What is better than a city break ? A city break in a place with more canals than Venice and a catch-up with a beloved oriental princess. Want more? Follow me in a 24-hour journey in the mighty, multi-culti, everlasting Birmingham.
The massive jumbo jet from Dubai, was about to land in the airport in a few minutes and would bring me closer to a friend I had missed a lot. ‘These are some benefits of working as an air-crew’, I thought. Exploring the world while‘on duty’. This is the reason why I took advantage of my days off to plan this short trip and visit Birmingham, the second biggest city of the United Kingdom for just over 24 hours and some minutes...
Time was precious and was slipping away after not seeing each other for almost a year. Many things to share, many experiences to narrate...
The itinerary contained a quick visit to the city centre for shopping at the infamous Bull's Ring followed by a short excursion by train to the must-see birthplace of William Shakespeare, in Stratford upon Avon , 35 miles away from Birmingham’s New Street train station.
For all I knew Birmingham started as a small medieval market town back in 1166. Since I had never met a ‘Brummie’ (slang for local people) for insiders’ info I took the time to discover hidden secrets and known facts about my destination. Birmingham made the most of the industrial revolution in the 18th century and now was transformed into a busy, metropolitan borough of almost 1.500.000 million residents.
The city centre is a gigantic hive, full of people from every corner of the world. Businessmen with preppy look pushing themselves in the trains, timid Arab women in burgha pushing prams, university students walking with their ipods, posh British women shopping like every day is Black-Friday. Every street was a burst of multi-cultural images, voices and languages, vibrant, lively and chaotic. I loved it!
In my brief research I discovered that Birmingham is far more than a city, is a record-breaking metropolis with amazing features and facts I am about to list below;
In Birmigham the first cotton mill in the world opened in 1741
was named as the first manufacturing town in the world in1791
It was here in 1839 when the first universal postal system was created by Rowland Hill, a local school teacher.
Birmingham was the terminus for both of the world's first two long-distance railway lines in the 19th century.
The City Council is the largest local authority in the world until today with 120 councellors representing 40 wards.
Here you can find 571 parks and over 6 million trees, more than any other European city.
Sutton Park in the north ward of the city is the largest urban park in Europe.
Birmigham was the birthplace of heavy metal music. Some of the most pioneering bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest were ‘born’ here.
One of the world’s most famous authors, J.R.R Tolkien was brought up in Birmigham
Birmigham’s German market is the biggest Christmas market in the UK.
The city is hosting Europe’s largest leisure and entertainment complex, Star City.
Here you can cross the UK’s longest bridge (5.600 meters), Bromford Viaduct.
You can follow the longest bus route in Europe with a huge length of 42 km and over 270 stops!
The city , literally has more canals than Venice but was never considered a touristic attraction.
The first ever Cricket World Cup was held here in the 1970s and the oldest tennis club is in Birmigham, dating back to 1860!
Is the home of UKs oldest professional football teams. Aston Villa F.C and Birmigham City F.C
Birmigham is the only city in the UK apart from London with 5 Michelin star restaurants.
The ‘ Electric’ which can be found in Station Street is the oldest working cinema in the UK, operating since 1920s.
On the other hand, visiting Stratford-upon-Avon felt like travelling through a time-capsule back in to 1200, only 40 miles away from the dazzling skyline of Birmigham. William Shakespeare’s birthplace a rural town of just 25.000 citizens, there were no skyscrapers, no fancy hotels or massive buildings. The train arrived in a nice and small slated station - , with signs leading approximately 5 million tourists per annum to the attractions and the lovely relaxed lifestyle of its residents, enjoying their morning walk in the slight, romantic mist. Nicely kept courtyards full of flowers and berries, imposing Victorian architecture, picturesque shops featuring Shakespeare-themed souvenirs. ‘ To be or not to be’ magnets, miniature sculls, inspired quotes on coffee mugs and lot of useless yet cool gifts to take back home...
‘Ladies and gentlemen the plane is ready to take off, please ensure that your seat belts are fasten and all the electrical devices are switched into flight safety mode’. I could imagine the brief message from the speakers in the huge cabin which was ready to conquer the skies, taking back my princess to faraway lands. ‘Life is full of goodbyes ‘ somebody said to me once, but I will use instead ‘ We don’t say goodbye, we say see you later’... Bon voyage