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Published: June 28th 2013
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Ollie is sitting on the drive snoozing away while we have started to plan and organise our next phase of travelling , the ferry is booked , Ollie is booked for a check-up, we know what currencies we need to order and we have to get our International Driving Permits.
Woolly says – This meant a trip out to the second capital, Birmingham. It’s amazing how many people you meet when travelling that think we come from Birmingham, living nine miles away it seems that they club us together, I am a Yam Yam. The Black Country is proud of it’s traditions in glass and industry, having made the anchor for the ill-fated Titanic which set it clearly on the map, it is also known for its diverse accents and dialects. They are something to behold, you can listen to a conversation and not understand a word of it, a couple of miles from our home is an area called God’s Country where the conversations go…….’I went to the god pub and had a god pint and the god misses rang me………..’ , even living here it can be problematic to understand. Birmingham however is a different kettle
of fish. Known for Cadbury’s, Black Sabbath, Mathew Boulton, Gas Street Basin, Aston Villa (were not allowed to mention the OTHER one!), the Rotunda, Land Rover and a diverse and welcoming society, it has a lot to offer.
Both Ian and I have lived in Birmingham and have many happy memories of Cannon Hill Park and the nature centre from childhood, we also make good use of the National History Museum which provides excellent historical accounts of the city, an art gallery and a very swish tea room, entrance is free and it is easy to wander round for a day.
Woolly says – we took the train, well what we call the little train which runs from Stourbridge town to the junction and then the mainline train into Snow Hill. Jo always moans about getting off at this station, trains used to run into New Street which is in the heart of the city, Snow Hill is a five minute walk but it does give us a chance to see the cathedral. Designed in 1715 by Thomas Archer it is quite a small cathedral in comparison to York, Lichfield, Winchester and many others,
it is a fine example of Baroque with beautiful stained glass windows, we were only able to take a peek as a service was in progress so we crept out and continued our walk towards Victoria Square. The square is home to the Council House which stands impressively at the top, built in 1874 its clock tower is known as ‘Big Brum’, the beautiful architecture is well worth a view and provides a stunning contrast to the Town Hall which is situated on the left hand side of the square. This grade one listed building started construction in 1832 with Charles Dickens having raised a considerable amount towards its construction, its design leans heavily towards a Roman Temple. Today it is best known for the music festivals hosted and the symphonies performed there.
While Woolly sat and watched the ‘Flossie in the Jacuzzi’ Ian and I went in search of the post office and application forms for our driving permits, nice small form, no probs until I realised that I had left our paper licenses in Ollie and Ollie was happily parked at home! Having failed in our mission there was nothing for it but lunch.
Woolly says – lunch is always a good idea and though Birmingham offers food from every corner of the world, we opted for the Chinese quarter. I expected this to be quite impressive, stuck between the markets and Digbeth and the hippodrome theatre there really isn’t much there. Jo always likes a look round the Day In supermarket so once we had prised her out we settled for lunch at The Big Wok, eat as much as you like buffet for £5.99, so I did. Best on the menu were the battered sweet potatoes and the garlic mushrooms. I probably shouldn’t have had the spare ribs, having pink tinged tusks isn’t really me!
Full to exploding we wandered past the markets with their unusual fish, Jamaican breads and fruits stopping briefly for a look into St Martin’s Church. Birmingham is known for a lot of things but the Bull Ring is one of the iconic areas. Originally built in the 60’s the whole area was redesigned and rebuilt in 2003, have they improved it? Well if you like shopping then yes but with the silver discs of Selfridges and the cosmopolitan feel I think it
lost a little something in its newer conception.
Woolly says – I liked the bronze Bull, at over seven feet tall he looks quite ferocious but that doesn’t stop people having their photos with him, he is on permanent guard and is a handy place to meet up with people. There are people everywhere which is not surprizing given the 36.5 million visitors that arrive every year, it was strange to hear such a range of languages being spoken, infact only English seemed to be missing, we could have been anywhere in Europe. With rain starting to beat down we speeded up our pace and made it back to the station, I had a lovely day and because Jo is a durr brain we can do it all over again tomorrow!
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kangaroojack
The Ts
Oh wow the Chung Ying
Hi, Great pictures of my home town and the Chung Ying, how many times have we eaten there, when we lived in the UK. Thanks for the memories, happy travels. Kangaroojack