In this new world, this bear got lazy. Besides not getting out of the flat much, I’m also writing dual purpose posts, so please find the very first combined travel and street art post. Two for the price of one! This is a Bryn de Bear multisaver available for a limited time only!
Liverpool is a city I am beary fond of for many reasons. Jurgen’s red men (the Champions of Europe, the World and England as I write 🏆), street art from some of my favourites like losthills_, great bars and restaurants, amazing friendly people… I could go on and on. Although Manchester is my ‘home’ city, Liverpool is close to my little heart, followed hot on the heels of Leeds… and on that note welcome back to the Premier League Leeds United! We’re looking forward to you beating Man United next season 😉
So, we decided we would go on our first overnight stay since lockdown measures were lifted and it had to be Liverpool. We were planning to go for Dad’s birthday back in June, but that got put on the back burner for obvious reasons. We drove straight from work and as usual Dad asked Mum to remind him to pay the £2 toll for the Gateway Bridge… she didn’t but luckily he remembered before it was too late. The £20 penalty fine he got last time we crossed (on our way to the airport and then to Berlin), was enough to jog his memory. I was amazed to be honest, his memory is like a sieve. [Edit: son – if I am so forgetful how do I manage to remember all your stories for this blog?]
We arrived in Liverpool and parked in the same multi-storey as usual. On the edge of Chinatown, as soon as you get out of the car, the smell of Chinese food hits you in the face and you’re immediately licking your lips. We headed straight to the hotel and this time we were staying at the Liverpool Inn Hotel. A nice little hotel, comfy and clean and at less than £30 for an upgraded room, what a bargain and the first time I can remember Dad paid for a hotel with contactless! We would definitely recommend this place, friendly and welcoming staff, perfect location for all the places we like to visit and not only was there a spare bed for me, there was also a spare bed for if Mum and Dad argued – they didn’t by the way 🙂
Of course, we don’t visit the city without a stop at BrewDog, Liverpool. I’ve mentioned in posts many times before, but never really explained what it is. It’s describe as a no-nonsense chain bar specialising in the Scottish brewery’s craft beers, with regular guest brews. That’s a fair description as far as we’re concerned and they do some tasty food as well. There are BrewDog’s in most big cities in the UK and we even visited the one in Berlin, but the Liverpool one is our favourite by far and even better that it’s situated in the historic RopeWalks District. This time, due to social distancing, we got to press a buzzer for beer 🥰🥰🥰 can this be a new permanent thing! New on the menu and already a favourite was Duopolis, a hazy ‘milkshake’ IPA, yummy!
Right we’re hungry. If someone asks you what your beef is, what do you reply? Me? Steak, medium rare and lots of it! Well there is only one place for that then and that’s Cowshed. When the waitress came over for the drinks order, we said we’ll order the food now as well, we’d already decided! We’ll have the Greedy Cow please, three steaks on one plate. We pretty much had the same as last time, just swapping a side out. Cowshed say “Please trust us, well done is not the way forward! If you love beef as much as we do, then you’re in the right place”. We do! We love beef, good beef of course, not bad beef… and this was melt in your mouth beef. If you want to discover the finest quality steaks Liverpool has to offer, then moooove yourself over to Seel Street.
I said this was a dual purpose post, so now to the street art bit. As well as our usual mooch around the Baltic Triangle to see what new works have popped up, there are plenty of new murals celebrating Liverpool’s recent success… did I mention we’re Premier League Champions 😉
Amongst the LFC themed pieces we found are:
- Ropewalks Square, off Bold Street – LFC mural showing players including Firmino, Virgil and Mane with their arms round one another, as they celebrate the victory!
- Jamaica Street, Baltic Triangle – “We are Liverpool 2020” Klopp mural by Caleb, situated next to the now famous Liver Bird Wings by Paul Curtis
- Old Barn Road, Anfield – work by Paul Curtis which celebrates the most recent title success and the one which preceded it, with Henderson and Alan Hansen proudly lifting the Premier League and First Division titles respectively
- Oakfield Road, Anfield – work by John Culshaw on the wall of Klopp’s Boot Room
You can see all these in the pictures below. Enjoy!