We journeyed to Liverpool largely to see a football match, and we otherwise weren’t expecting much of the city. It was once a huge industrial port. It has a reputation for being rough and impoverished. The people have funny accents.
Well, it much surpassed our expectations, leaving us to wonder if our preconceived notions stemmed from snobbish stereotypes of northern England held by people from the south. Perhaps there’s even some intra-British Isles racism afoot, as about 75% of Liverpudlians have Irish ancestry.
Liverpool is a beautiful city. There are gorgeous neoclassical buildings, a wonderfully revitalized docklands, interesting museums, and at least two fully pedestrianized commercial areas. It boasts the world’s seventh largest church.1 It’s diverse and international, teeming with global restaurants, and home to the UK’s oldest black community.
It reminded us somewhat of Pittsburgh. They are both cities made important over a hundred years ago by a now diminished industry (shipbuilding, steel) that have restored and revitalized many of those industrial buildings. While not as prominent as they were a century ago, both cities benefit from the structures built during their industrial booms. I read online that some people find Liverpool similar to Seattle, and I can understand that comparison too. They’re both near the sea, have a large radio tower (though the Space Needle is about 150 feet taller), and have a musical history (Beatles, grunge).
The part about people talking funny, however, is true. The Scouse accent is…special. Accents come with a lot of baggage in the UK, and the Scouse accent is often ridiculed. Since we aren’t impacted by the social dynamics and class signifiers of speaking with a particular British accent, we were able to listen with less bias and more curiosity. The Scouse accent is distinct, but I didn’t find it displeasing. It’s hard to describe. Scousers drop the middle and end of some words. For example, “dad” sounds like “da.” They pronounce some letters differently, like “k” at the end of words sounding raspy in the back of the throat, like how Germans pronounce “ch.” Several slang words are also unique to Scouse, and you can learn them, like we did, by watching this video. And yes, people were sometimes hard to understand. While drinking our coffees outside a café one morning, we overheard a local woman walking her puppy, which was named Bern or Bird or Maeve or Merve. We really had no idea, despite her repeatedly calling its name.
Over the next sections, I’ll take you on a counterclockwise (rather, anticlockwise, as they say in Britain) tour through the downtown neighborhoods we explored so you can see why we were so made up2 with Liverpool.
Docklands
We stayed in a hotel by the River Mersey, the convention center, and a large arena which hosted a Dave Chapelle and Chris Rock comedy special our second night. We didn’t know the comedy show was happening until we walked out for dinner and found ourselves in a salmon-going-the-wrong-way-up-the-river situation.
We were very close to the Royal Albert Dock, the primary dock refurbished with several museums, hotels, and other attractions. We found a surprisingly authentic Mexican restaurant there. Alex says his cochinita pibil tacos tasted like ones he had in the Yucatán.
The docks felt touristy, but it seemed like some locals go there. We overheard a group of twentysomething Scousers on a giant inflatable obstacle course in the canal (which otherwise was visited by young kids and their parents), and I saw signage for apartments in the upper stories of the docks.
The city has done a great job revitalizing this area, and there are more projects underway, including a new football stadium for Everton, the other soccer team (or if you are Alex, the lesser soccer team). UNESCO revoked the city’s World Heritage status last year because they’ve apparently redeveloped the docks so much that they aren’t “historic” anymore. Honestly, this feels like a win for the city—better to lose the status and maintain a mix of interesting old and new buildings than keep it and have some old brick buildings sitting empty.
Liverpool One
I won’t devote much text to this commercial shopping area because it’s not that interesting, but we were nonetheless impressed by how many blocks were fully pedestrianized. Imagine a standard outdoor shopping mall in the US and then quadruple the size, add a giant monument to Queen Victoria on one end, and sprinkle in several talented street musicians.
Baltic Triangle
The origins of the name of this neighborhood next to the docks likely has some connection to past trade or imports from Norway.3 Today, it feels like a gentrifying neighborhood that hasn’t quite fully gentrified yet. The area is the hub of Liverpool’s tech sector, and we spotted a few of the signs: several trendy cafés and businesses named in the odd, made-up nomenclature of startups, like Skiddle.4 But there were also car repair shops and some businesses that require a lot of space—which can be found aplenty in these dock-adjacent warehouses—like a self-storage facility and an auctioneer’s warehouse.
We had delicious croissants and coffees at one of those trendy cafés alongside some local yuppies—as well as, interestingly, a bizzie5—while some workmen grabbed breakfast at a truck parked outside of it. We also explored the street art, which was plentiful. Alex was most excited by a mural of Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp.
Georgian Quarter
The Georgian Quarter owes its name to the streets of lovely brick rowhouses built for affluent Liverpudlians in the early 1800s, such as the one below.
The Liverpool Cathedral is in the bottom corner of the neighborhood. I had read that the cathedral was very big and therefore was intrigued to visit it. The structure is massive and therefore somewhat hard to photograph up close, though we tried.
Interestingly for the continued Pittsburgh comparison, the rectangular-ish shape of the tower reminded Alex of the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning. Overall, it’s a really lovely and impressive cathedral, especially for a newly built one.6
We appreciated it from another angle when we got back to the docks later in the day and noticed that the red sandstone of the cathedral seems to match the red brick of the docks.
After leaving the Liverpool Cathedral, we walked up Hope Street, the Georgian Quarter’s main street, until we reached the bizarre cathedral at the other end. Alex told me we were walking in the direction of the cathedral as we walked up the street but I didn’t process that this bizarre thing was the cathedral until we were standing right in front of it.
