Have Mersey

Here I am playing catch up again. A while ago during my wanderings through the UK, I decided I needed to pay Liverpool another visit. I had been once when I was ten years old and it turns out I remembered exactly NOTHING.

I took the train from London one foggy day and arrived to a VERY rainy day in Liverpool. Its fine, I like the rain (most of the time)! So I checked in to my hotel (Aloft Liverpool – because Marriott Rewards) and was surprised at what a cool old building it was! It used to be the Royal Insurance building, so the lobby and staircase still have the original decor.

I dropped off my stuff and set out in the rain. First stop: Albert Dock. I loved this little area on along the Mersey River. So many cute shops and restaurants. I just wandered around and went in a few shops, but sadly didn’t try any of the restaurants.

The views from Albert Dock also aren’t too shabby. I loved this spot and came back to it a couple times.

From Albert Dock, I went for the short walk over to find John, Paul, George, and Ringo hanging out in statue form, and to majorly creep on the iconic Royal Liver Building.

Honestly, the gray skies in Liverpool were a MOOD and I was totally there for it. I wasn’t quite there for the rain after a while when it started soaking through my coat and shoes, so I decided to participate in one of my favorite activities while traveling… try a local gin distillery. Liverpool Gin Distillery was close to my hotel, offered the perfect place to hide from the rain, and had delicious gins.

After the gin distillery I took a watch TV and order food to my hotel room break to dry off a bit before facing the rain again for more exploring. I didn’t make it too far, or last long, but I did manage to see a couple cool spots in my wanderings. And of course, the famous Cavern Club, which was also delightfully close to my hotel. Beatlemania is still alive and well, my friends.

I finally had enough of walking around with now wet socks from my shoes soaking through, and called it a day. I NEVER regret watching Harry Potter in my hotel room when traveling alone, sometimes it just has to be done. I also wanted to get to bed early so I could get up early for my activities planned the next day.

Just a short train ride away from Liverpool city center on Mersey Rail, you can get to Crosby Beach. My friend told me about this beach and the exhibit, Another Place, and after stalking it online, I knew I had to go. I got up early so I could make it over there before (if) it got too crowded. On the beach there are 100 statues of a man, all at different points and they reappear as the tide goes down. It was so cool to see. Love, love, love this place, and I bet it would be even better without the wind I had that day.

After wandering the beach and almost stepping on the biggest jellyfish I’ve ever seen, I headed back to the train station and to town because, GREAT NEWS – Liverpool has a cat cafe. OBVIOUSLY that was my breakfast spot of choice.

After hanging with some cats, I continued wandering around the city and headed toward Liverpool Cathedral, which currently has a giant glowing globe inside? Not sure why, but I just went with it.

Liverpool Cathedral is the largest cathedral in the UK, but sadly it was difficult to get a view of the entire thing from the outside. It’s on a hill and some parts are restricted access due to there being student living facilities right in front of it. I did get to explore the old cemetery next to the cathedral and that’s always a plus.

I did some more aimless wandering, spotted the Liver Birds wings on a wall of artwork (people love to get those insta pics here), then headed back through Albert Dock and back to my hotel, then to the train station.

This was a short trip, and I mostly just wandered and hit the spots I wanted to see/photograph, but Liverpool is such a cool city and I’d love to go back with friends and explore more because there’s so much more I didn’t get to see. Here’s a few more photos from my wanderings.