By Michael Downing
Liverpool
We hopped the train from Manchester to Liverpool and found ourselves trundling along toward where the mouth of the River Mersey meets the Irish Sea.
Liverpool’s population as of 2019 was 496,784, making it just a bit smaller than Manchester. It is the fifth largest city in the UK, and part of a larger region of approximately two million people if we include the surrounding counties.
The architecture of the city is beautiful and its history, as one might expect from a port city, is deeply connected to shipping and, of course, The Beatles.
We exited Lime Street Train Station and walked down the A5038. We saw beautiful architecture, such as Grand Central Hall (slide 14 below). Bluecoat Chambers is listed as the oldest surviving building in central Liverpool, and in 2004, UNESCO declared significant parts of the city a World Heritage site.
If you’re interested in learning more about the architecture of Liverpool, follow this link.
We ended up on Bold Street early in the day and had a delicious breakfast at Maggie Mays (slides 4-5). Then we poked around some of the shops and ended up going into a Cat Cafe, also on Bold Street (slides 7-9). The Cat Cafe was fun. Jackie and I had cats for many years and lost Ashes in 2017 and Pumpkin in 2019, so it was nice to get in touch with cat energy again. The place also serves coffee and light fare. To see the Liverpool cat family, click here.
The Beatles and the Waterfront
After breakfast and cats, we turned our steps toward The Beatles section of the city, which included the Eleanor Rigby Statue, the Liverpool Beatles Museum, and the Cavern Club.
We had been listening to a lot of British music on our trip, including The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and The Who, but without a doubt, Liverpool is the place for all things Beatles. The Cavern Club is still open and hosts various contemporary acts along with Beatles Tours such as The Magical Mystery Tour and individual Private Beatles Tours. Mathew Street also includes the Liverpool Beatles Museum and other souvenir shops. See slides 1-3 below.
We continued east on Mathew Street, turned right onto N John Street, and took a left on Cook Street, and then Brunswick Street, where we noticed a cool-looking cocktail bar called Alchemy which we made a mental note of.
But before we stopped for a drink, we followed the path to The Liverpool Waterfront, where the Mersey meets the Irish Sea. Lots to do and see here: The British Music Experience, the Titanic Memorial, and The Museum of Liverpool. We didn’t have time to see everything, but we did go into the Museum of Liverpool, which highlighted the history of the city. See slides 10-11 below.
While you’re on the waterfront, be sure to get your picture taken with the Fab Four at the Beatles Statue. Someone offered to take our picture and we agreed but the picture was blurry so I didn’t include it in the slide show below.
Alchemy
On the way back toward the city center and the train station, we stopped at Alchemy for a drink and a bite to eat. Jackie had an amazing drink that was very creative and the bartender was awesome. A photo of the bar appears below as slide 17.
Here is the viral video of Jackie’s famous drink.
After browsing a bit more, we took the late-afternoon train back to Manchester.
Slides
1-3 Beatles fun. 4-5 Maggie Mays. 6 outside Maggie Mays. 7-9 Cat Cafe. 10-11 Museum. 12-16 local architecture. 17 Alchemy. All photos by Michael Downing.
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