We drove to Leamington station to catch the train to Birmingham at 8.40am - as there were three of us in the car, we did not have to pay for parking, which was good. The journey took about 40 minutes and was very pleasant. NSW could learn something from the rail system here.
Birmingham is a surprisingly interesting city and one of the things we found very amusing was the Emirates beach which is just near the Town Hall; it is a largish patch of sand complete with deckchairs, in the middle of the city (and yes, people were reclining on the deckchairs!!!). We also saw another, smaller beach next to the Cathedral. Considering nowhere in Britain is further than 70 miles from the sea, it's a bit sad the beach has to be imported to the city!
Th Bullring is the largest shopping centre we had ever seen - full of all kinds of shops and very bright and airy. Naturally we spent a pound or two there! However, we couldn't find a decent cup of coffee - we have only had about two decent cups since we arrived here and so tend to order tea instead. I suppose that is the British national drink!
The main reason we had gone to Birmingham, apart from wanting to visit a city neither of us knew too much about, was that Sam had an appointment to see someone in a Recruitment Agency and we thought it was a good opportunity for us to see where the Brums live. She ended up being at the Agency for 2 hours meeting all the staff, who were fascinated by her resume! She has already received one offer from them (on the way home) and has also heard back from Scottish Rugby (Union) and British Water Polo, both of which said her resume was being considered. She has decided she'd like to branch out from motorsport whilst she's here in England.
We caught the train home around 4.30pm and unfortunately I sat next to someone who reeked of beer and who was drinking it during the journey. He was very talkative (although not unpleasant apart from the beer smell) and I was very glad when we reached Leamington! Ron and Sam were further down the train and found it very amusing!
Tomorrow we are going to the Cotswolds once again - we can't get enough of that area!
