The conference doesn’t start until tomorrow so we had a full day to fill.
Simon had booked a Beatles tour for the afternoon so we spent the morning looking for an art gallery and eventually ended up at the Walker gallery (founded by a beer magnate in 17-something) as the Tate North is closed for renovations. The Walker has some minor works by famous people such as Monet and Degas, we spent a fun couple of hours there, dodging school groups. I found this ad for their gift shop in the ladies toilets:
It’s a vase of the Klimt that we saw at the Belvedere in Vienna yesterday! What a coincidence, but also: rude!
Next we walked back to the waterfront to the Liverpool museum, where we learnt more about the city. Lots of terrible slums with high infant mortality rates but giving the occupants a sense of belonging. Nice to learn about the lives of the majority of ordinary inhabitants rather than a few rich famous people in history. The most common welcome amongst Scousers is “Alright?” which is a bit like like our “Gidday” but with far more scope for intimidation. I’m planning on working on my Liverpudlian while I’m here.
The weather was variable all day, there was intermittent rain but it got progressively colder and windier as the day progressed, very Wellington-esque. We found a popular restaurant for lunch and had to eat outside in order to be finished in time for our walking tour. The food was good and the maître D was great (“I’d give you a time for when a table would be free inside but I’d be lying through my teeth”)
The walking tour had a Beatles theme but also covered quite a bit of the local history. Liverpool used to be a wealthy and powerful city but it was in a slump by the time the Fab Four were born as war babies. Liverpool was the second most bombed city in the UK in WW2 after London, which explains the hodgepodge of architectural styles. Weirdly it sounds like the city never put much effort into commemorating the Beatles, the first statue to them didn’t go up until 1982 when someone put one of Eleanor Rigby sitting on a park bench. Many of the buildings associated with them were allowed to be demolished with no thought of their cultural significance. They’ve only been doing these walking tours for a couple of years.
In a move reminiscent of Sibiu, Liverpool was named an European city of culture recently which led to an influx of investment and it’s now thriving. Thanks EU! All forgotten with Brexit of course.
Dinner at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant that was excellent, the boys shared a huge beef Wellington that I’m very impressed that they not only finished but were able to follow with dessert.