Liverpudlians are from Liverpool.

So are Scousers.

We went to Liverpool with one a weekend ago. A friend here in Durham was kind enough to offer her tour guide services, along with her parents' house and food. Although I think we all had trouble understanding each others' accents all weekend, their hospitality was wonderful!

We made the three hour drive in no time, about three hours, in fact, and spent a speedy Saturday along the River Mersey. Although we were short on time, we made a lovely loop through the city, visiting the fantastic Meritime Museum, the Tate (modern art), the Albert Dock, the Anglican cathedral, the Catholic cathedral, the Bombed Out Church (which appears to be its official name), the club where the Beetles played... and past a whole bunch of fantastic street art including some trees that were supposed to slowly twirl around but didn't happen to be twirling that day (by diller scofidio + renfro, you columbia friends. They were going to do the Blur building again but no money or something). Liverpool was the European Capitol of Culture 2008, a title it supposedly just barely stole from Newcastle, and although we missed the whole 2008 bit, I'd like to say we are now more cultured than before our visit. At least I think that's what that means.

Anyway, we got some great photos, so check them out...

See los fotos...

Remember I mentioned street art? Here's a crazy one. Artist Richard Wilson cut this big oval out of an abandoned building. It rotates around, although I am not inclined to post our videos right now. Too much work.



The new Museum of Liverpool. Meant to open for the Culture 2008 thing, but funding went awry. To open in 2010 instead. I made Josh and Hannah wait while I did some standing there watching the construction workers and wishing it was open.

Here be Hannah and Josh in front of Albert Dock:

And the docks themselves. Full of restaurants, shops, flats and museums. Very cool urban space. Also walked through the Maritime Museum here. Having mostly been on the other side of things, it was interesting to read about immigrants leaving a place...



The Anglican cathedral is HUGE. Although Durham's still wins. (How's this pre-captioning working for everyone? Understandable and all that?)


More street art. Luggage from all those immigrants in concrete...

The Catholic cathedral is weird. And surprisingly successful. The inside is fantastic, especially the stained glass.

The Bombed Out Church. We couldn't go inside because they were setting up for a Chinese New Years thing, but you could see what was missing. Pretty amazing for two people from a country not touched directly/physically by war, that it's just there, in the middle of the city...


And in case you forgot our post earlier... the SUPER LAMBANANA. Ah, yes. If Liverpudlians are known for their sense of humour... what is this saying about them?