Liverpool 15 years on... and a missed train

Liverpool Lime Street Station

It's nearly 15 years since I graduated - if I say it fast it doesn't seem like so long. I've been back to Liverpool but haven't had a chance to have a proper look around in recent years and the city is changing fast.

I'm writing a piece on Liverpool so it was the perfect excuse to explore and AKA Vasquez, who knows the city well, obliged taking Nadia and I on a great tour, despite his feeling a little 'self-induced' worse for wear.

Liver Building, Liverpool

There are some fabulous iconic old buildings such as the Liver Building, one of the so called three graces on the waterfront which stand as testament to the city's affluent past.

Now it seems like the city is having its time again with developers scrambling to build the next generation of iconic buildings. In fact much of the city centre feels like a building site which I'm not sure is the most sensible strategy but it does mean older buildings are being given a new

Met Quarter, Liverpool

lease of life. The Old Post Office is one which has been reborn as a trendy shopping centre called the Met Quarter.

It also means the appearance of some interesting new architecture. The

Unity, Liverpool

'wave' roof has given way to this grey/black block cladding as the favoured architectural feature and could become the signature style of this period, particularly in the North West.

Unfortunately as our tour came to an end and we were enjoying a much needed cuppa and sit down, time ran away with us. And, for the

Beetham Tower, Liverpool

first time in nine years of traveling for work, I missed a train. By two minutes.
 
The hour long wait for the next train was sweetened though by the fact that Nadia and I managed to talk the Virgin train staff into stamping our ticket so it was valid for the next train, thus saving ourselves the cost of a brand new ticket (£60) and

Unity Building, Liverpool

two and a half hours in standard class. (There are good people in the world and some of them even work for train companies.)
More pics at Flickr