Dear excursion group,
I
would like to tell you about my personal highlight in Liverpool.
What I absolutely liked and what certainly fascinated me is the idea of Liverpool as “living history”. Let me explain this to you
by using two examples worth mentioning.
First
of all there is the “International Slavery Museum”
that gives you a great impression of how Liverpool
became a key centre for the slave trade in the 18th century. I think
the exhibition was well organized and very interesting indeed. Liverpool tries
to give its visitors an understanding of its history, even of all the bad
things that happened. They are not trying to hide the negative impact they had
through slavery. Furthermore, inside the museum you could also be introduced to
other events in Liverpool’s history, for
example the demise of the Titanic. It felt like going back in time as even
events that took place many years ago were presented so vividly, showing their
relation to the present.
My
second example for Liverpool as “living history”
is a discovery I made when I was in a pub. No, it has got nothing to do with
beer or anything like that – it is all about music! I saw musicians performing
in a pub and singing Beatles songs for a very young audience. And these young
people knew all the lyrics and they were amused and started dancing and
enjoying themselves. “The Beatles” belong to Liverpool and they are still alive
here. Even young people celebrate them and sing their songs with pleasure. I
felt absolutely overwhelmed that they are still present in people’s minds. And
I think that is what makes Liverpool so
special: it is proud of all the things it has to offer, even though they are
already many years old!
Jessica Friedrich