Tag: Liverpool
John Lennon peace monument to be unveiled in Liverpool
I just came over a great piece of news. So if you are in Liverpool this Saturday, you are in for a big moment of cultural history!
9 October 2010 marks the celebration of John Lennon’s 70th birthday and this particular day a global peace monument is to be gifted to the people of Europe.
The monument entitled ‘Peace & Harmony’, will be unveiled in Liverpool’s Chavasse Park as part of a gala ceremony in Lennon’s birthplace of Liverpool by his eldest son Julian and first wife Cynthia.
US artist Lauren Voiers was asked by Julian to incorporate, within the monument’s design, a white feather – which to Julian is a symbol of both his father’s spirit and of peace.
Julian Lennon explains: “One of the things my father said to me was that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be ok, it was by, in some shape or form, presenting me with a white feather.”
Dignitaries from all over Europe are invited I’ve heard. Wish I had planned my diary for this occasion too…
But perhaps you are able to go? If so, don’t miss this great moment to celebrate the life and spirit of Lennon and his message of peace!
And if you are not sure how to find your way to Chavasse Park, our Britain map will guide you!
-Helene
Premier League predictions, part 1
Who will lift the trophy next spring?
The Premier League has not been unaffected by the international economic downfall and clubs are not being able to do as much business during the summer as usual. Well, apart from Manchester City, who are buying players like there is no tomorrow. Chelsea have been unusually quiet in the transfer market, Manchester United do not have any money to spend and Liverpool and Arsenal spend more time on trying to keep their best players than recruiting new ones.
Norwegian John Carew and Ashley Young, Aston Villa
This means that clubs like Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham have turned the Premier League into a seven horse race. Though I still find it hard to see someone other than United or Chelsea winning the title this year, it certainly brings even more excitement to the best league in the world.
So, without further ado, here are my predictions for the new season:
8. Everton
On a good day, Everton have the ability to beat every team in the league. The problem is that those days come quite seldom. Last season was ruined by injuries and they need to keep players like Arteta, Cahill, Jagielka and Saha fit this season. I am also excited to see what Jermain Beckford can do in the Premier League.
7. Aston Villa
Villa has a great squad with a lot of pace and technique in their midfield. Key players James Milner and Richard Dunne (!) had a great season last year but their squad is quite small and I can’t see them climbing higher than 7:th this year.
Fernando Torres, Liverpool
6. Liverpool
Last season’s big disappointment have not been too active in the transfer market and even though key players like Gerrard and Torres have pledged their future to the club, Anfield still seems to be in shambles to me. It will be interesting to see what Roy Hodgson can do at a big club like this but if he manages to get the house in order then Liverpool will of course be up there – as they should.
5. Tottenham
I wish I could write that Spurs will follow up their fourth place finish from last year with another one, but I don’t see it happening. We got a good and rather big squad but still lack that final touch. Last season was a big step forward in the way we play – instead of just trying to pass it around nicely but ineffectively, we managed to play more physically and sometimes even boring long ball football. Not always too fun but more varied and way more successful. But we never seem to be able to finish ahead of the Gunners and I think the other three teams above are just too strong.
What do you think? Am I dillusional in thinking Spurs will finish ahead of Liverpool? Will Liverpool restore the order and finish in the top four? Feel free to comment and discuss below!
Check back here tomorrow for my predictions for the top four spots!
/Carl
Things to do in Britain when you’re stuck
Stuck in Britain because of an ash cloud? Don’t despair – Britain is probably the best place to get stuck in, since it’s full of great things to do all year round. So read this blog post and get inspired!
LONDON
Musicals
Phantom of the Opera, Buddy, La Bohème, Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys or The Lion King – There is simply no better place to catch a musical than in London. And even if you don’t have tickets, there’s always a good chance to find tickets last minute at Leicester Square.
Find out which musical you want to see and if it’s running this weekend on Time Out London.
Storm Exhibition – Right but Wrong
See the highly recommended exhibition “Right but Wrong – The Extended Album Art of Storm Studios and Hipgnosis” at Idea Generation Gallery. The exhibition is open until 2nd of May 2010.
Idea Generation Gallery
11 Chance Street
London E2 7JB
Web: Idea Generation Gallery
London Architecture Walks
If your interested in architecture but not sure what to visit or how, then a guided walk might be the answer. With London Architecture Walks, you can choose a theme like “London Churches”, “Financial London” or “River Thames”. Take your pick and start walking.
Web: London Architecture Walks
Have a pint at a local pub
Relax – there’s nothing you can do about the cloud anyway. So why not have a pint and just let the hours go by for a while? With the Good Pub Guide you can find the best places to find a good pint throughout Britain.
