The Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour

Hi there,

Just trying out blogging by using an old review that I wrote. This is about a tour called the Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour (now that is mouthful), the best of its kind that you can find in Liverpool, so read on, you faithful people! You'll never walk alone!

First of all, the booking process. While the online booking didn't work as expected, Bex had been very helpful since the beginning. She basically entertained my queries and assisted me throughout the booking process. Appreciate her help, really!

Danny, myself and our taxi, Lovely Rita, in front of John Lennon's house. 

On the big day itself, we met our driver, Danny. Very punctual and friendly. (I'm an Indonesian, first time visiting UK and Europe, and I always have this impression that Liverpudlians are friendly in general, but Danny was really great and he knew a lot about the Beatles, so that was a plus). We had fun with the tour and being a Beatle fan, I liked how Danny touched on some subjects that were normally neglected in the books, for example, when we were at LIPA and he talked about Arthur Ballard. There was a lot of info about the good ol' professor. Nice!

As I opted for Harrison tour, the momentum was built up slowly but sure, which was a nice thing. We started from a rather random place that turned out to be the place where John was born. From there, we headed to Ye Cracke, a pub nearby the Liverpool Institute. This was the pub where John Lennon used to skip classes and the latter was where Paul and George went for their education. They were all within walking distance so one could imagine how the young Beatles always gathered together back in those days. We also went to Gambier Terrace, the flat where John stayed when he was a college student. Not very far from there, we could see the Liverpool Cathedral.

On Madryn Street, visiting Ringo's house.

From there, we progressed to more important places. The first was Ringo's house on Madryn Street and his second house, just across the street and next to the Empress (the building featured on the cover of Ringo's first solo album), on Admiral Grove. The housing area was rather... different. This was becoming apparent after we visited the houses of John, Paul and George: Ringo Starr lived in the poorer and rougher area of Liverpool.

We went to Penny Lane right after that. Yes, that Penny Lane, the one beneath the blue suburban skies, and the barber shop was still there! We parked our taxi at the yard of Dovedale Towers, the pub where Freddie Mercury of Queen stayed when he was in Liverpool, and had our tea break at Penny Lane Cakes.

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...

George Harrison's house was the next destination and it was immediately followed by St. Peter's Church. This was where John and Paul met for the first time. One could also see the grave of Eleanor Rigby here, which allegedly inspired Paul McCartney to write the song with the same name in 1966. Strawberry Field was only 5 minutes bicycle ride from there and John's house was just around the corner, so apparently the young John Lennon played normally just like what we did as kids. That was good to know! From there, the last destination was Paul's home.

I'm a very satisfied customer and will recommend it others who are keen for such a tour like this. One more thing, and I'm not sure if Danny ever realized it or not, but he spoke an easily understood English, which helped us understand him a great deal. I was at the Cavern Club the night before, listening to the band playing there. When the singer spoke to audience in what I believed as the authentic Liverpool accent, I couldn't understand a thing! So, yeah, good job, Danny. Thanks!

In front of John's house on Menlove Avenue.

Tur Taksi The Beatles Fab Four

Hai Pembaca,

Ini lagi coba-coba blogging dengan tulisan lama tentang tur yang bernama the Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour di Liverpool. Pertama-tama adalah tentang proses pemesanannya. Pemesanan lewat internet tidak berjalan lancar, tapi karyawati yang bernama Bex sangat membantu dari sejak awal. Dia menjawab semua pertanyaan saya dan juga mengerjakan pemesanannya. Pokoknya ditanggung beres!

Dua bulan kemudian, ketika kita berada di Liverpool, supir taksi kita, Danny, datang menjemput sesuai dengan jam yang telah disepakati. Sangat tepat waktu dan bersahabat (orang Liverpool cenderung ramah, tapi Danny tahu banyak tentang the Beatles, jadi ini adalah nilai tambah). Pengalaman tur ini menjadi lebih lebih menyenangkan karena Danny mengetahui hal-hal kecil yang biasanya tidak ditemukan di buku-buku, misalnya ketika kita berada di LIPA, dia berbicara tentang profesor Arthur Ballard, guru sekolah John Lennon.

Di Ye Cracke.

Karena saya memilih tur Harrison yang berdurasi lima jam, momentumnya dibangun secara perlahan-lahan. Tur bermula dari kunjungan ke tempat tak dikenal yang ternyata merupakan tempat John lahir. Dari sana, kita bertolak ke Ye Cracke, sebuah pub di dekat Liverpool Institute. Pub ini adalah tempat nongkrong John Lennon saat bolos sekolah dan Liverpool Institute adalah sekolah Paul dan George. Semua tempat bersejarah ini berdekatan satu sama lain sehingga kita bisa membayangkan bagaimana trio Beatles ini selalu berkumpul saat sekolah. Selain itu, kita juga singgah ke Gambier Terrace, tempat tinggal John saat menjadi mahasiswa. Tidak jauh dari sana terlihat gereja katedral Liverpool.

Kemudian kita lanjut ke tempat-tempat yang lebih penting. Yang pertama adalah rumah-rumah Ringo Starr. Rumah pertama ada di Madryn Street dan yang kedua ada di seberang jalan di samping the Empress (gedung yang muncul di foto album perdana Ringo) yang bernama Admiral Grove. Daerah ini terasa berbeda dan perbedaannya menjadi jelas setelah kita melihat rumah John, Paul dan George: Ringo tinggal di daerah yang miskin dan berbahaya di Liverpool.

Minum teh di Penny Lane Cakes. 

Sesudah itu, kita lantas mengunjungi Penny Lane. Yes, Penny Lane yang ada di lagu terkenal Beatles dan toko tempat cukur rambut itu masih buka! Taksi kita parkir sejenak di halaman Dovedale Towers, pub tempat Freddie Mercury pernah tinggal, dan kita menikmati teh dan biskuit di Penny Lane Cakes.

Rumah George Harrison adalah tempat berikutnya yang kita singgahi, kemudian dilanjutkan dengan Gereja St. Peter's. Ini adalah tempat John dan Paul bertemu untuk pertama kalinya. Kuburan Eleanor Rigby juga terlihat di sana. Strawberry Field juga berada di sekitar situ dan begitu kita belok ke kiri, kita tiba di rumah John Lennon. Kawasan ini adalah tempat bermain John Lennon kecil. Ternyata dia juga sama seperti kita sewaktu kecil, senang menjelajah dan bersepeda! Dari rumah John, kita pun mengunjungi rumah Paul Mccartney, tempat terakhir dari rangkaian tur.

Di Strawberry Field.

Sebagai pelanggan, saya puas dengan tur yang satu ini. Satu hal penting yang mungkin tidak diketahui oleh Danny adalah betapa bahasa Inggrisnya mudah dimengerti. Di malam sebelumnya, saya berada di Cavern. Ketika penyanyi di grup yang sedang tampil itu berbicara dengan penonton dalam aksen Liverpool, saya tidak tahu apa yang ia bicarakan! Jadi, ya, good job, Danny! Thanks!