We took a short break (or long weekend, depending on how you see it) from Germany last weekend in order to visit some former fellow expats in Germany.
We spent a lot of time walking around exploring and window shopping: the Digbeth neighborhood, the Bullring, the downtown area. Digbeth had a lot of artsy stuff happening in and near the Custard Factory.
It wasn’t all just window shopping: two sets of local pals took us through the Bullring shopping mall and the covered and indoor markets. The fresh fish looked suprisingly nice for how far inland Birmingham is. The unplucked duck hanging up was something I hadn’t seen before — not even among the whole geese and ducks in Hong Kong. The weather couldn’t decide if it was going to cooperate with our plans or not, and in the end we got a nice rainbow out of it.
Our final day satisfied, partially, some culinary withdrawal we’d been experiencing since January. We used the sunny weather to our advantage for a walk to Kings Norton, strolling about the cemetery there, marvelling at the mix of rather modern and ancient graves, and then took a taxi from there to the Balti Triangle. By luck, our taxi driver was a Pakistani gentleman who knew the area well and endorsed the restaurant our pals had in mind. We enjoyed a final meal with our Birmingham buds, and took a taxi from there to the airport for our flight home.
Great photos — the spot in my mind labeled “Birmingham, England” has been blank, so now I have it filled up a little.
Not only that, you reminded me of one of my all-time favorite albums — Emmylou Harris’s Boulder to Birmingham. It’s great Sunday afternoon music, especially with open windows and warm breezes.
Thanks, shoreacres!
This was our first time there. One of our local hosts grew up in the area (Derbyshire) and attended the university there a decade or two ago, and at the time, it apparently looked quite different — especially the Bullring area has been built up with boutique shopping and trendy restaurants.
That looks like so much fun! I love the UK though, so I’m a little bit biased.
I do, too! I love the sense of humo(u)r that permeates most things. It’s just a fact of daily life and I dig that.
Don’t get me wrong – there’s a sense of humor in Germany, too. It just doesn’t resonate with me as much.