Liverpool is a city located in the North West region of England, in the county of Lancashire, in the metropolitan borough of Merseyside. Since the Industrial Revolution it has been a major port of England, connecting the British Island with the rest of the world.
Within approximately three hours you could reach Dublin by ferry, and it is surrounded by the cities of Leeds, Birmingham and Sheffield. It is for this reason that in the 19th century it became the major port of departure for English and Irish migrants to North America.
The Royal Albert Dock
The Albert Dock belongs to the Liverpool Maritime City, which is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite the rainy weather that is typical of England, the day I visited Liverpool was very sunny, so I could enjoy the walk on the dock imagining how in the past times the British ships set sail to remote destinations.
Scousers
People from Liverpool are particular in their own way, because they speak a different version of English. This dialect is called Scouse, coming from the type of beef eaten by the sailors and people working on the dock. This gives name to the people from Liverpool, that are called Liverpudlians or Scousers. They use words like
“Lad, that’s a proper Wool behaviour”, as if to say that the person is not from Liverpool or « I am taking me bird out later for some scran », when they are going out with a girl
[if you are interesting in British accents check about the Scottish one]
Liverpool was a city connected to the world. It is for this reason that it is home of the oldest black community in the UK and the oldest Chinese community in Europe. People there are eventually more open minded to multiculturalism. Through Couchsurfing, I met a guy from Palestine. During our walk around the city, he told me the story of his arrival in the United Kingdom, and that after having moved towards different cities, he felt Liverpool as the place he could really call home.
The Cavern Club
Liverpool is also very known worldwide for being the city that raised one of the most popular pop-bands in the world: the Beatles. When visiting the city, you will feel the atmosphere in which they grew up. You could visit some places like the houses of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the garden of the Strawberry Fields, and the special Magical Museum dedicated to them. But the most authentic place that you can visit is definitely the Cavern Pub.
On that same stage, sixty years ago, there were four young boys playing music that John Lennon, Paul McCarney, George Harrison and formed up in the 1960s. Two years later, they asked the drummer Richard Starkey to join them, who decided to be called Ringo Starr. Those years were times in which society seek changes and rebellion from the standard music that existed. The Beatles created a pop genre, that with easy to remember lyrics and enjoyable melodies charmed millions of youngs, changed the entire industry and the musical taste of a generation.
The pub is free entry and you can enjoy a beer, admiring the original instruments and the photographs that were captured from the first performances of the band.
Anfield Stadium Another reason for which Liverpool is very popular is the presence of the Liverpool Football Club, one of the best performers in England. The Anfield stadium hosted several international matches which made it gain notoriety. You can visit the Stadium Museum to discover the history of the club a and see all the trophies they gained.
Manchester
The big city hub of England located next to Liverpool is Manchester. This city started its expansion thanks to the textile factories during the Industrial Revolution and is now the second most populated urban area of the United Kingdom. You can still visit the factory where they used to produce clothes, that is now transformed into a museum.
My friend Eva was there for an Erasmus program, so she showed me the city and explained the history behind it. We went searching for the several scattered bees, symbol of Manchester, because of the hard-working way of life of its citizens!
Hope that you enjoyed this article! Have you even been to Liverpool or Manchester? What did you like the most in these cities? Leave a comment or a like!
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