Web: The Good Pub Guide
ENGLAND
Fine Food Market in Nottingham
With almost 40 stallholders from across the East Midlands – selling everything from meat, cheese and pickles, to fudge, cakes, beer and wine – there is going to be plenty of choice for food and drink lovers everywhere. So take yourself down to Old Market Square between 16th and 17th of April and eat your way through British food culture this weekend.
Find more things to do in Nottingham on Visit Nottinghams homepage.
See a Premier League football game
Take the opportunity to see a Premier League football game this weekend. There are still some great matches that aren’t sold out like the derby between Manchester City and Manchester United or Liverpool – Westham and Blackburn – Everton.
Buy tickets on Premier Leagues homepage.
Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle
You can’t visit Newcastle without walking along designated World Heritage Site, Hadrian’s Wall. This famous 2,000-year-old Roman defence wall stretches from Carlisle in Cumbria to Wallsend in Newcastle going right through the city.
Find more things to do in Newcastle on VisitNewcastleGatesheads homepage.
Shopping in Manchester
Manchester is a real shopping Mecca, and if you’re stranded here – take the time to do some serious shopping. Some good places to shop is The Lowry Outlet Mall at The Quays, the bohemian area Northern Quarter where you’ll find famous Afflecks, or Kings Street with its fashionable shops.
Stuck in Manchester, but don’t have any shopping cravings? Then visit VisitManchesters homepage for more inspiration.
The Harry Potter Sensation
All over Britain you’ll find places to visit if you’re a Harry Potter buff. Take the Hogwarts Express through Harry Potters London & Oxford, find the filming locations for Hogwarts Dining Hall, Hogsmead Station or Diagon Alley and lot’s of other exiting places throughout Britain.
Read the first part of our three part guide to Harry Potters Britain here.
The Beatles Story in Liverpool
While in Liverpool you don’t want to miss The Beatles Story, an interactive museum located at the historic Albert Dock in Liverpool. Join the four lads in their journey from unknown boys to world famous.
The museum is open seven days a week, all year round (excluding December 25th/26th) Opening hours are 9am – 7pm. For information about current exhibitions, admission fees etc, please visit The Beatles Story homepage.
WALES
Millenium Centre
Cardiff’s showpiece arts centre features everything from ballet and opera to hip hop shows and comedy. Known locally as the ‘Golden Armadillo‘, its gigantic bronze-coloured façade inscribed with poetry has made the building an iconic UK landmark.
Historic Pubs
If you like beer and history, Cardiff is the place to go. Many of the ancient pubs of Cardiff actually existed before the city itself. So find a pub, have a pint and take in the historic atmosphere of Cardiff.
SCOTLAND
Glasgow International Festival Of Visual Art
Have you been stuck in Glasgow and love art? Lucky you. Between16 April-3 May you have the chance to see Glasgow International Festival Of Visual Art. Packed with events, talks and tours as well as major world-class exhibitions, some by artists living in the city and others by leading international figures, the Festival is Glasgow’s art scene at its liveliest and best.
The Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh
If your fond of whisky and happen to be stuck in Edinburgh, I suggest you walk down to The Scotch Whisky Museum. Apparently they just started a thrilling new guided tour where you can take a barrel ride through a replica distillery, hear stories about the craftsmanship of whisky making and get some inside hints on how to improve your palate and lead you to your favourite Single Malt Whisky.
The Scotch Whisky Experience
354 Castlehill, The Royal Mile,
Edinburgh, EH1 2NE
For more information about the opening hours or ongoing events, please visit The Scotch Whisky Museums homepage.
I hope you got some ideas on what to do in Britain when you’re stuck. For further information or inspiration, please visit our homepages:
Sweden: http://www.visitbritain.se
Denmark: http://www.visitbritain.dk
Finland (ENG): http://www.visitbritain.fi
Norway: http://www.visitbritain.no
Enjoy!
- Towe -
‘The Quarter’ in Liverpool
My cousin Helle has lived in Liverpool for 3 years, and she’s got a great tip for you! Thanks for sharing!
- Hanne -
Liverpool’s ‘The Quarter’ is one of those cafe’s/ restaurants that seems to be perfect for every occasion, be it a quick coffee or a nice celebration meal. It has a relaxed and non-pretentious atmosphere, and is light and warm at the same time.
I was a very frequent customer when living in Liverpool, and it is the first place I go to when I’m visiting. The restaurant/cafe is located on a peaceful cobblestone street, Faulkner street, just off Hope Street (another lovely street with The Philharmonic Hall, many restaurants, hotels etc), but is a bit of a walk from the centre of Liverpool. However, if you’re going for a concert at the Philharmonic Hall it’s the perfect place for some food/drink before the show.
