Chilling at the Royal Chambers

Escaping the cold at The Pump House.

It’s a little bit random, I agree, especially if you aren’t here to watch a football match (which I’m not). I’m here for the history and for a little bit of fun.

Today in a nutshell:

Julie, Lauryn, and myself at Albert Dock.

James, myself, and Lauryn showing our school pride. Go Pirates! #BeSouthwestern

At The Beatles Story

You can hardly tell in this picture, but I am trying (badly) to play a giant piano projected on the floor. Yes, this was supposed to be a children’s activity, but since there were no children around…

A ferris wheel!

Buildings in Liverpool city centre.

Liverpool is quite pretty at night, and in the day time, too!

Christmas lights are appearing all over the UK!

Lauryn and Julie at The Pump House pub near Albert Dock.

Mulled wine! The perfect way to warm up some frozen fingers. This hot, tasty drink put me in the holiday spirit!

Cheers!

The chandelier above us… I spilled wine all over my arm while attempting to take this picture. Let’s all take a moment to laugh at my expense.

My hostel is a little hole in the wall ironically named the “Royal Chambers” – but seriously, this place is a tiny door wedged between two stores. If you happened to blink as you walked by, you probably wouldn’t even see it. However, I am SO incredibly pleased with it because it is peaceful, relatively clean, and it has awesome WiFi access for its guests, which is something that I go crazy for because I’m used to having pretty poor internet service over here in Europe. I feel like I’m sitting in the lap of luxury.

Besides all the traveling and sightseeing that I’ve been doing the last three months, a lot of my time is devoted to the incredibly large amounts of schoolwork and reading I’m assigned every week. And what classes am I taking? A total of four, which include:
1) World Civilizations I
2) A History of British Commodities and International Conflict
3) Theatricality
4) Understanding Modern Britain

I’m starting to freak out a little bit about a 6-8 page paper due for my Commodities course on Thursday morning because I haven’t started it at all. This isn’t too surprising, since I am the queen of procrastination. However, since I will be leaving straight from class on Thursday to catch my afternoon train to Paris (yes, I am going to Paris next weekend!!), I’m stressed about both writing my paper and somehow packing for my trip… Because we all know I will be doing both those tasks on Wednesday evening. For now though, I will just relax and enjoy the rest of my weekend. I like to leave panic sessions for later, too.

So far, this is the effect that Liverpool has had on me:

Awesome, I know. These Lennon-esque glasses have to be the best cheap souvenir I’ve ever purchased. I got them earlier today at The Beatles Story, which is a museum in Liverpool that tells the entire Beatles story from start to finish. It was pretty interesting. Tomorrow we’ll be going back to see a special exhibition put on by The Beatles Story in conjunction with Elvis Presley’s Graceland that is all about Elvis and his immense influence on the Beatles themselves.

Anyway, I need to get busy relaxing, so I’ll stop writing for now.