After our tour of Ireland, we took a short Ryan Air flight from Dublin to Liverpool (35 minutes in the air). We had arranged a taxi to pick us up at John Lennon airport so we were quickly off & on our way. Driver was chatty & apparently a Trump fan. A few people had asked us what we thought about our new president and he was the only one that had a positive opinion. Most were quite wary. He took us to our hotel for two nights, The Hard Days Night Hotel, which was beautiful both inside and out. On the TV in our room was playing, what else, A Hard Days Night and it said Welcome Diana on it too. Our room was on the Mathew Street side of the hotel so it got quite noisy at night but we were there for the music so it didn't bother us. I used earplugs when we were ready for bed both nights & fell asleep quickly.
After checking in & getting settled, we walked down to the Docks where the Beatles statues are, took some pictures then just walked around taking it all in. I never dreamed Liverpool would be so beautiful. Those Victorian buildings near the river are amazing. We also saw the Mersey Ferry coming in and a huge ferry loading for a trip to the Isle of Man. We had a 7pm reservation at the British Music Experience so after a quick bite to eat in their cafe, we went through the exhibits. Interesting with lots of memorabilia from the British bands we knew and some we didn't. My husband played the bass guitars in the Gibson wing.
After that, we walked back to our hotel and headed down to Mathew St for a little pub action. We listed to music in at least 6 pubs. The Lennon Pub, Rubber Soul, Sgt Peppers, The Cavern Pub and a couple of others. Fun night.
Next morning after breakfast we walked to the Albert Dock for our 11am National Trust tour of the Childhood Homes of John and Paul, which I had booked ahead of time. Loved this tour & a highlight of our trip to Liverpool. We went to John's Aunt Mimi's home first, which was a lovely stand alone brick home with lots of light and beautiful stained glass windows. No pics allowed but it was pretty cool to actually be in the house John grew up in. Next we drove to Paul's house, about a mile away as the crow flies. It was in a long row of houses and very nice inside too. The living room where John & Paul wrote over 100 songs had a piano in it and Paul's brother Mike's drum set was in the dining room where the band practiced. We got to go upstairs to see Paul's bedroom too and I got chills in there. I could just feel Paul in there. LOL
Got back in time to have a quick lunch and do the Magical Mystery Tour bus that took us round to lots of the places in the Beatles songs, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, also the street where Ringo lived and his school, George's home, drove by John's home and stopped for pics at Paul's home.
After that we went through the Beatles Story museum which was great. Its the only museum totally dedicated to the Beatles and has a ton of memorabilia in it. That evening we had tickets to the Cavern Club Beatles performance at 9pm so we went down there about 8 and listed to the band in the area where the Beatles had played. They were really good. Then went down to where the CC Beatles played and listed to the first set right next to the stage and part of the 2nd set further back. Before we left, my husband got to talk to the lead singer of the first band we heard & I took their pic together.
Next morning after breakfast we caught a cab to Lime St Station and caught our train to Edinburgh via York. We had a great time in Liverpool & I'd love to go back to visit the Cathedral and some of the non-Beatles stuff there. Its a beautiful city.