First, we had better fill in the facts. Christmas and New Year's were spent in Munich with friends and last weekend in Liverpool. Let's just say I don't recall ever being told that Liverpool is a good place to visit, however we were pleasantly surprised and had an enjoyable weekend - I think the highlight was our guide Chris.
We took the train from Euston Station, London, which took roughly two and a half hours to Liverpool, Lime Street. A pleasant journey nevertheless on a Friday evening. We managed to find our swanky hotel (a bit of a treat for David) where we were greeted by our guide Chris, whom we had met in Prague at the Beer Festival.
We dropped our bags off and headed into town, a pleasant 15 minute walk into the famous Matthew Street. We had a tasty beverage at the Cavern Pub and listened to some (loud) live music, posed with John Lennon in the street and then headed to a local favourite - Doctor Duncan's. Doctor Duncan's serves mostly the local breweries Cain's Beer. I tried the Pilsner whilst David had a Bitter. We called it a night when the pub closed at midnight so we could get through Saturday without too much trouble.
The next day we got up around ten, ate breakfast, met up with Chris again and strolled into town. On our way in we passed the famous Lambanana which has smaller replicas all over town, much like the cows that travelled around Australia and an interesting art piece called 'Turning the Place Over'
Liverpool is an odd place, it is not the prettiest city, but it's drenched in history. During WWII most of the city was bombed which means a lot of the buildings are newer. The Church of St Luke's, now standing as a shell, commonly known to locals as "the burnt out Church" was hit in 1941 by an incendiary bomb.
Up the road a bit stands the monolithic Anglican Church and public gardens. Thus began our religious journey for the morning. It is essentially like every other church other than it has a tower accessible by several elevators to the tenth floor and includes a platform which gives you a birds-eye-view of Liverpool. It was a beautiful sunny day so the visibility was tremendous, we could just make out Blackpool.
From here we moved onto The Metropolitan Cathedral otherwise known to locals as "Paddy's Wigwam". It was originally meant to be much larger than the Anglican Church but due to WWII construction had to be altered and therefore has ended up looking much like a wigwam.
We were getting rather thirsty after all this so we had a stopover at the Philharmonic Dining Rooms which was where John Lennon used to go and was quoted saying the thing he hated most about being famous was "...I can't go and have a pint at the Phil." due to the fact he probably would have been mobbed by fans! This was a beautiful pub with a fancy exterior and mind blowing interior with it's wood carving, marble, inexpensive prints and comfortable couches. I didn't get to have a sneak peek at the men's toilet's, but David certainly did. Apparently you can pee where John Lennon did and the entire toilet is covered in tiles with details on the urinals. After this experience and drinking up our real ales we headed down the street to 'The Flying Loaf' for lunch. Another haunt for John Lennon the story goes this is where he proposed to his first wife Cynthia, so classy John.
There have been significant urban renewals within a large section of the down town including an open walking mall and shopping area and the Albert Docks have been renovated with numerous shops, restaurants and museums. Along the way to Albert Docks we saw a lot of public art, one of note was the 'Suitcases'. They were a giant pile of cast cement suitcases in the middle of the city. Most of the suitcases had names on them of famous individuals either from Liverpool or that had been through the city for a time. Right next to the suitcases was the Liverpool College of Art that John Lennon attended before his fame and band took off. It is now a performing arts school, very prestigious and expensive!
We reached the Albert Docks just at sunset and after a short walk around the docks, taking in the Liverpool Eye the smaller brother of the London Eye, we of course decided to take a tour of 'The Beatles Experience'. The exhibit chronicled the members and the group from their very beginnings and contained a lot of nostalgia. Overall an interesting experience but somewhat lacking in personality.
On the Sunday we saw City Hall and the Walker Art Gallery where we saw some interesting dresses made from glass. We had a great weekend in Liverpool and it just wouldn't have been the same without our magnificent tour guide Chris. Thanks Chris!
