We didn't blog last night because we couldn't get our computers / picasa / blogger to co-operate - so we gave up and had an early night for a change !
Maybe I shouldn't go to bed early - I was having dreams of an Alien morphing into us, so that we had to keep trying to work out which was the real Elaine / Paul .
When we weren't being morphed, I told Paul I would whisper in his ear ...
"llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf"
(which I can say in Welsh, for some reason!) - and I told him to whisper to me 'Pint of Guinness' - then we would know our true identities - unless of course the Alien could read our minds too ... oh dear, I think all the stress of this relaxation is getting to me !
Anyway, I digress .... yesterday we went for an explore around the Bull Ring area of Birmingham, which was just great - really buzzy city - and quite a European feel to it in places !
No idea what this is or why it is in the middle of a roundabout but it is pretty !
I just love all the flower arrangements everywhere ... it is all done so well.
Lots to see from the Bull Ring ...
We had a sit down to 'take it all in' when a man walked past and dropped something on the floor - on further examination it was 2 x 20 pound notes - so Paul shouted a big 'Oy' and gave the bloke his dosh back! Paul had a halo over his head for the rest of the day and now he reckons he will go to heaven !
... with the added bonus of a Narrowboat
... going through a lock !
Evidently it is part of Birmingham's amazing floral trail (you can click this link to see more of the wicker and floral arrangements). This arrangement
depicts "the Bullring bull, Selfridges and the canals of Birmingham.
It was a Gold Medal winner at the Chelsea Flower Show (in May 2012). It then won Gold and Best of Show at Gardeners' World Live (June 2012)".We got down to the veggie market and saw this food stand - wondered how many chips they must get through ....
Then a spaceship came down to land ....
I liked this memorial ...
The backside of the wicker bull plus the spaceship ...
We walked up through the shops - I think this was New St...
We did stop for a cup of coffee in a Cafe Rouge - and then we remembered our original plan to buy a coffee machine when we had our boat - so we thought we might take the opportunity whilst we were in a City to see if we could find one ! We were in luck because we found an Argos and the cheapest little coffee machine they had had also been reduced in price ... yay ! So we made our purchase and went on our way ...
Brilliant buildings up the side roads ...
Needless to say ...
It was at this point that our world turned blue ...
(or maybe I accidentally nudged something on the camera !)
They even had big green bean bags supplied ....
Council House in Victoria Square, plus a few more pics from the area ...
Bombo and Sam made a new friend ...
On the way back through the Mailbox we spotted Dr Who ...
We got back to the boat and worked out how to use the new coffee machine - then walked up to Tesco Express in the Mailbox building to get a few bits (always seem to be buying cat / dog food !!) plus some special coffee !
We got back to the boat (again!) and, as it was such a lovely evening, we sat out the back with a glass of wine and watched the passing peeps - accompanied by Bombo, Sam (dogs) ... and Geoffrey (cat) ! A few people stopped and had a chat with us and the animals - some drunk, some not but one especially drunk who renamed Bombo a 'wee scabby bastard'!! He's never been called that before :) Then a small drunken crowd, who had been celebrating a birthday all afternoon, got too friendly with the boat moored up next door to us, so the owner came out ranting and raving ... but they all ended up cuddling each other, so that was nice !! We sat out til about 8.30pm ... and took our last arty shots of the day !
We had moved our boat yesterday morning to be closer to the centre, so this was our mooring in Gas Street Basin last night (but photo taken this morning !)
As we were facing in the opposite direction, since our relocation yesterday morning, we decided to do one last tour of the basin before leaving this morning ... so I took a million more pics - here are a few ...
Farewell pretty pub with yukky drinks ...
So - at the time of writing - we are on our way .... heading generally for Straford upon Avon but not sure where we will land tonight ! We have passed through some desirable areas and some very not so desirable areas thus far today ! We did want to avail ourselves of the Elsan at Norton junction but it had been badly vandalised - very, very bad - I really wouldn't want the job of cleaning that lot up - the question only comes to mind 'why?!'
On that note, I will go and make Paul a cuppa and see what is going on out there .... !
Hi there! On a quiet night shift and catching up on blogs - how lovely to see my 'home' town of Birmingham. I lived in Sutton Coldfield (a few miles north east of Brum) on and off for about 30 years of my life, and spent many happy days (and nights!) in Birmingham. It is an underated city - though still some places in need of sprucing up like anywhere!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to catching you both soon!
Sandra (& Barry)