This is Birmingham, mixing old and new with deep industrial roots and contemporary city center; grand shopping mall and small old streets.
It was a cloudy drizzle afternoon when I arrived in Birmingham. Although my hotel is not so far away from the station, I got lost in the small, quiet street. A few local people helped me navigate through the area; usually they need to use post code perhaps because some street names and routes are confusing. I walked about thirty minutes, circled around, and ultimately found the hotel.
Downtown with a crowd of people: In the mid afternoon I headed to the downtown area, not so far away. In front of it, there is a church tower building, ringing the bell periodically. There is a farmer’s market nearby, fruits and vegetables are fresh and cost effective. Inside the building, there are many stalls which sell all sorts of consumer merchandise.
Walking across the market and moving upwards the hill, there are lots of worldwide chain stores; brand name restaurants, cafeterias, and shops there. In most of mid and large cities in Europe, we can find those shopping districts, I had a simple earlier dinner, walked around the areas. Although the shopping center is bustling with crowds, some buildings in certain areas are outdated. There is the mix of old and new, industrial age and digital era, modern taste and ancient theme. In the first day tour, I thought Birmingham is a midland town with diverse people. So at night, I planned the next day journey for exploring further and deeper to capture the holistic view of the city.
Winterbourne House and Garden: After having a simple breakfast in the hotel, I walked around the nearby city center. It passed 8am in the morning, the city of Birmingham hasn’t woken up yet, the shops are closed; the most tourist hot spots won’t open until 10: 30 or even 11: 00 am. But public transport already operates. I bought a daily bus ticket and hopped in the bus towards the Winterbourne House and Garden . When I arrived there, it’s about ten am, the garden hadn't opened yet, I peeled inside, there were tall trees and green meadows. It’s the property of the University of Birmingham. I also passed through quite a few architecture buildings. The college is located in a very quiet and green environment; there are hills up and down; some student dorms are hidden inside.
Birmingham library: I took the bus, heading back to the city center again, trying to explore further, and visit Birmingham library- the biggest library in Europe. I walked through the fine art gallery which sell some European artists’ painting works; I also passed through some modern designed hotel buildings. I asked the mother daughter pair of global strangers for directions, they are locales who told me there were lots of debate for renovating the library as it was over budget for their community a decade ago. The showed me the directions warm-heartedly
It took me a while to come to the city center with a few cool buildings; There is a Symphony Hall which is not open; I also saw the building with Rep logo - it is the theater; an amusement park theme like magic wheel spinning at the city square. I helped two ladies take their pictures in the square.
The contemporary architecture with glass windows is the library I am looking for. I entered it, the staff are friendly, the environment is very cool, modern looking and spacious. This is the nine floor modern building with millions of books and media collection
I sat at the second floor study hall, read a few books and took the rest. Majority of readers are perhaps college students or high schoolers, young professionals. So city management should be very proud of this cultural asset, knowledge hall, which helps to cultivate the next generation of talent and build community competence.
I visited the third and fourth floor; looked through the different book categories. Most of the books could be found in other libraries or online but this is a more complete collection. I saw a shelf with many books about Shakespeare research as Birmingham is not so far away from where Shakespeare was born and grew up; we can learn his heritage and literature influences. If I stay in this city for a while, I won’t get bored, the treasure of books will open our eyes.
I also took the elevator upstairs to the roof garden in which you could capture the city view and sip your coffee or tea. It is a lovely winter day with clouds flowing and wind blowing. Many parents brought their toddlers to the garden on the roof. From one generation to the others, this historic city keeps reinventing itself. There are quite many constructions going on near the city center; the city replaces the old with new, and broadens its boundaries.
Going in the opposite direction which global strangers pointed out: I planned to visit the local science museum in the afternoon. Although I took the right bus with the help of locals, it seems I took off too soon and couldn’t locate the museum. A few global strangers help me navigate around. But the streets they pointed out do not fit my tastes, so I headed towards the opposite direction, taking a detour again to discover my own path.
Victoria square: I walked around an area with antique buildings and statues. This is the Victoria square, another tourist hotspot with a few interesting statues and fountains there. Queen Victoria and Albert made significant influence on the culture of England.
The science museum and Millennium Point Building: Another local lady was also very friendly and showed me the direction to the museum. This time I took the right bus and took off at the proper station. I saw the Birmingham city college sign and there was the millennium point building, not very far. The pedestrian told me I should go in that direction. I went downhills and passed through a street with some cultural taste. It’s more like the college town here.
The science museum was located inside the millennium point buildings, which is the community center of Birmingham city college, I guessed. It's past 3:30 pm already. I asked the gentleman who worked in the museum how long it took to visit the museum, the answer was about two hours. I also saw the family with their young kids coming to visit. The gentleman sensed my hesitation and volunteered to accompany me visiting the ground floor in which there were all sorts of machines or engines designed by local Birmingham ancestors that powered the industrial revolution. On the first floor there are displays of Birmingham manufacturing industry and why the city is being called the workshop of the world. There were some wood bicycle designs, airplane models upstairs, there are earth creatures samplers on the second floor and there is a planetarium, robot and future invention on the third floor.
The gentleman took extra miles to introduce the museum to me. I truly appreciate his efforts and left the museum earlier. So I still had time to explore the city before the dark. I also walked across the millennium point building with contemporary design. Because it is winter break very few people were there; there were gift shops and cafes inside.
Grand central & small street: It’s almost dark, so I walked back to the city center again; passed through the grand central station and two-floors grand shopping mall which linked the city across many streets.
After that, I took the bus to go further away from the center; some streets were old, small, smell stale; perhaps that is the old town. There are lots of small shops and restaurants, but fewer people walking around those areas. This is Birmingham, mixing old and new with deep industrial roots and contemporary city center; grand shopping mall and small old streets.
There are many trains and buses going to London and other cities on a daily basis. So people are diversified and dynamic. But the pace of the city is not so fast; waking up at ten am in the morning, gradually reinvesting itself into one of the biggest metropolitan regions in England.
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