First Day in Liverpool: Exploring Albert Dock, Historical Museums and taking the City Explorer Bus Route

First Day in Liverpool: Exploring Albert Dock, Historical Museums and taking the City Explorer Bus Route

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

    We were very excited to arrive in Liverpool today. As it was Llew's first time in the city, it was even more exciting. As for me, this visit was my fourth: I had come here, years ago, to give a paper at a conference at John Moores University. The second time, I had brought my NYU students as Leader of the Dean's Circle on an overnight field-trip through Liverpool. The third time occurred when I was teaching in London and I had brought students to see the city. Clearly, I could play tour guide quite efficiently. 

Train Journey to Liverpool and Arrival at Our Hotel:

    We had another early start today as our train from Euston Station in London left for Liverpool at 7.30 am. We did the exact same thing we had done yesterday: we picked up breakfast pastries (croissants) from Sainsbury, together with yogurt and decaff coffee from Delice de France. Armed with these goodies, we boarded our high-speed train to Liverpool that departed bang on schedule. I could not believe that we would be reaching Liverpool in just over two hours.

    Once at Liverpool Lime Street Staton, we looked for the Tourist Information kiosk and actually found it. The man gave us maps and directed us to our hotel. He told us to take the Tube from just downstairs to St. James' Street and there our hotel would be. So indeed, that was what we did. In no time at all, we were at St. James' Street, but our hotel, the Ibis, turned out to be a good fifteen walk away as it was at the very end of Wapping Dock. Still, in a day or two, we realized that it was, in fact, very conveniently located for  the Hop On, Hop Off bus that we used for all our sightseeing.

Exploring Albert Dock:

    So as soon as we checked into our hotel, we stashed our bags in the storage area as check-in was only at 3.00 pm--and off we went. We crossed the street to get to Albert Dock and since this is a big attraction in the city, we started our exploration right there.    

    Albert Dock, named, of course, after Prince Albert, was a thriving port throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and remained busy and productive right up to the mid-20th century. The rise of air traffic and trade put paid to the vast amount of trade that was carried through this port through the Mersey River which  runs alongside the city. The history of this port is also inevitably linked with colonialism and slavery and indeed, Liverpool was the largest port for the entry of slaves from Africa to Britain and then out from Britain to North and South America (mainly Brazil). Indeed, Brazil was the last country to abolish slavery in 1889. 

    Albert Dock can boast the largest number of Grade I listed buildings in the world and they are in a uniform terracotta color and sport columned arcades right through them. We walked through them to take in the variety of restaurant and souvenir shops in this area before we came upon the Tate Museum Liverpool and decided to see it. The Tate has a permanent collection of Modern Art and we were happy to see examples of the work of Matisse, Picasso, Brancussi, Mondrian, Lichtenstein and El Anatsui among the main works. After a quick look around, we moved on.

    This time, out on the waterfront, we came upon the Merseyside Maritime Museum. This place has a wonderful Slavery Museum which gives sad facts and horrifying figures about the amount of slave trade that was carried out here. As Llew said, it was difficult to read all the facts and not be horrified by the abuse of human rights that was rampant in those terrible times. We went through all exhibits associated with the Middle Passage and another room that talked about the legacy of slavery with reference to the current situation regarding the position of Black people in Western society and the results of the Black Lives Matter Movement. With a great deal of remnant objects reminding us of those times, it really does take a very stern constitution to be able to view these exhibits without being emotionally affected by them.

    The lower floor took us down to an exhibition on the Titanic, the most famous passenger liner in the world. Although the Titanic did not sail through Liverpool, the White Star Company that owned the liner had its headquarters in Liverpool as it evident in the building that stands right on the water--known colloquially and jocularly as the "streaky bacon" building because it is designed in stripes of red and white. Of course, this exhibition too is a real tear-jerker and there is scarcely a dry eye in the room as people go through the exhibits that outline the manner in which it reached its end and sank in two pieces once it hit an iceberg. As someone who has taught a course (to the NYU Dean's Circle) on the Titanic, I was fully conversant with the facts...but it was still difficult to stay emotionally detached on re-discovering the facts. 

    One floor below was another exhibition on the sinking of the Lusitania during World War II when the British ship was torpedoed by the Germans killing several American crewmen on board. Llew and I had to hurry through this floor as we had a lot to do and were feeling hungry too.

Lunch at Albert Dock from a Greek Food Truck:

    Seeking sustenance in one of the few food trucks at Albert Dock, we found a meal at So Greek Full--a truck that sold Greek food. We settled for a Vegan Chicken Souvlaki that came with chips, salad and an overfilled pita. It was really good that we had decided to share one with an Orangina to drink as one each would have been impossible to finish. We used restrooms in the museum before we left to return to the explorer bus stops to find out about buying tickets for the sightseeing tours.

