Humming away
“It’s been a hard day’s night” whilst having a glass of “chateau Beaumont ” along with my “Oven roasted Lamb rack” on my
Emirates flight to Manchester , I thoroughly
enjoyed my upgrade and was rejuvenated by the end of my journey. Indeed a
perfect start to the Beatles town! It was the most scenic thirty minute drive
from there to Liverpool . Next morning, I
started my day with a visit to the Albert Dock, which is home to the “Tate Gallery”,
which was quite unique and entry free, I took advantage and whisked through
most exhibits but stopped to admire ones that made me slow down, the classics
such as Warhol and Picasso. The “Maritime museum” was pretty amazing too though some of it
saddened me as parts of it had a focus on how many Liverpool lives were
affected by the sea and by war. The Docks also housed some of the best shops as
well as restaurants and bars and I had a great time. I missed trying the Duck
marine tour which seemed fun. It travels around the city then goes into the
dock as a boat. The dock area looks even more beautiful at night, the old brick
buildings all lit up by the Mersey River . Later I also took a guided tour of the Liverpool Football Club of its famous soccer stadium and a
visit to the impressive trophy room.
Later that day, I encountered quite a few people
wearing Liverpool football gear and
established that there was a match on that evening at the Everton football
club. It was quite infectious and I really wanted to go to the match. The main
shopping area of the city was closed to traffic and the pedestrians streets
allowed for a pleasant atmosphere when there with tons of people eager for the
match.
I'm not a big football fan but I
do quite like Liverpool Football Club, thanks to my crazy cousin’s update on it
all the time, and though this one not at LFC, I went as my cousin kept saying,
“If you are ticking off the boxes of the things you have to do before you die,
then watching a football match on the ground is right up there”, and I second
that now. There is an overriding tranquility that transforms football-watchers
from stress-merchants into serene smiling beings in a stadium. There were Everton
shirts and hats and scarves everywhere and a feeling of excitement in the air and
I too was jumping on every goal Everton made (my cousin asked me to cheer for
it) and finally we won.
Next on the list
was the nightlife hopping, and I must add here that the culture capital of
Europe is party central in the evenings with many different areas around the
city for one to enjoy oneself in. So first went to “Alma de Cuba”, a restored
18th century Polish church, on Seal Street , which
has been converted into a lavish bar and restaurant, replete with the original
altar and pews and flickering candles add to the beauty of the ambience. The
place oozes upbeat Cuban, Latin American and Hispanic vibes from every pore of
its stonework to its exposed wooden beam rafters and I thought it was an
absolutely great place to begin my night. Though I admit at first I felt a wee
bit odd at eating by the church pew, but was bowled over by the food and
service which were impeccable. I have never eaten such amazing fish fingers
with tartar sauce in my life….trust me!
we then hopped
over to “Peacock” and being a Friday got to try some free BBQ as well. And
finally moved on to “The Cavern Club” where the Fab Four have played atleast 292
times. It was in the basement of an old wine cellar along Matthew
Street in the market district of Liverpool and looked like a cave inside, and people
still perform there. For
those who don’t know the Cavern was actually a bomb shelter at one point. I
could not believe how far into the ground this famous club was but there are
quite a few flights down. It was pretty much because of the Cavern Club that
the Beatles became famous in Liverpool (well that and the fact that the local
newspaper wrote a lot of stuff about them). Live music in the cellar was full
of noise, made the air pulse and throb that carried a palpable excitement that
got louder with each of the flight of stairs that descend into this venue. The
place is rife with memorabilia, including John Lennon's guitars, signed
posters, and an original Beatles drum set. We had a few drinks and listened to
the house band performing Beatles music and very convincingly at that and we immersed
ourselves in the music of decades past and as we jived, I relived the memories
of my college days and my youngest cousin was amazed at the brilliance of the
era, just after the birth of rock and roll! Iam positive someday this Beatles
Tribute band’s claim to fame will also be the Cavern Club owing to the fact
that The Fab Four has long been inducted into the history books, the band’s
music survives, not only in software format but played live out here just like
John, Paul, George and Ringo did back in their days. Interestingly “The Cavern
Pub” right across from the Cavern features a musical museum of famous guitars
and instruments throughout the venue. Truly if walls could talk, they would be
screaming “oh yeah, what fun”, Them Beatles changed rock and roll and then the
world and we went home humming “Strawberry fields forever”!
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