The food varies from pasta dishes (try the Chevre..), pizza’s (the garden pizza is great!), salads (nice Caesar salad), daily specials, and many delicious cakes.. The prices are good, pizzas from £5 to £8/pasta dishes from £6 to £9, so a good alternative for a gathering, or a “can’t be bother to cook” night. They also have a lovely breakfast menu, serving great coffees. Though I very rarely book a table, it might be wise to do so on Friday and Saturday nights. It can get a bit packed when there’s a show on. It’s open 8am – 11 pm weekdays, and 10am – 11 pm Saturdays/10.30pm Sundays. If you like the sound of this place and want to check out their menu, have a look at their website.
Hope you like it!
Helle
From football players to couch potatoes
Football season is almost over for the Nordic football teams and so is our this months poll and even though Premier League is still going for quite a while the results are already in. The people have voted and according to you readers, Liverpool wins Premier League this year! But it was a close call. With 21% Manchester United came in second after Liverpools 25%. Third was Chelsea with 20%. And I am sorry to tell you Gary, but only two people believed Sunderland would win this year. Let’s see if our readers are right.
This months poll will be dedicated to the British culture scene. We’ve got a few competitions going on like winning a year pass to the Stockholm Film Festival or movie tickets to In the Loop and for those who’d rather just go to Britain the blog is now loaded with tips like a tour round Harry Potters world or best places to go to in Sherlock Holmes Cornwall.
So I thought – Why not have a poll about culture on TV? And there’s your reason why I this month decided that you get to vote on your favourite political satire. Isn’t that fun?
To vote, click on your preferred choice in the right-hand menu and then press [vote].
And don’t hesitate to comment on either the last poll or the new one below. What did you vote for and why? Would you have liked to see other options? Do you think Liverpool really will win in the end? Will Gary ever get over his loss? The debate is on…
- Towe -
Halloween in Britain
With its majestic stone buildings and bloodthirsty history, where better to celebrate Halloween than in Britain? If you need help to get into the right spirit, here are a few tips and ideas for you to make the most out of it!
Top 10 Halloween ideas
How about going to Edinburgh to celebrate Halloween? The magnificent castle on the top of the hill is lit up at night and is a beautiful place to look out over the city. In Edinburgh, you can also take part in ghost tours of Edinburgh’s dark alleys and underground chambers.
Another suggestion is to go to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. Alnwick Castle is no stranger to witches and wizards and starred as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. Wear fancy clothes, carve pumpkins, hear ghost stories and take a spooky walk before the party starts.
Read more about our Halloween ideas here!
Top 10 haunted places
Britain is also known for its thousands of (allegedly) haunted places. No British city seems complete without its personal ghosts and scary tales. London is of course top of this list with the infamous Tower of London taking the no. 1 spot – the giant fortress has provided the scene for many historical beheadings and hangings. Apparently, you can still smell the perfume of the ‘White Lady’ who died in the Tower many years ago.
Read more about Britain’s top haunted places here!
Have a nice Halloween!
/Carl
Guide to the history of Britain
Swedish public service television - SVT - now airs the British TV documentary “Historiska resmål (Historical travel sites)” and tonight the turn has come to England. Starting in Hastings, Justine Shapiro guides us through the English history via London, Liverpool and finally Tintagle. England may be a small country but indeed it has a great history and it all started in the year 1066.
If you live in Sweden, see it tonight on SVT2 at 18:00! If you miss it, it is rerun on 9:th and 11:th of October. If you miss that too, have a look at SVT Play where you can see it online.
Click for more info:
SVT Historiska Resmål
SVT Play
/Carl
Team of the week: Everton
The city of Liverpool has another great team to be proud of and that is Everton Football Club. Did you know that Everton is called ‘The Toffees’?
Everton is the only club in England who has played more than 100 seasons in the top division. Their home ground is at Goodison Park, that’s on the other side of Stanley Park, opposite Anfield. In football, there is often rivalry between local teams. This is also the case between Liverpool and Everton, and matches between the two are known as ‘the Merseyside Derby’.
The most famous Everton player is Dixie Dean, who scored 60 league goals in one season! This was in the 1927-28 season.
This season, Everton has bought Anton Peterlin and has got Iain Turner back from Nottingham. David Moyes is their manager, and last season’s winner of ‘Manager of the Year’.
Did you know that Paul McCartney is an Everton fan? His father was actually the chairman in Everton supporter club several years ago (speaking of the Beatles, click here for information about where you can walk in their footsteps).
