Birmingham 2
The city of Birmingham, or of Brum as it is
often called, is under siege by construction workers. Every where you walk or
look there is scaffolding, cranes, streets closed and dug up, workers in bright
yellow vests and lots of noise. On one
hand, such economic growth and a city’s investment, shows a healthy and invigorated
city, but on the other hand, it makes for some difficult sightseeing.
Birmingham suffered immensely during the
German Blitz in 1940-1943. Over 2,000 people lost their lives. Many of their
buildings were destroyed or badly damaged A rebuilding of Birmingham took place
after the war, and many of the new structures were 1950-60’s architecture.
During our walks we are heartened to see many old brick buildings that did
survive the war transformed into apartment buildings and office spaces keeping
with the historic Birmingham.
Yesterday we took on a major walk to the
Jewelry District which is an upscale neighborhood. The Jewelry Museum is
temporarily closed and so were two galleries we were hoping to stroll through.
Our aching feet took us back to the pedestrian friendly center of town. We
checked out the 9-story library with its Shakespeare Memorial Library and
several gardens with views of the city below. That area of town boasts not only
a modern extensive library but also a Symphony Hall, ice rink, Repertory Theater,
and Convention Center. James Taylor performed locally the night before we
arrived. Can’t believe he didn’t wait for me!
We have been quite impressed with all the fine dining in the city. Birmingham has six Michelin Star restaurants, second to London. Although those renown restaurants are out of our league, we have not been disappointed with any of the food we have sampled here.
We tried a Jamaican restaurant yesterday which was delicious, and the waiter even treated us to cornmeal and vegetable dumplings. Somehow there was only half of one left for David. Hmmm. The Old Crown Tudor style pub we went into today was a pleasant surprise, as well. It was established in 1368 so we were expecting it to be just a tourist draw with just so-so food, but we were thrilled to be wrong.
Often when Dave and I visit a large city for an extended time, we latch on to a dining spot that we have discovered to be exceptional and return often to enjoy. That is the case with The Distillery that is right here on the canal. We will return for the second time tonight.
Today we took another long walk to a place
recommended to us, The Custard Factory. It once was the home of Bird’s Custard
which my Aunt Emily introduced me to when teaching me how to make an English
Trifle. The walk took us through some rough areas as we zig-zagged our way
through an X-Y axis city. Like any big
city, there is an underbelly. We found Birmingham’s. It was much like walking
through the Tenderloin district in San Francisco or the New York projects.
The Custard Factory was a bit of a disappointment because we were led to believe that there were artisan shops where you could observe the artist create. That was not the case. There was a small gallery and an office where we saw gigantic cans of Bird’s Custard, one closed artist’s studio, a salon, and a virtual reality center. Some days are like that.
We went back to the IKON gallery downtown since it was closed yesterday. The modern art exhibit was called, “Horror in the Modernist Block”. I interpreted it as the artists expressing their dislike of the modern architecture of the city, and how it can change our movements and bring fear to those surrounded by it. Modern Art has never been my thing.
We felt a huge chill when exiting the gallery. David told me that the weather forecasters predict a dry December in the UK but major low temperatures. We could already feel it.
I forgot to mention that when we were going
through many of the locks into Birmingham, I would often hear a “Pop, Pop, scrunch”
as David drove the boat into the lock. At first, I thought that the sides of
the boat must be scraping against the sides of the lock, and we were adding
more scratches and bumps to the exterior of our boat. Instead, the noises turned
out to be coming from the many plastic water bottles in the lock that were
exploding as they were being crushed by the boat. There was even a large clock
floating alongside the bottles in one of the locks.
We do enjoy our leisurely mornings not
having to layer up and get moving. The pace has slowed down nicely for us, and
we are enjoying our exploration of Birmingham and having the luxury of time to “recharge”.
Fun Fact: Birmingham is the home of the
musical groups Black Sabbath (with Ozzy Osbourne), Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin,
and Duran Duran.
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