A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Friday 27 September 2013

Day Tripper

To Liverpool to see the Chagall exhibition at the Tate. But first we just had to visit the most famous club in the world, the Cavern Club in Mathew Street. The Beatles played here nearly 300 times. It was dark, and rather forlorn, and the ghosts of the Fab Four and all those other great Liverpudlian groups from the 1960s were long gone. A lone singer sang and strummed guitar very loudly from a tiny stage under the rebuilt brick arches. A scattering of camera-wielding German and Japanese tourists sang along. 'I wanna hold your ha-aa-aaaand...'  

In the north-west corner of Albert Dock, not far from the  Merseyside Maritime Museum and the International Slavery Museum...

... lies the Liverpool Tate.

View of  Liverpool —  one of England's most architecturally vibrant cities — from a top-floor window in the Tate. The classically-inspired buildings at Pier Head, which you can see in the centre of the photo, are the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building: now known as 'The Three Graces'. The modern structure on the left is the Museum of Liverpool, opened in 2011. The black, wedge-shaped building on the right, made of granite and reflective glass, is part of the brand-new and highly controversial Mann Island development. These modernist blocks will house shops, offices, apartments and leisure outlets. The Latitude Building's resemblance to a coffin has been noted by many...

... though we thought that the Longitude Building, from this angle, looked like the prow of a large ship...

4 comments:

George said...

What a great day trip! I've never thought of visiting Liverpool, but the variety of interesting architecture now beckons me. Looks like a very interesting place. The Chagall exhibit also looks interesting. Maybe it will find its way to our shores.

Dominic Rivron said...

Must go. Last time I went there was to see the Gormley on the beach. Never thought of going to the Liverpool Tate.

Ruth said...

Yes, very interesting place!

The Solitary Walker said...

Liverpool has been described as England's finest Victorian city. It has 2500 listed buildings, and more Georgian houses than Bath. The variety of architectural styles is enormous. Contemporary designs are especially noteworthy, e.g. the new shopping centre, Liverpool One. We found a city full of buzz and atmosphere, due in no small part to the Liverpudlians themselves. It seemed to us a lot more like Dublin than like other northern cities such as Leeds and Manchester.