occupation. The band had been back in Liverpool only a few months when George Harrison turned eighteen, and they set off for another stint on the Reeperbahn. Allan Williams fixed it with the authorities by writing a letter on their behalf to the German Tribunal and managed to arrange for legitimate visas. Peter Eckhorn at the Top Ten Club was offering them £40 a week, twice as much as they had earned at the Kaiserkeller. John promised Cynthia that this time it would only be a short trip and softened the pain of parting by inviting her to join him in Hamburg during Easter vacation from art school.
Cynthia was joined on the journey to Hamburg by Dorothy Rohne, a pert, blond girl with a pixie haircut from the art college, whom Paul had been dating in Liverpool. Paul was “serious” about Dot, who worked part-time in a pharmacy, and he even contemplated marriage. The girls were sent off at the Lime Street station by Paul’s father and Cynthia’s mother. They were fortified for the trip with cheese butties and a thermos of tea, but they literally starved during the two-day ride. There was no restaurant car on the train, and the girls were afraid to get off at the food stops, lest they misunderstand the stopover time allotted for them to eat and find themselves stranded in some foreign city. They arrived at the Hamburg station one morning just after sunrise, exhausted and hungry.
John and Paul were waiting for them, leaping and bounding about the station like a couple of lunatics stuffed full of speed. They had been up playing into the early-morning hours and were by then too full of Prellys to go to sleep, so they had been up all night. Cynthia had never seen either one of them like that, chattering on a mile a minute, slipping down the early-morning deserted streets. The boys assured the girls that everyone in Hamburg, save for Pete Best, was taking Prellys. “It’s the only way to survive,” John assured her, and by the end of the two-week visit Cynthia was on them too.
It had been arranged for Cynthia to officially stay at Astrid’s parents’ house in the suburbs, since the attic rooms the boys shared over the Top Ten Club weren’t considered appropriate accommodations for a young English lady. Paul’s girlfriend Dot was staying with Rosa, the washroom lady, on her houseboat. To Cynthia’s great relief, Astrid turned out to be not only a warm and gracious host but a good friend to Cynthia as well. She loaned Cynthia her clothes, changed her hairstyle, and showed her how to put on makeup. Cynthia was fascinated by Astrid’s exotic tastes. Her room at her parents’ house was painted all in black, with silver tin foil accessories, and on the bed was a black velvet bedspread with black satin sheets. Concealed spotlights illuminated the stark room in an effect far ahead of its time. Every night after dinner, Cynthia and Astrid would spend hours getting dressed and primping in front of the mirror in Astrid’s room before setting out for the Top Ten Club to watch the boys perform. The girls sat stageside for hours, oblivious to the fights and screaming and mayhem around them, waiting for the boys to take their “powsa” or break. On some nights Cynthia would brave the attic room to sleep with John. They slept in the bottom bunk of a double-decker, the smell of dirty laundry heavy in the air, and made love while George Harrison snored blissfully away in the bed a few feet above them.
Cynthia thought Astrid’s relationship with Stu Sutcliffe quite peculiar, although the rest of the Liverpool contingent didn’t find it as fascinating as she did. Stu and Astrid were so inseparable that Cynthia began to think of them as twins. They even started to look alike. They had the same haircut, they wore the same black leather outfits—both with an occasional bare midriff—and they even ordered the same food in restaurants. It was clear that Stu had no intention of ever leaving Hamburg without her and that his days with the
Cynthia was joined on the journey to Hamburg by Dorothy Rohne, a pert, blond girl with a pixie haircut from the art college, whom Paul had been dating in Liverpool. Paul was “serious” about Dot, who worked part-time in a pharmacy, and he even contemplated marriage. The girls were sent off at the Lime Street station by Paul’s father and Cynthia’s mother. They were fortified for the trip with cheese butties and a thermos of tea, but they literally starved during the two-day ride. There was no restaurant car on the train, and the girls were afraid to get off at the food stops, lest they misunderstand the stopover time allotted for them to eat and find themselves stranded in some foreign city. They arrived at the Hamburg station one morning just after sunrise, exhausted and hungry.
John and Paul were waiting for them, leaping and bounding about the station like a couple of lunatics stuffed full of speed. They had been up playing into the early-morning hours and were by then too full of Prellys to go to sleep, so they had been up all night. Cynthia had never seen either one of them like that, chattering on a mile a minute, slipping down the early-morning deserted streets. The boys assured the girls that everyone in Hamburg, save for Pete Best, was taking Prellys. “It’s the only way to survive,” John assured her, and by the end of the two-week visit Cynthia was on them too.
It had been arranged for Cynthia to officially stay at Astrid’s parents’ house in the suburbs, since the attic rooms the boys shared over the Top Ten Club weren’t considered appropriate accommodations for a young English lady. Paul’s girlfriend Dot was staying with Rosa, the washroom lady, on her houseboat. To Cynthia’s great relief, Astrid turned out to be not only a warm and gracious host but a good friend to Cynthia as well. She loaned Cynthia her clothes, changed her hairstyle, and showed her how to put on makeup. Cynthia was fascinated by Astrid’s exotic tastes. Her room at her parents’ house was painted all in black, with silver tin foil accessories, and on the bed was a black velvet bedspread with black satin sheets. Concealed spotlights illuminated the stark room in an effect far ahead of its time. Every night after dinner, Cynthia and Astrid would spend hours getting dressed and primping in front of the mirror in Astrid’s room before setting out for the Top Ten Club to watch the boys perform. The girls sat stageside for hours, oblivious to the fights and screaming and mayhem around them, waiting for the boys to take their “powsa” or break. On some nights Cynthia would brave the attic room to sleep with John. They slept in the bottom bunk of a double-decker, the smell of dirty laundry heavy in the air, and made love while George Harrison snored blissfully away in the bed a few feet above them.
Cynthia thought Astrid’s relationship with Stu Sutcliffe quite peculiar, although the rest of the Liverpool contingent didn’t find it as fascinating as she did. Stu and Astrid were so inseparable that Cynthia began to think of them as twins. They even started to look alike. They had the same haircut, they wore the same black leather outfits—both with an occasional bare midriff—and they even ordered the same food in restaurants. It was clear that Stu had no intention of ever leaving Hamburg without her and that his days with the
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