We were cathedral-ed out so we didn’t go inside, though I later googled images and it’s pretty weird on the inside too.
We wandered back down Hope Street and ended up at a restaurant called The Quarter that apparently has been a Liverpool mainstay for several years. As we left, Alex spotted someone named Rio Ferdinand sitting by himself eating a steak. I had no idea who he was—honestly, I still don’t—but he is apparently famous in football circles so I hope you are appropriately excited if the name Rio Ferdinand means something to you.
Ropewalks
Ropewalks, named for the people who used to make ropes for ships in this part of the city, is now a hub of independent stores and restaurants. Its aorta is Bold Street, which is several blocks long and entirely pedestrianized.
At the eastern end of Bold Street is St. Luke’s Church, otherwise known as the “bombed out” church. The Luftwaffe heavily bombed Liverpool during World War II, and the roof of this church was destroyed in the 1941 Blitz.
The rest of Ropewalks is a delight of independent shops and global restaurants. We browsed the shelves at a leftist7 bookstore selling T-shirts with sayings like “Still hate Thatcher” and giving out free “Boriscards” to keep in your wallet to inform relatives (presumably in the event of your being in a vegetative or otherwise incapacitated state) that you do not wish Boris Johnson to visit you in the hospital “under any circumstances.”
We were amazed by the variety of cuisines represented by restaurants in this one area. I was so delightfully surprised I made a list on my phone: Turkish as well as Turkish barbeque, Korean, fish and chips, Moroccan, Spanish, burgers, an Irish pub, pan Asian (often with punny names, like Wok to Walk), sushi, and Chinese. Different types of North American cuisine were also represented: Texas barbeque, Mexican, a place specializing in poutine, a place called Tortilla advertising “California burritos and tacos,” and another place called “American Pizza” that we laughed at derisively ("What do they mean by American pizza? As if there’s only one kind!”) until we noticed they sold New York, Chicago, and even Detroit style pizza. While it’s not really a world cuisine, there was also a cat café.
St. George’s Quarter
We didn’t spend time in this area but passed through it twice on our way to and from Anfield, where Liverpool FC play. I was impressed by the gorgeous St. George’s Hall and neoclassical buildings housing the World Museum, Liverpool Central Library, and Walker Art Gallery.
Cavern Quarter / Mathew Street
Less a neighborhood and more one small street in the heart of downtown, this area may as well be named the Beatles Quarter. The band played many of their early shows at the Cavern Club on Mathew Street. The club has been recreated a few storefronts down from its original location, which is covered by a large display noting it was once there. Across the street, a statue of John Lennon leans against the “Wall of Fame” of artists that have played at the Cavern.
The rest of the street is full of Beatles themed businesses: A Hard Day’s Night Hotel, SGT Pepper’s, The King John Pub, Rubber Soul Bar, Strawberry Fields Café, etc.
Pier Head
This area is just up the waterfront from the Royal Albert Dock. It’s dominated by the Three Graces—the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building—built in the early 1900s and ranging in style from neo-Gothic to neoclassical. There’s also a statue of the four Beatles bandmembers.
After appreciating the buildings, we went inside the Cunard Building to visit the British Music Experience. This museum-slash-experience provided an overview of British pop music from the 1940s to the present day. I was somewhat let down because I thought it was going to be a large museum with more artifacts. There were certainly some cool things on display—costumes, instruments, sheet music, handwritten lyrics, posters, and more—but not quite enough to justify the exorbitant 18 pound per person entry fee.
The commentary on the audio guide put musical trends into historical context, explaining how they mirrored the British “national mood” over the decades. For example, how the irreverent punk rock music of the 1970s (like The Sex Pistols) was a reaction to inflation and years of Conservative government and how 90s Britpop (Oasis, Blur) emerged from a time of optimism with the first Labour government in decades but then declined around Princess Diana’s shocking death. Sometimes these details went a bit far, like when the cool, disembodied voice in my headphones informed me that England winning the World Cup in 1966 was, like the global popularity of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, part of the peak of British cultural influence in the 1960s. This detail wasn’t relevant; most likely, someone just wanted to point out that England has, in fact, won a World Cup. I also learned a few random things, such as the existence of brothel creeper shoes8 and that Manchester was known as “Madchester” in the late 80s for its “baggy” house music.
There was also a musical performance every thirty minutes. The first of these was a bizarre holograph of Boy George. We were a little disappointed when the next few were simply recordings of different concerts spliced together.
The museum ended with two pianos, two drum kits, and several guitars that you could play with. Alex, a former percussion player of marimba and vibraphone, had some fun trying out the drum kit.
Our only regret is that we didn’t have more time in Liverpool. We’d love to go back to explore several museums (Museum of Liverpool, Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Tate Liverpool, and more) and other neighborhoods.
By square meter footprint. I couldn’t find a source I 100% trusted so we’re going with the Wikipedia list.
“Made up” is Scouse for “very happy”
No, Norway is not a Baltic state, but this is what more than one website told me.
Which is apparently an online platform to manage ticket sales
“Bizzie” is Scouse for “police officer,” and probably my favorite Scouse word.
The Liverpool Cathedral was constructed from 1904 to 1978.
Liverpool has historically voted for the Labour Party, and the northern English cities are generally known for being more leftist.
I, uh, still don’t know what brothel creepers are, but they were popular in the years after World War II.
All of this and the football match? You really packed a lot in and Liverpool should hire you to promote the city!