On the City Explorer Bus Route:

    Once at the spot where the Red Hop On, Hop Off bus began its route, we bought tickets for the Combination tours--the City Sight-seeing tour and the Beatles Tour. (14 pounds for the combination ticket). These tickets were valid for two days. We decided, therefore, to do the City sightseeing immediately and keep the longer Beatles tour for tomorrow. And so that was what we did. We made one complete loop around the city and became introduced to its maritime, cultural and sports history. In fact, Liverpool had just beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup Finals and the city was agog with the results. We toured the Three Graces (three 19th century buildings on the waterfront), saw the sculpture of the Beatles that looks out on the Mersey and was installed in 2015, entered the city center to see the Cavern Quarter which is where all the clubs are located including the famous Cavern Club where The Beatles got their start. We then reached the Museum Quarter where all the sturdy Neo-Classical buildings are located: the George Building, the World Museum, the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool Lime Street Train Station (at which we had entered from London).  These gave us an idea of the glory of this city as a prosperous merchant marine power. Next, we arrived at a part of the city that is known for its two grand Cathedrals--the Metropolitan Christ the King Catholic Cathedral built by a Protestant and the Anglican Cathedral built by a Catholic (Sir Giles Gilbert Scott).  Back at the terminus, we decided to stay on the bus until it made another loop. This time, we would get off at Hope Street, we decided, so that we could cover the two Cathedrals.

Visiting Liverpool's Two Cathedrals:

    The bus put us down on the corner of Hope Street, the only street in the world that can boast two cathedrals, one at each end. We walked first to the Catholic Cathedral as it was closer to us and climbed up the stairs to the very modern church that resembles a crown. It is a tall, concrete structure that is enlivened by the use of stained glass--over 250,000 pieces were used in the making of the coronet at the very top. We made a prayerful visit inside and found that the altar was covering by scaffolding--apparently some repair work is in progress. Our visit was not long as we discovered that the crypt that was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens (yes, the designer of New Delhi) could not be visited until tomorrow and that there was an entry fee of 5 pounds to get down to what is basically a museum and a treasury of sorts.

    We moved on then to the other end of Hope Street to visit the Anglican Cathedral. In doing so, we passed by the Philharmonic Dining Rooms and the Philharmonic Pub (where I have been before) which are the only Grade I listed washrooms in the world. Hence, women are actually allowed into the Men's toilets. We decided to finish visiting the Cathedral and then return here for a drink.

    Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral is far more impressive and imposing than its Catholic counterpart. For one thing, it is simply towering. It is the third-largest Cathedral in the world, is built in Gothic style, has the largest organ in the world and the loudest bells. We made our way to the altar while feeling deeply humbled by the height of the nave. Though austere in its decor, the altar is brass burnished and quite striking indeed. After a few moments spent in silent prayer, we walked towards the altar in order to admire the interior features of this ecclesiastical space when we realized that choral evensong would soon be beginning. Hence, we returned to our seats in the pew and listened to the awesome choir that sounded really glorious as their voices reached the roof. Indeed, it was a wonderfully spiritual experience and we were glad we took the time and trouble to seek out these spaces.

A Drink and Some Footrest at the Philharmonic Pub:

    A short walk back as we retraced our steps to Hope Street took us to the Philharmonic Pub where I had a glass of bubbly--the perfect pick-me-up at the end of a long and very tiring day. Llew opted for a glass of red wine and as we were both starving by this time, we decided to get some pub grub--a serving of onion rings and a serving of garlic bread with cheese. When our drinks and eats were brought to the table, we made friends with two guys sitting alongside us and soon we were deeply in chatter with them.

    The Philharmonic Pub is just gorgeous. It is ornately decorated in the over-the-top manner of its Victorian day when excess was the name of the game. Beautifully etched windows, lots of stained glass, Tiffany-style lamps with colored glass shades, elaborately designed fireplaces and mantlepieces, squooshy leather sofas, added to the ambience of a very comfortable place in which to relax at the end of the day. We listened to some lovely oldies on the radio and then, a whole hour or more later, decided to get going.

Sandwich Dinner at our Hotel:

    We had to find our way back to the hotel, however, so we were grateful for our map.  Using, it, we walked for another 25 minutes until we arrived at the waterfront and spied our hotel, not far away. But as we were passing a Tesco and had no intentions of getting out, once we reached our room,  we picked up sandwiches and soft drinks and returned to our hotel.

    Once indoors, we lost no time getting ourselves comfortable. With the TV on and some laughs to be had with Hyacinth Bucket of Keeping Up Appearances fame, we thought it was time to eat and get ourselves ready for bed after what had been another exhausting, but very fulfilling, day.

    Until tomorrow...cheerio.