While I’m writing this article, The Beatles are working their magic in my speakers. I was already a fan, but with this visit to the 2008 European Capital of Culture, I’m a Fan-Confirmed!!
There, in Liverpool, The Beatles are everywhere!
They are more important than everything else in Liverpool, all the museums, all the galleries, all the buses, and, why not, all the important monuments have something to do with The Beatles! It’s a reasonable fact, if we consider that Liverpool was the starting point for the most famous and best Pop Music group of the 60’s! …
and for many the best group ever!
There, in Liverpool, The Beatles are everywhere!
They are more important than everything else in Liverpool, all the museums, all the galleries, all the buses, and, why not, all the important monuments have something to do with The Beatles! It’s a reasonable fact, if we consider that Liverpool was the starting point for the most famous and best Pop Music group of the 60’s! …
and for many the best group ever!
What is so important about a bunch of guys with a strange haircut?
That must be your question, but it has an easy answer: They were not a band; they were an entire culture for that decade (and still remembered today). They are so important, that they have their own museum in Liverpool: “The Beatles History” (and other important sites, such as The Beatles Store, “The Cavern Square” - “The Cavern” was the club where they played more often while they were in Liverpool - and so many others I can’t even remember!
But Liverpool is not only about the Beatles!
There is a lot more history behind this wonderful city, and the “Liverpool Maritime Museum” is a good proof of that - a Museum that reminds us of things like The Titanic started its journey “here”. Far from ending there, it also teaches us about the origins of this city, as a cultural melting pot, where everyone from everywhere came in. as a result of that cultural mix, today you can see all kinds of people, from punks to guys in a pirate costume, to people with body painting on… and nobody is pointing their fingers! It’s normal stuff in Liverpool!
Again, the music and the stories are not the only “artistic point” in Liverpool, there is also TATE Gallery, where you can relax before the works of such artists as Picasso, and the “Kiss” – that famous sculpture by Rodin!
About the city itself, it is beautiful, even with half of it under construction (that’s why the opening ceremony of the Liverpool'08 European Capital of Culture had workmen as guitar men, dancers, etc), but the “virgin” parts of the city, such as the Albert Docks are incredibly beautiful – you can take a walk at any time of the day there and it will be unforgettable, no doubt of that!
Talking to the locals was one of my favourite experiences.
I’d never felt that, having to speak English everywhere, and they were all so nice to us (which really made easy the speaking thing).
Even better if we mentioned where are we from! They automatically shouted “Cristiano Ronaldo! José Mourinho!” It was very funny.
I can only draw to a close with a Ringo Starr catch-phrase: “
We didn't have much, but we had enough”.
But thinking about it … how can you have enough of this wonderful city?
Domingos da Silva (12ºano)
