Where are you?

Hi friends!
Things are getting crazy and, unfortunately, I don't have time to write you a new blog.  However, I did want to explain why I am yet still slacking.  December is my month of traveling!  Last weekend I went to Morocco and it was totally amazing.  Can't wait to show you pictures.  Tomorrow I am off to Italy to meet my dear parents!  We are going to Venice, Florence, and Rome.  Then, I will fly straight to Amsterdam to meet up with the Aussies (my roommates).  I will be back in Leeds on December 17th.  Then, I'll head out December 23-27 for Christmas in Paris, and to Edinburgh, Scotland the December 29-January 1!  I'll try to blog again when I get back from Italy.  If not, you know where I am!

Ciao!

Love Me Do

And when the brokenhearted people

Living in the world agree

There will be an answer, let it be

Two weekends ago (I know, I'm behind like usual!) I visited the incredibly cultural, historic, and beautiful port city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England.  When you visit places packed with history, do you ever think to yourself, "That happened right here--Wow, I feel epic."  I do.  Few places have affected me like that more than Washington, DC, but I certainly felt like that in Liverpool.  I went to Liverpool for the day on my own, and actually it was quite refreshing to spend the day on my own doing and seeing exactly what I wanted.  In fact, I felt so enlightened that Saturday in Liverpool that I took notes (like a huge nerd!) on everything I saw so I could remember to tell you about it.  

Now, I'm sure what you think of when you think of Liverpool is the Beatles, and naturally so.  Liverpool is rightfully proud of them and use that tourism to their advantage.  However, I did learn other incredible history lessons, too.  After nine sunless days, I was pleasantly surprised by a beautiful day of sunshine when I got to Liverpool.

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's all right.

Liverpool

Liverpool is located on the west coast of England in the county of Merseyside.  It sits on the coast of the Irish Sea which is the Atlantic body of water that flows between England and Ireland.  Click here to see it on a map.  King John declared Liverpool's royal charter as part of the royal kingdom in 1207.  It has always been a key port city for England, and is a city highly populated by immigrants, like most port cities.  Approximately 40% of the world's trade goes through Liverpool, as it is a major import receiving area for UK and mainland European imports.  The Albert Docks, where the ships come in and out, are some of the oldest parts of the city.  The docks were also a major site for the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th century.  Because of this, it has the oldest African community in Europe.  The docks are also a major tourist attraction.  Here are some pictures of the dockside. 

Because I was on my own, and we all know I'm a serious tourist, I took the liberty of doing a guided bus tours--yep, I was that girl at the top of the open-top double-decker fully tourist fledged with my camera and Starbucks in hand.  

Me on top of my tourist bus! ^

Port of Liverpool--The Three Graces

A trio of historic landmarks sit on the port next to Albert's Dock, known as the Three Graces.  These buildings can be seen far out to see, and it is said that the sailors would watch for the lights of these buildings in anticipation of returning home.  I couldn't get a picture of the front of all three because I didn't go out on the water, so I got a photo from the Internet to give you an idea of what they look like next to each other.

The building on the far right with the dome was first built to be an Anglican Cathedral (Church of England) but once it was built, they decided that it wasn't big enough, so the Church of England sold it to a private buyer.  (Looks pretty big to me! The Church of England is incredibly particular about their cathedrals, wait until you see the cathedral they ended up with after starting completely over...)

The building on the left is the Royal Liver Building and it has the largest clock face in all of Europe--larger than Big Ben!  On top of each spire sits the iconic Liver birds.  These two birds are said to be a couple, and the one facing out to sea is watching for the sailors to return home safely, and the one looking inward toward the town is watching to see if the pubs in town are still open.  I'll give you one guess as to which one is the male and which one is the female.... Typical!

Here are some of my own photos of the buildings up close.

That tall skinny tower is not part of the Three Graces, but believe it or not, it is a glorified vent.  There is a tunnel (that you can drive through) that runs under the bay to the other side of the city, and that tall tower is a ventilation tower for the Mersey Tunnel.  Take note, America--make vents pretty!

The two Liver birds.

The Titanic

Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic actually did not set sail from Liverpool.  Yes, it did have RMS TITANIC LIVERPOOL painted on the side of it, but it was built in Belfast and set sail form Southampton.  The White Star Ship Company who owned the "unsinkable" ship was headquartered in Liverpool, and the Titanic was registered in Liverpool.  This building, known to locals as the "Streaky Bacon Building" was the home of the White Star Ship Company and the balcony you see is the site where the catastrophe was first announced.

Liverpool Castle

There isn't one.  But there used to be.  In the 1720s, the castle was torn down for lack of care, and in 1906 replaced with this statue of Queen Victoria.  There are several statues of Queen Victoria in Liverpool because the city thrived the most economically under her rein.  

Yesterday our troubles seemed so far away, I believe in yesterday.

Bigger, I say!

I had to throw this in.  If you haven't been able to tell by now, I'm completely fascinated and flabbergasted by the Church of England.  The Church of England, during the years of colonialism and conquest, the Church of England was completely oppressive and forceful.  So much so that our ancestors fled England in search for a place where they could practice whatever religion they so desired, and where the government neither supported nor condemned any religion--which is obviously not the case for the Church of England which is a essentially run by the monarchy and government.  But our ancestors weren't the only ones, they did the same to the Irish and all the other countries they colonized.  Not to mention the oppression and abuse received by Catholics who lived in England.  (However, we also know that the Catholics had a power struggle for conversion to the Catholic Church as well--think Spaniards and Native Americans.)  

