intentional, so don't be put off.

From here we walked back to the Campanile. By this time we were exhausted so we sat outside by the water with a cool drink, happy but exhausted. That was the day that was!