Birmingham

We decided to explore Birmingham yesterday and today. We would have liked to have gone on a couple more Cotswolds walks before leaving, but the weather turned and we have had a lot of rain over the past few days - not exactly ideal walking weather!

Yesterday we drove into Birmingham and parked near the Bull Ring (in a ridiculously tight carpark). The Bull Ring is a large shopping centre in the heart of the City. It was easy enough driving in from Coventry on the A45. Teresa gave us directions as to how to drive in but failed to mention you cannot go back the same way you came so it was a bit stressful finding our way back! We couldn't find an A45 sign to save our lives, so we headed south and found our way back on our own! We arrived around 11am and while there were lots of people about, we found as the afternoon progressed, the number of people increased and oh so many more cars/buses were on the roads. We hit rush hour in a big way leaving the country's 2nd largest city. We went back today on the train (less stressful) and finished exploring the Art Museum (brilliant museum, lots to see, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, ceramics, jewellery, stained glass, metal works and more) and much to our surprise, admission was free! This photo was taken in Victoria Square (appropriately named given the sculpture of Queen Victoria who stands regally overlooking the square).