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we only had two days in london before we headed off to liverpool so we spent one of those days with elly's friend morgan who we met up with in barcelona as well (she's actually from australia and she was travelling around with my uni friend hilary for a while) and we went shopping and caught up. i also bought some more pierre heme macarons from selfridges and although it's a big call i would have to say i think i prefer his over the laduree ones. obviously i'd take either if they were offered to me, but his are definitely on par or possibly slightly better. if anyone else has ever tried both let me know what you thought! elly and i also saw les mis on our saturday night which was wonderful! we wished that we'd seen some musicals when we were in london at the start of the trip but it didn't occur to us to do it. but they're so much cheaper than back home when you buy the discounted tickets on the day of the show so we went and had a great time. the following day we hung out with elly's friend jamie and watched the squirrels in hyde park (one of them almost ran up my leg!) and ended up at a games arcade and went bowling which was heaps of fun. and then on monday we left for liverpool.
the beatles story museum
john's band before the beatles
the john statue outside the cavern club
we met up with elly's beatles obsessed friend and had a late lunch at the lucy in the sky with diamonds cafe
paul's childhood home
john's childhood home
while we were in liverpool we did pretty much every beatles thing you can do! on our first day we started at the beatles story museum and then went on the magical myster tour which took us to penny lane, strawberry fields, the childhood homes of the four of them and we ended up at the cavern club where they started out. our second day we actually left for edinburgh in the afternoon but that morning we went on the national trust tour which takes you into john's and paul's houses. the magical mystery tour can only drive past them and the only way to get inside is to do the national trust tour and you're not allowed to take any photos, but it was well worth it. the keepers of the two properties take on you a little tour and then let you explore the homes yourself and it was just really interesting to hear little stories about them while standing right where they stood. and in paul's house they'd hung a bunch of photos that his brother mike had taken because he went on to become a photographer and they were hanging right in the place of the house where they were taken, so that was really nice.
also, while we were in liverpool we stayed with elly's father's pen pal from the 1960s and her husband. they lost touch after about a year of writing to each other but nadine (the pen pal) tracked him down a few years ago and came to australia and they finally met! so it was really cool to stay with them and for that whole story to have taken place. and her husband geoff was telling us that he went to school with paul and his brother mike and was in the same year at school as mike (two years below paul) and that they were friends. it's so bizarre to think about someone actually going to school with these people, but they did!
i haven't posted about it publicly until now but i am no longer with my (ex-)boyfriend and although it's been more than difficult i really feel like it is allowing me to move on to better things. i've been able to spend this time since i've been home reconnecting with real friends and the people who really care about me and who i can trust. i'm sick of toxic relationships and friendships and the liars and selfish people of the world who don't give a shit about me and i'm so sick of putting so much more into something than i get out of it. it's time for me to focus on myself for a change and start fresh. i've got a christmas job at jb hifi and although it's only til the end of the year i think it'll be really good for me. it'll keep me busy, bring money in the door, and most importantly it'll help me get out there and make new friends and meet new people. i'm not sure what i'm going to be doing with my life next year but at least i have this in the meantime while i figure it out.
my family has also booked tickets for the five of us (myself, my parents & my brother & his girlfriend) to go to phuket at the start of feburary. we're going to spend a couple of days in singapore with my godmother and her family before staying at their house in phuket. it's going to be incredible - apparently there are four full time servants, elephants just up the street (!!) and tailors that i can go to so i can basically design my own clothes and then have them made for me since i don't have the skill to do it myself. it's going to be a wonderful, relaxing holiday and i can't wait for it.
and MOST IMPORTANTLY i saw harry potter last night!!! tahlia organised a harry potter dress up party and booked tickets for the midnight screening so she, myself, hannah, harriet, elly and peter all got dressed up for it! there were about 20 more of tahlia's friends and we all hung out before walking to the cinema nearby. i was hedwig, harriet was snape, hannah was hermione, tahlia was rita skeeter, peter was mrs norris (lol) and elly was truely the most majestic dobby i have ever had the pleasure of laying eyes upon. while we were all sitting in the cinema waiting for the movie to start they played the trailers for each of the 6 previous movies and everyone cheered and clapped and screamed the whole time! it was such an amazing atmosphere and everyone there was so excited to see the movie. i won't say anything about it because i know it hasn't come out in a lot of countries yet, but i really enjoyed it. i can't wait to see it again and get my head around it because i'm still trying to absorb it all after the first time, but i just think the movies get consecutively better as they go along and the whole series is something that is so close to my heart (as it is to everyone else's) and so inextrictably linked with my childhood that i can't help but get really emotional about it. and i also just have to specifically mention the scene with the 7 undressing harrys... omg don't mind if i do! hahaha.