Next Everton match is on the 13th of September, playing Fulham. After their awful premiership start, could a win in this match turn it around?
Click here to learn more about the exciting city of Liverpool
To buy football tickets to Premier League, click here
Did you miss our previous posts about Liverpool, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton? Click here
- Hanne -
Team of the week: Liverpool
Since the 18thseason of Premier League is starting this weekend, we thought we would introduce some of the biggest teams in our new ‘Team of the week’. First up is Liverpool FC.
The club from the banks of Merseyside is one of the most successful football clubs in Great Britain. With their 18 league wins and 5 European cups, the Reds have since 1892 won everything there is to win in the football world, except the premiership.. Could this be Liverpool’s year?
Today Liverpool FC is led by their captain Steven Gerrard. The twenty-nine-year-old has been in the club since he was eight and got his debut as far back as in 1998. Since then, Steven has scored over 100 goals for the club and is playing along Fernando Torres up front.
This season the club has bought English international Glen Johnson and skilled midfielder Alberto Aquilani. Johnson has been hailed as the next great English full-back for a long time, but has yet to live up to his full potential, although making the premiership ‘team of the year’ last season. Liverpool needs both of these big signings at the top of their game to replace Alvaro Arbeloa and fan-favorite Xabi Alonso, both sold to Real Madrid this summer.
Liverpool FC opens the season away at White Heart Lane against Tottenham Hotspurs this Sunday.
Click here for tickets to Liverpool matches and other matches this season
Read more about Premier League and its teams
Read more about the exciting city of Liverpool
Read about the upcoming Beatles week in Liverpool here
For those of you with spotify, listen to ‘You’ll never walk alone’ here
Check out our blog next week for the next ‘team of the week’!
- hanne -
In The Beatles footsteps
Abbey Road
August 2009 is the month you should go in the footsteps of The Beatles. This year both the Beatles week in Liverpool and the 40 year anniversary of the Abbey Road crossing is in August and what better way to celebrate this then visiting England?
On Saturday August 8th 2009 it is exactly 40 years ago that The Beatles crossed Abbey Road in London for their famous Abbey Road album. To celebrate this, The Celebrity Planet invites everyone to cross Abbey Road at 11 am on August 8th. So, why not dress up as John, Paul, Ringo or George, and come to the famous Abbey Road crossing where you can sing famous Beatles songs with other Beatles fans. An event you don’t want to miss, and it’s all for free! Just don’t forget to bring your iPod!
The Beatle Week in Liverpool
A few weeks later, between August 26th and September 1st, the annual Beatle Week takes place in Liverpool. In over 20 years, fans from all over the world have come to visit the city to celebrate music during Beatle Week. Here you’ll experience live entertainment, art exhibitions, flea markets, guest appearances, autograph sessions, Beatles auctions and bands from all over the world participating in Liverpool’s best event of the year.
For those who doesn’t want to organize a trip to Liverpool by themselves this week, there are tours from both Denmark and Sweden. Travel art in Denmark has an organized trip where you don’t have to do anything. Events, hotel and dinner is all booked on their trip. And for the real Beatle-junkie there’s a possibility to up the price and stay at the famous ‘Hard day’s night hotel’. For more information about this please check out their programme here.
For Swedes the ‘Beatles information Center’ arranges a trip to Liverpool during Beatle Week. People joining this trip gets to travel with the famous cover band Pepperland(former Lenny Pane), who are performing with the famous Lennon impersonator Mark McGann at Beatle Week. For more information about the Swedish tour, please click on this link.
The Beatles Story
Also, while in Liverpool you don’t want to miss The Beatles Story, an interactive museum located at the historic Albert Dock in Liverpool. Join the four lads in their journey from unknown boys to world famous superstars in a “Living History” audio guide narrated by John Lennon’s sister, Julia. On your walk you’ll visit the places they lived, ate, sang and performed and you’ll also see some rare Beatles artefacts along the way.
At the museum there’s also a special exhibition that changes from time to time. Between June 17th and December 31st, there’s an exhibition called “White Feather: The Spirit of Lennon”, an exhibition that “tells the emotional and intimate personal story of the life of the Lennon family; for the first time presented as an exclusive exhibition. It gives a unique and emotive insight into life with John Lennon that only Cynthia (John’s first wife) and Julian (John’s eldest son) can give.” As it says on the homepage.
The museum is open seven days a week, all year round (excluding December 25th/26th) Opening hours are 9am – 7pm. For information about current exhibitions, admission fees etc, please visit The Beatles Story homepage.
Enjoy!
- Towe -
Connect
Latest tweets
Visit us on Facebook
Watch us on Youtube
On Flickr
