I was living in Madrid in 2015, working as a designer in a company. I felt I needed a change and was really keen to learn English. As my boyfriend had moved to Liverpool a year before I decided to join him for a few months.
Liverpool is a city that welcomes you in a way that not many places do and since the very beginning I knew this place would be my home for a long time. I ended up living in the city for 5 years.
out of the panic of not understanding, I would run away
At first it wasn’t the easiest. I was suddenly far away from my family, my friends and the safe and known environment I was used to, living in a place where I couldn’t understand almost a word from anyone. Not only because of the Scouse distinctive local accent, but also because I had a basic level of the language. I essentially knew what one studies as a child in school, and the level of English education at that time wasn’t the best in Spain. I remember walking into the shops, supermarkets, libraries etc trying to avoid any interaction with people. I know I could come across as quite rude when someone approached me and, out of the panic of not understanding, I would run away.
For instance, the first time I met one of my best friends he was really nice. He was trying to make conversation asking me how I was finding living in Liverpool. I remember the awkward moment of not following a word. I smiled at him, said some nonsense, turned around and left. Now we laugh when we talk about it, we wouldn’t have bet we would become such good friends after that first contact.
Some of the most difficult situations were when I started doing job interviews. I did a few of them until I got my first job and it was never easy to feel the insecurity and the fear of facing those moments. Every time I thought I would mess it up for the lack of my language fluency. Of course, there were fail tries but it was a really hard learning which I am now grateful for.
After a while though, and attending English classes a few days per week, I started losing my fear. I prepared my mind to absorb every new word I came across and realised that if I wanted to really learn the language, I should stop escaping from having conversations in English. Without warning my fluency in speaking grew. I also became aware of how people can make you feel even if you don’t understand each other. I found loads of lovely friendly people that would patiently listen to me. Slightly my confidence increased, I was learning.
I reached the conclusion that Liverpool really is a great place to live: cosmopolitan culture, friendly people, exceptional amenities, ultimately everything you can expect from a European city but more convenient as it’s fairly cheap and the city centre is the perfect size to move around. It was definitely a place where I enjoyed living and I felt like being at home. Walking around its streets, the breeze, the noise, the music and the crowded lanes. Everything made me feel safe and comfortable.
What struck me the most was Liverpool’s breathtaking heritage places, famous landmarks and impressive architecture, such as the Pier Head, the Royal Albert Dock and the Ropewalks area. The city is home to a great number of awesome and historical buildings, skyscrapers, parks, two impressive cathedrals…every building perfectly in tune with each other.
every building perfectly in tune with each other
One of my favourite places in the city was Pier Head along with the Royal Albert Dock area. Historical seafaring place where to find lovely dock buildings and warehouses in the middle of the city. I loved the riverfront architecture, older and newer buildings coexisting together in harmony. Lining the city’s waterfront rest the famous “Three Graces”, which consist of the Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building. This majestic area is located just a stone’s throw away from the apartment I was living in so I spent a long time down there. Whenever I was in need of some peace I would either go for a jog or for a relaxing stroll around it.
During one of those walks in 2018 I started to think that I was delighted with this city and the atmosphere it was surrounded by, so I decided I wanted to tell the story of it in some way. I intended to reflect those feelings in a personal view, showing what I was myself seeing.
As I am a graphic designer and illustrator I came up with the idea that I’d love to represent my feelings of the city through forms and colours, creating my own version of the places and buildings.
I remember perfectly starting to draft the Maritime museum. I began throwing lines and matching different colour palettes. At first it was just entertainment, I was just doing it for fun, but as I was moving forward I was more and more motivated with the project.
The illustrations were little by little coming to life, they were becoming something. The starting point was to illustrate a couple of the usual and most popular Liverpool landmarks but as I was progressing I wanted to discover more places to depict. This way I accomplished the Maritime museum, The ice-cream Emporium Chart placed in the docks, The Cavern stage, The Royal Liver Building, the Empire Theatre, The Maritime Museum, St Luke’s Bombed out church, The Metropolitan and Catholic cathedrals, the superlambanana…
One day, having lunch at the lovely Egg Cafe, a rather known vegetarian and vegan place on the iconic Bold Street, I found out they organised exhibitions. When I spoke to the staff they showed great interest in the illustrations and we started planning a new exhibition for the Liverpool prints. That’s why I decided to add The Egg Cafe one to the list. This way we created “DOCE, twelve letters to Liverpool” which was exhibited at the cafe for a few months.
It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had during the time I spent in Liverpool. Everyone at the cafe was really nice, loads of friends came and I felt that this city was really my second home.
