I've returned to Dave, the boat and Nemo pusss in Birmingham, and we decided to stay a couple more days so we could do a bit of shopping and exploring. Nemo is not as neurotic as I thought he would be in the city, and has found sanctuary behind the gates of the closed Fiddle & Bone. Stourbridge's busy towpath seems to have hardened him up abit. Saturday night was busy for boats, with 3 separate operators running boat trips and party nights, with the usual hen parties belting out "I will survive" as they trundle past.
Work on the construction of the new library continues...
A bit more to the structure than our last visit to Brum, 12 months ago, when work had not long started..
Stop Press!!! We have found the Andean pipe music man! Horah! He's alive and well, busking outside the Rag Market, it's been a while since we last saw him in Nuneaton, but I am pleased to report that he sounds just the same.
We had a good mooch round the indoor meat market and found some goat in a Halal butchers - yes - the curry was lovely. We also came accross a butchers (if you can call it that) selling offal, including chicken feet (as per pic below) all sorts of bits of stomach (whole and bits), pig snouts, yep just the snout, and sheep heads (I refrained from taking a picture as it was enough to put you off your dinner). What do you cook with chicken feet? Chicken foot pie? Chicken foot omlette? The mind boggles.... (Dave suggested chicken fajitas) We've stocked up on all the curry ingredients we can think of, so hopefully the stocks will last till we visit again.
There's a heron perched on the top of the Sea Life Centre - no doubt sussing out if he can get into the open otter enclosure below him.
Today Sunday, was extremely busy round the NIA area due to the Birmingham Great Run. We watched the start on the telly, then went to see the finish line on Broad Street. There were thousands of people milling around between Brindley Place & Broad Street. Glad to see Batman & Robin completed the course (saw them on tv, they're centre picture with the black capes). Unfortunately the silver blankets were discarded by some & stuffed into plant pots and left lying around. No doubt the council will have everything cleaned up by morning.
Looking towards Broad Street and the finish line..
The atmosphere round the finish line was fantastic, with thousands of people cheering on the competitors. The commentry from radio BRMB was spot on, enthusiastic and encouraging people over the finish line. Quite emotional really. All the bars around the canal side were heaving with competitors and their supporters tucking into chips and lager! It was great to be able to sit around outside at the end of October and watch the throngs, that's throngs not thongs. All in all a brilliant couple of days, we've been back to The Wellington & sampled a couple of their 40 beers on offer. Dave was disappointed that he couldn't get into the Prince of Wales today, due to the number of people, you physically couldn't get through the door - good for the pub tho!
Tomorrow we move on, and catch up with NB Matilda Rose.
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