This week, also on Tuesday, we headed to the west coast of England to walk in the steps of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. It was a fun trip in a town with an interesting history.
We again took an Off-Peak train at 8:32 from Levenshulme into Manchester Piccadilly and then transferring there to our train to Liverpool, which was a quick 45 minute trip. Awesome public transportation!
We had better weather this time with a high of about 11 C (52 F) with little wind and only a short drizzle. There was a lot to see and do, so we got after it upon our arrival. We had thought about doing a viewing from the Radio City Tower but since it was so overcast we doubted we’d be able to fully experience the view. Instead, we started our day at the Liverpool Cathedral, which is a truly impressive structure which might be expected since it took 74 years to complete. It is not overly ornate, but it has a number of beautiful stained glass windows and an impressive altar and organ and choral area. Our favorite section, however, may have been the much smaller, but really lovely, ladies’ chapel. While we are used to seeing gift shops and cafes located within the grounds of cathedrals, this one seemed a bit over-the-top. Hopefully, the earnings help to maintain the lovely building. Alongside the cathedral is a lovely park that was formerly a cemetery and many of the headstones remain on the grounds.
Views of Liverpool Cathedral
Views of former cemetary that is now a park next to the cathedral
From the cathedral we walked to Albert Dock, an area along the waterfront (Mersey River) that includes many of Liverpool’s impressive museums as well as restaurants, residences, and retail. We did most of the museums with the exception of the Beatles Story which was 27£ (app. $40) per adult. We love the, Beatles but not that much and also had read that it was just OK. We started at the (free) Maritime Museum where the 3rd floor is specifically dedicated to the slave trade in general and Liverpool’s role specifically. It was really well done and also spoke to the impact of the slave trade on Africa’s development as well as on-going slave trade activities still on-going (bonded labor, sex trafficking, etc.) throughout the world.
Views around Albert Dock
We then went onto the Tate Liverpool (free) which is the Liverpool venue of London’s Tate museum. The Tate Liverpool had a great Matisse exhibit which showed his development as an artist over time. They also had two additional floors of exhibits dedicated to modern art. They were staged in “silos” based on specific themes, using one piece as a jumping off point — really interesting and we got to see some cool paintings, sculptures, and short films.
An exhibit at the museum and more views around the Albert Dock area
Finally, we were off to the Liverpool Museum (free). This was a multi-dimensional overview of the City from which we learned a lot and still left so much unseen. We focused our attention on their Beatles and Liverpool music exhibit including the 10 minute film on the Beatles that they show multiple times per day. The film is shown in a room with the stage from the church where John and Paul first performed together. Some fun post-Beatles facts: George had the first solo #1 (My Sweet Lord) after the break-up; Ringo was the most successful in the early 70s; and John had only three #1 hits with one coming shortly before his death. Liverpool was and is a live music town.
The other part of the museum that we focused on was Liverpool civic facts and issues. The museum did not shy away from the city’s “opportunities for improvement” including its high unemployment rate, poor health status, and significant population loss over recent decades.
To continue with the Beatles theme, we made our way into the town center to see the Cavern Club where the Beatles initially performed. Sadly, the original club was destroyed some years ago to make room for a rail line, but the original entrance is noted, and a new Cavern Club is open nearby.
We had a couple of surprise finds at the end of the day as well. The first was the Liverpool Central Library. It is housed in an impressive older building but looks unexpectedly modern and unique inside. It also has a beautiful reading room that is located in an adjacent rotunda. I also liked the word art on both the sidewalk entering the building as well as the atrium floor.
The other find in the afternoon was the Metropolitan Cathedral. This may be the most unique cathedral we’ve seen. Not much to look at on the outside — in fact from one side it looks like the top of a space capsule — but it was a bit more attractive on the inside.
We ended the day at Lucha Libre, Liverpool’s version of Mexican food. Check out the chilaquiles below — a unique take on nachos with homemade chips, a bit of cheese, radish slices, pickled onions, and a fried egg–and it was very tasty.
Peckish Travels 