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| public art |
I'm not sure about Liverpool. After the vivid greens of the Irish countryside and the carpets of purple heather on the hills in Wales... I'm not sure about Liverpool. Liverpool these days is nothing like its gritty past self; the docks have been cleaned up and are no longer the center of smuggling, slavery, and warehouses filled with tobacco (granted, that was in the 19th century, but still...). Liverpool was actually quite wealthy in the 19th century (due to smuggling, slavery, and tobacco, among other things), and it wasn't until the beginning of the 20th century that things got dicey-- it was hit hard by the Great Depression of the 1930s, it was heavily bombed during WWII, and in the 1970s, the shipping and manufacturing industries went into a sharp decline. Things started picking up in the 1990s and now Liverpool is considered one of the cultural capitals of Europe. I had a nice time yesterday and today; yesterday walking around the docks and the central shopping area; today taking the ferry across the Mersey River and going for a walk on the riverside promenade on the other side... but I still don't know about Liverpool.
I love it when buildings like this:
are across the street from buildings like this:
