A Take On Two Cities

Before Murdoch erects a paywall around his titles it's worth reading a piece in The Times by Stuart Maconie which could be viewed as a compare & contrast exercise regarding Liverpool & Manchester (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article7075464.ece ).
The headline to Maconie's article, however, could be a case of a sub-editor at Wapping wishing to throw a lighted match into an open can of petrol: "Manchester vs Liverpool: which is best?"
That said, Maconie has no wish to act as agent provocateur, rather his take incorporates a (very) potted history of the origins of the rivalry, beginning with the Manchester Ship Canal & continuing through to the obvious subjects of footballing & musical rivalry.
Maconie sees little wrong with the new Museum of Liverpool, commenting that "the concrete wave of the building looks good to me."
When charting recent hotel developments for both cities, Maconie concludes with a wry observation:
"For years, the weary wayfarer's choice of affordable affluence was the Adelphi in Liverpool or the Britannia in Manchester; both blousy painted ladies of a certain age. Now the connoisseur of the complimentary shower cap is spoilt for choice, from Hope Street Hotel and the new Hilton in Liverpool to the City Inn, Malmaison and Lowry in Manchester.
"I once saw Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand in the bar of the latter sharing burgers and Cokes. I hope the food was as delicious as the irony of multimillionare footballers eating gourmet fast food in a five-star hotel named after the visual laureate of the northern underclass."

*Thanks to Wayne for emailing me Maconie's article.