I'm just awestruck and confused as to why any church or religion could possibly think that their mission is to kill and condemn others who believe differently than them.  So, now you know the reason behind my fascination with political, social, and historical aspects of the Church of England.

By the way, if you know nothing about the Church of England/Anglican Church, then you should look it up.  It is considered a Protestant, Christian church, and arguably the first of that kind.  But nothing like the ones I've been to.   The Church of England obviously isn't like that anymore, but that sure is a rowdy history.

Anyway, after the first Anglican Cathedral was built (the Three Graces mentioned before) and was deemed too small, the Church of England tore down an old Catholic Church, St. John's, to begin building a new Anglican cathedral.  Once St. John's was flattened, they decided that land was much too small as well.  Go figure...  

The land that once housed St. John's Catholic Church, is now St. John's Memorial Garden which still has the original graves that were in the churchyard.

Third Time's a Charm

This is the Anglican cathedral the city of Liverpool finally ended up with.  Boy, did they outdo themselves.  This is the largest cathedral in Great Britain, the largest Anglican cathedral in the world, and the 5th largest cathedral in the world.  The architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is also the same architect who designed the iconic red telephone booths.  The Cathedral took 78 years to build and was completed in the 1970s.  There is a red telephone booth inside and the Cathedral boasts that the display is Scott's smallest creation within his largest creation.  How. Poetic.

     

The Best Kind of Medicine--Booze?

In the early 1800s, public health got really bad in Liverpool.  The poor population in Liverpool was astronomical and the living conditions were extremely third world.  The spread of cholera, typhoid, and smallpox was rampant.  Dr. William Henry Duncan, a local Liverpudlian was appointed as the UK's first  public health officer.  Duncan discovered breakthrough correlations between living conditions of the poor and the disease outbreaks.  He was convinced that the water was completely unsanitary and unsuitable for human consumption, so he encouraged the whole city to drink alcohol instead of the water.  Can you imagine?  An entire city being drunk all the time per the doctor's orders!

The Phil

When John Lennon was once asked what the worse thing about being famous was, he responded, "I can no longer go for a quiet pint at The Phil."  The Philharmonic Dining Rooms is a pub and restaurant directly across from the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall--a music performance hall.  Prior to and during their fame, the Beatles could be found having drinks here.

Which brings me to what you've probably been waiting for.

I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love.

Beatlemania

During their career, the Beatles performed at The Cavern about 300 times, therefore making The Cavern "the most popular club in the world" and home to the most successful band of all time.  I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.  I will say that experiencing this part was one of those, "Wow, I feel epic," occasions.

It wasn't this bright inside The Cavern, but my flash lit up the room.

This is blurry, but I put it on here so you could see the actual ambiance of the club without my camera flash interfering.

 The famous stage.

Adele and dozens of other famous English artists have performed at the Cavern.

There is a plate for each artist from Liverpool to get a song to the number 1 position on the BBC's Top 40 list.

The birthplace of Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager.  Homes on this street now sell for no less than 1,000,000 pounds.

Not to mince words, Mr Epstein, we don't like your boys' sound.  Groups of guitarists are on the way out.

Daylight Robbery

In the 18th and 19th century a window tax was imposed in the UK.  Basically, if you had windows, you had to pay taxes on them, and the more windows you had, the more you had to pay.  It sounds crazy, but this was basically just a tax on the rich, because the bigger the house, the more the taxpayer had to pay.  The amount of windows was intended to correlate to the income of the taxpayer.  This tax got quite the reaction from the public.  Interestingly, the Brits opposed high taxes at that time.  The window tax was introduced the same time as income tax, both to which the public was completely opposed to because they believed that the disclosure of personal income represented an unacceptable governmental intrusion into private matters, and a threat to personal liberty.  I don't know about you, but I find that incredibly interesting.  Maybe the ones who believed that are the ones who moved to America.  Oh, how the times have changed, now the Brits are all a bunch of socialists.  

When people got pissed enough about the window tax, they simply covered their windows to basically thumb their nose at King William III.  This house just at the end of the road from Brian Epstein's childhood home above still has its windows covered.

For tomorrow may rain
So I'll follow the sun.

Scousers

Liverpudlians, or Liverpool natives, are often referred to by themselves and other Brits as "Scousers."  This nickname comes from a stew-like dish that is native to Liverpool.  It's a UK-wide joke that Scousers are the "less-refined" and of lower class than other English from outside of Liverpool.  The Scouse accent is the worst in all of England.  The Brits say they can't even make out what the Scouse are saying.  Check out this video.

That's about all I have to say, but here are some more photos of the city.  Enjoy!

The largest Chinese gates outside of China.

 My crazy Scouse tour guide on the bus.

 City Centre

Socialists unite!

Lad cleaning his proper taxi.

The Mersey Tunnel that the giant vent is for.

 Shopping!

The love you take is equal to the love you make.