Liverpool Visit

So yesterday I took the day off and got a bus then train into Liverpool Lime Street. I love the way into Lime Street where huge rock faces go up either side, its like you're in a canyon or something..
Aaanyway I had an appointment booked at 12 at the passport office so when I arrived I had about an hour to kill. I decided to get a taxi down to the passport office just so I knew where it was. I got a taxi and the driver was dead friendly. He started asking me where I was going on holiday, then we started on football because its for a City away game. He was an Everton fan who has a soft spot for Man City and also doesn't rate Jo. I didn't tell him I hate Everton and we got along fine! He dropped me off, so I went for a walk.
I walked through Exchange Square toward the center of town with my Ipod on. I saw the Liverpool Debenhams where I worked for a day last year, and the One center, then I had to start walking back for my appointment. I had my Ipod on shuffle, and The Beatles came on which was pretty cool because I was in Liverpool. Its wasn't much of a surprise though because I've got like 150 of their songs on my pod, but what was weird happened next. I was walking along the street and look down an alley, and there's a statue leaning against the wall. I was bored and had a bit of time to kill before I needed to be back and was nearly there anyway, so I went to see who the statue is of, and lo Behold its John Lennon! That was cool, but again I thought its Liverpool so these must be loads of these all over the city. But then I turn around and behind me is The Cavern Club, where The Beatles started out! It was cool that I was listening to them at the time, it was as if John Lennon and George Harrison were guiding me from beyond the grave!I had no idea where it was or that it was there so it was great seeing it randomly like that. I went in, had a look round and got a few photos.

I got to the passport office, and they had really tight security. I had to empty my pockets and walk through a metal protector like I was boarding a plane. I didn't really undertstand why but I wasn't about to argue with the 3 security guys. I got given a card and waited for my number to be called out. When it was it was a pretty straightforward encounter to begin with. I gave in my form, handed over my photos aswell. The woman then started complaining about them, saying they were too distant and the background wasn't white. She asked where I got them done.. It was at Morrisons in a machine the exact same as the one that does passport photos behind her. That shut her up haha
Next I had to go to the cashier to pay. That was a bit of a nightmare. My mum had written me a cheque for £100 because that was how much the woman on the phone said it would cost because it was getting fasttracked. It cost £97 so the woman wouldn't accept it, then she said she couldn't accept any cheques because I didn't have a "Secure Cashier/Cheque Card" or something. I didn't have that kind of money on me so I had to pay by my card which was a bit of a nightmare but turned out I had £102 in there so it must have been meant to be! I got my receipt and left. Hopefully the photos will be alright for the passport, if not we'll get a phonecall and have to send some more off

After that I had pretty much all day free, so decided to go and have a look at Anfield. I've been to Liverpool a few times before so know the basic directions but had no Idea where Anfield was and had never seen it, and because I like stadiums I decided to get a tour and look in the museum aswell. £6 for a tour and museum entry was pretty good I thought! Because I was on my own I read every single section of the club's history and took my time over it so I learnt a lot. I also got to look at every trophy, every exhibit, and watch every movie apart from The Road To Istanbul because that was like an hour long. I got to see the famous comeback in the final and then the penalty shootout with Jerzy Dudek saving to win them the Champions League. By the time I came out of the museum, I had been in there for 2 hours (!!), and my tour was just about to start.
On the tour there were a young chavvy scouse couple, 2 scouse businessmen from the city, a pretty large group of Spanish people on holiday (understandable with Benitez,Alonso,Torres etc. etc.) a smaller Italian group, me, and then 5 Irish guys. We got taken around through the players entrance (literally a door with a sign saying player's entrance above it) into the changing rooms and interview areas. The interview areas were just boards on the wall which surprised a lot of people but I've been around a few stadiums and they're all the same. The Liverpool changing room was nice and cosy, with the players all getting changed with their positions, Goalkeepers with goalkeepers, defenders with defenders, etc. etc. to "boost team spirit". The subs all get changed on the other side of the room, and the room is very plain to make sure the "players concentrate on whats going to happen on the pitch." I'm pretty sure its just because its a pretty minging and old stadium!
The official's changing room is much smaller than the home team's, but the away team's is double the size. There was another lame reason for this but I didn't understand it. We walked out through the tunnel under the famous "This Is Anfield" sign ("To Warn Opponents") and out onto the pitch. First impressions were that its a much smaller stadium than I imagined, and that City is much taller and steeper so people are much closer to the pitch. I know its an old stadium but it didn't look old, it just looked unimpressive. The away fans have a tiny tiny corner on one side, it just made me appreciate Eastlands even more. The Kop is quite big though. Its fairly impressive, and it would get a good atmosphere at matches, but I bet its not half as good as when it was all standing 15 years ago and previous to that. In the museum there was footage of that, and it looked absolutely incredible, a huge mass of Scousers swaying side to side and backwards and forwards.. would have been incredible. If I became Prime Minister one of the first things I would do is bring back some all standing areas at football grounds. I know Hillsborough, Heysel and those other disasters have happened but the amount that ticket prices would drop as a result, the improvements in atmosphere.. it would be so worth it, and with proper policing its easily possible without trouble or accidents.
Heres some of the pictures..

Bill Shankly Statue outside the Ground

The Kop

This was the one picture I got with me in all day.. It was taken by a Spanish girl. Its horrible but I didn't have the heart to tell her and make her do it again! haha

So yeah, Anfield isn't that nice for a stadium.. its just a bit.. grotty. The area its in is an absolute shithole (see below) but the museum is class.. there's a lot of history to the ground and the club. That was the best part of the day by far.
I left Anfield and then walked down to Goodison Park for a little look there, on the way seeing some pretty trampy empty houses next to the stadium. It was a huge waste and was like walking through a ghost town.. really weird.

European City Of Culture My Arse!!!

This was really weird, a whole street of boarded up houses. They looked alright aswell. It was like a ghosttown, pretty scary walking though!! haha

After walking through the ghost town I got to Goodison Park but I couldn't get in and didn't have any money.. the stadium was surrounded by metal sheets in the corners so I couldn't even get a look inside or picture. So I walked around it, admired it from the outside (Even grottier than Anfield) and left Liverpool back for Home.

It was pretty cool being a tourist for a day! Sorry for the mammoth post!