Visiting Liverpool, but not to see the Beatles

For me, no Magical Mystery Tour, no walk through The Beatles Story museum nor ticketed entry to the boyhood homes of John and Paul.

[...] when a hotel reservation service emailed me some months ago that "Liverpool is calling your name" after I browsed and then left the website without buying, my usual resistance to sales pitches didn't flare.

Aside from the looking-back part of the itinerary, my visit ended up heavy on architecture and museums, including the Museum of Liverpool, showing life here through wartime and peacetime, economic hardship and strength; the Merseyside Maritime Museum, an in-depth look at seafaring, shipbuilding and shipping; and the International Slavery Museum, covering the slave trade, in which Liverpool was pivotal.

All are on the Mersey waterfront, where the dereliction that I remembered has been replaced not just by the museums, but by spaces that invite walking and by modern buildings alongside the historic.

The creator of the Snowdrop's paint scheme, Peter Blake, was co-artist for the cover of the Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Other high points in a Liverpool visit include the massive Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, a Roman Catholic house of worship that is circular and modern.