Day 1 – Saturday (08/06/2016)
Our flight from Dublin to Liverpool left at 8:50 p.m., but this less-than-optimal weekend time was actually unintentional. I bought the ticket in a Ryanair flash sale and I swear I had seen that the flight would leave at 8:50 a.m. and not 8:50 p.m. I only found out the M I had made two days before the trip when I went to check in. check in on the RyanAir website. Ah, my anxiety about promotions… 🙁
We took the quickest flight of our lives (I think it was 30 minutes) and arrived there just before 10pm. Then we got on the 86A bus (£2.20 per person) and got off very close to our hostel, the International Inn. We paid £48 for two beds in a 4 bed room with a bathroom inside. It's quiet for a hostel.
We left our backpack in the room and went for a walk along the main street. (Hardman Street), full of bars and snack bars fast food very strange. We had dinner at Subway (safer, right?) and we entered the Fly in the Loaf, a very tidy and well-attended bar. We had a beer and went to another bar that we found very nice, the Philharmonic Dining Room, but it was already closing, so we only had time to appreciate its beautiful interior. We went to a bar across the street that is in a beautiful building, where I think there used to be a school for the blind, because of its name: Old Blind School. Great atmosphere and good music too. Too bad it was only for a short time, because they closed shortly after midnight. (Photos of the 3 bars below, in the respective order.)
Day 2 – Sunday (08/07/2016)
We left the hostel and went looking for a place to have breakfast, but several cafes were closed before 10 am. We found an Arabic restaurant serving English Breakfast and sandwiches, so that's where we went (long live globalization!).
We first passed by Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, which was built in 1967 and has a design very different, being a mix of the Cathedral of Brasília and the Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro. I found it interesting that the altar is in the middle with the benches around it in concentric circles. Oh, and when you leave it, you can see the other Cathedral.
On the way to the Liverpool (Anglican) Cathedral, we passed through some very pleasant streets and very beautiful buildings, look:
When we arrived at the Cathedral, it surprised us with its size. And no wonder: It is the largest Anglican Cathedral in the United Kingdom and the world! Its construction began in 1904 and was only completed in 1978. When we got there, a mass was about to begin so we weren't able to see much of the interior or climb its tower, but they say the view is very beautiful.
We return to the Hardman Street and we passed by Bombed Out Church (St Luke's), which was bombed in World War II and was not restored on purpose so that people would remember the episode. The absence of the roof can be seen from the outside and is already quite striking. Imagine if you could go inside…
We walked a lot through the streets of the center and I found the city to be very cute, with lots of shops, restaurants and quiet streets (I think because it was Sunday).
After a good walk, we arrived at Albert Dock, one of the hottest places in the city. 5 warehouses designed in 1846 surround this port, but were closed in 1972. After a decade of abandonment, these listed buildings were restored and transformed into a complex that includes museums, galleries, boutiques, souvenirs, restaurants and offices.
The main attraction, in my humble opinion, is the museum The Beatles Story, which we made a point of visiting. Liverpool, for those who don't know, is the city where the 4 Beatles grew up, met and became the greatest band of all time. Everything in the city revolves around the band, so it's only fair to visit the main museum, right?
To get in, we had to pay £14.95 per person, including an audio guide in “Brazilian”. Expensive, I know, but there was no way around it… The museum tells the story of the band with lots of objects, texts, images, videos and environments, but I confess that I expected to see more interaction. I found everything very well explained and detailed, but a bit boring, I don’t know… Anyway, I’m not a huge fan of the band, I just like a lot of their songs, but I still thought it was worth it.
Oh! If you really like the band, there is a bus tour that some people take to see the houses where they lived, some important points in their career, etc. Check it out. website of Magical Mystery Tour. 😉
We left there and went to the region where the The Cavern Club, bar known for having hosted the Beatles almost 300 times (I think it was 292). As we had to pay £2.50 per person to get in and we were hungry, we thought it best to have lunch and come back later just for drinks. Oh, attention here: There are two bars called The Cavern Club, but one of them has a sign saying it's the sister bar of the other famous one. Don't pay to get into the wrong one, okay! 😉
We ended up going to lunch at Five Guys, an American burger joint that has divine fries (and burgers too, of course!). Our lunch with free refills came to 22 pounds. I think it's expensive for what it is, but restaurants aren't fast food would be more expensive. After lunch, we walked around the area where the Liverpool One, a kind of open-air shopping mall, until we get tired of the stores. It's really cool...
We decided to finally enter the The Cavern Club and we stayed there until it was time to catch the 82A bus to the airport (7pm – our flight left at 10pm and it takes almost 1 hour to get to the airport). I think we stayed there for about 3 hours and during that time we heard two great bands playing several Beatles songs. I found the place to be quite hot and claustrophobic, but nothing that a few beers couldn’t make me overcome… I recommend it! 😉
We took the bus to the airport nearby and after an hour, we were already in the departure lounge. Here is a map with the attractions we visited:
