Liverpool.!!!! :D

In stark contrast to Austria, Liverpool made up one crazy fun awesome fantastical beatlesful party of a weekend.! Oh wow. I felt as though I'd died and gone to Beatles heaven.! or at least Mecca :P After a 5 hr loooong busride during which I only listened to the Beatles on shuffle, I finally made it to Liverpool! Debi's mom was there to pick me up- although she asked two girls before me if they were Amy. One was foreign and didn't understand, and the other WAS named Amy, but from Liverpool..haha. App. she had a sign ready to hold up with Mom's name on it when she picked her up earlier at the John Lennon airport- & Mom was the only one there..! Mom had just woken up when we made it back to their house. We hung out with Debi's family until she got back from work- everyone was really sweet. Debi's Mom made a gigantic platter of ham sandwiches and kept telling me to eat & I didn't want to be offensive so when she'd leave the room I'd give Mom the ham hah. We took Mom in a Tesco and she set off the alarm with a huge tin of chocolates, and the cashier asked where she's from and Mom went "I am from the United States." "yeah, well I know that..." ahahha. So good. We went to the local "chippy" so Mom could get some fish & chips and I got veg curry..app a lot of traditional english places also serve Chinese food. I saw a few signs on restaurants that boasted "traditional english breakfast..business chinese lunch"..interesting. Quick sad story- Mom said she had made a reservation at "one of the Beatle's childhood homes" but then cancelled it because I hadn't responded to the link she sent me..?. I was super busy and thought it was just a normal hotel- obviously if I had seen it I would've been super excitedly freaking out. So YEAhhh. could've stayed at Stuart Sutcliffe's home, which is now a B&B. O_o. Friday morning, Mom & I headed into town on the bus with Debi's son Jonathan. He gave us a quick tour walking around- we saw the building where it was announced that the Titanic sank.! ThennnNn we saw the Hidden Gallery- pictures that Paul Berriff had photographed that were recently rediscovered. (http://www.the-beatles-hidden-gallery.com/) Then we walked around Albert Dock, and through the Beatles story museum- good thing I already knew a lot of info about them, because I still could've spent forever in there.! Each room had atmospheric replicas, like you walked through a giant yellow submarine, listened to audio on beatlemania sitting in airplane seats, etc..and saw instruments, different suits, boots, john lennon's glasses, lots of memorabilia..At the end of the exhibit, there were four separate sections, one dedicated to each Beatle and their life individually after the Beatles. Even the starbucks had Astrid's black & white Hamburg photos of the band hanging on the walls.! We had lunch at a restaurant that had a strange bathroom- women had stalls to the left and men had stalls to the right of the same room with the same sink..thenNn went on THE MAGICAL MYSTERY TOURbus.!!! It was SO AWESOME! a colorful bus playing nearly constant beatles music and sharing random facts- I was geeking out SOOO much the entire time..that entire day actually. *sigh =) We saw the house that Ringo was actually born in, as well as the house George Harrison was born in, the pub on the cover of one of Ringo's albums, John Lennon's Aunt Mimi's house, Paul McCartney's house, their schools/art university that John failed all his exams at, Penny Lane (including the barbershop, the bank at the corner, and the shelter in the middle of the roundabout.!), Strawberry Fields, the churchyard where John and Paul first met, the church where Paul didn't make the cut to be a choirboy (although he was a choirboy and a boyscout at some point), and the music university that Paul McCartney started, and still gives diplomas to graduates at every year.! At the end of the tour, we checked out the Hard Day's Night Hotel, restaurant, and nearby Beatles shops. When I left the shop, Mom was standing there holding a CD and said that boys in a band had given it to her..so of course I hadta go talk to them and approached them w the great line "So..you gave my Mom a CD.?.." hah but they were app playing around later that night & told me to check them out..which I never ended up doing..but oh well. I got Mom to take my picture by a statue of John Lennon leaning against the wall- She said she didn't want a picture with it when I asked her..she thought it was a random man & somehow didn't realize it was John Lennon.? We were right by the Cavern Club & on Matthew St. at that point so of course we went in.! There was a John Lennon impersonator & a Paul McCartney (who looked as though he'd eaten another Paul McCartney) but they were really good and played 3 50min sets in a row w 10 min breaks. Mom sat with an older couple- the man looked like a less debonair, older version of Robert DeNiro. They were really nice & it was the woman's birthday so I told John Lennon to say Happy Birthday to her :) Robert DeNiro was chatting up this group of young cute guys nearby and when I came back to the table after having been watching the music, Robert DeNiro went up to them and said they should make acquaintance with me. just like that. hah. They were really nice & one of the guys actually goes to school right near where I do in London. Debi & her friend Liz finally made it- by this time a good 4 hours had gone by, so we went out to dinner and on an unsuccessful hunt for Eleanor Rigby (the statue, which app looks like a random gnarly old women sitting on a bench, but we never did find her that saucy bird) and then back to the Cavern Club. Mom was unhappy because it was obviously even more crowded & loud & full of people and music- I LOVED it.! Debi & her went upstairs to get cellphone reception & Liz was sitting on the only free seat in the entire place by the door. I stood there awkwardly thinking Mom & Debi'd come down any second. There was a really cute blonde guy sitting behind Liz by himself- he was with an older man and younger guy but they'd gone somewhere..so after awkwardly standing for quite awhile I decided to go up to him and ask where he was from. We ended up talking for a long time & he was the sweetest guy ever.! A soccer player from Denmark, & him and his younger brother took their (blind) Grandpa to Liverpool for the weekend because he'd always wanted to go & was a huge Beatles fan & wanted to experience everything. Also Danish love of my life said he wanted to teach kids because he had a passion to positively impact their lives and motivate them. *sigh :) We hadta leave much earlier than I'd've liked..but it was a wonderful beatlesful day.! Saturday, Jonathan fixed us a delicious traditional English breakfast & then Debi, Mom, Liz & I set off to Wales.! We drove to Conwy Castle, saw the smallest house in Britain & drove to Llandudno & walked around the oldest/longest(?) pier..It was a really beautiful, nice day. Driving back to Liverpool we saw fireworks everywhere for Guy Fawkes day & saw GIGANTIC bonfires everywhere, massive PILES of boxes, wood, furniture, everything..it was awesome.! That night I went out on the town with Jonathan and his friend Paul..it was lots of fun.! We went to lots of different pubs in search of the elusive good-sounding live band..saw a creepy lady playing the accordion wearing a tophat O_o..Talked with a guy wearing a "snazzy red Christmas jumper," & also met the Liverpool love of my life Danny. Sunday, Debi, Jonathan, Mom & I drove back into town & had the MOST DELICIOUS food of my life- at this converted pub called The Monro..but really..Mmm..a roasted red pepper & goat cheese tart for my starter & then butternut squash risotto with rocket & goat cheese on top..sOOooo GOOD.! We went in this really creative awesome chocolatier place (I got dark rose chili chocolate for later) & then walked around near Albert Dock & Cavern Walks for awhile..all too soon I hadta get back on the bus to London.