A weekend away
K & I went to the Unconvention this weekend. As a sort of compromise (he's certainly not what one would call a hardcore BC-er) we went up Friday to go shopping and swan around Birmingham and meet some friends, then to the Unconvention on Saturday. It was good :)
Handily, The Bullring is right next to New Street Station, so the would-be shopper needn't ever see the city itself. So we didn't, at least not for the first hour or so, as we wandered around looking for food & making idle chitchat about the shops.
Me: This place scares me.
K: I wonder if they have a Top Man?
Then, having ogled the bizarre architecture and the art bar in a church, we went to wander around the cathedral, by accident (we were looking for Nat West). It's miniature: the size of a normal church (hmmm) but ornate and still pretty. It also "features some of the best stained glass in the world". Apparently "you probably won't ever see better stained glass". I didn't mention any of the other cathedrals I've visited: I've no idea how their stained glass compares, and I wouldn't want to accidentally embarrass the poor volunteer who seemed to be setting rather a store by it. The volunteers (all in their 70s by my guess) put on a bit of a show arguing about the organisation of the postcards as we went round. It was more country village that heart of the city and I was tempted to abuse my foreigness and stop and take a picture. I didn't though: I seemed to have picked up some of that British reserve, or perhaps just some manners.
Then, frivolities over, we went shopping. It wasn't a terribly successful trip: there aren't very many interesting shops in the Bullring & surroundings, despite the vast quantities featured. The generic chainstores are supersized, having a sale, and depressingly bland. There were also a few achingly hip boutiques (I confess: I bought something in both kinds of shop, but still) but not, well, in a particularly interesting way. Give me Goodramgate any day. I did, however, buy lots of sweets (mm, markets) avoided buying "wedding silk - any colour", a thong saying "cockpit", or a new phone (ech, markets) and instead got a pair of shoes for 50p (mmm, Shoefayre). Then dinner, which wasn't Mexican but instead at All Bar One and very nice, although we had to decamp to get cake. En route we found a couple of BC books, which was neat, and it was lovely to talk to people again.
Saturday morning we went to Tesco's (we were looking for the city Museum) and the Museum for a little bit. It's massive & rather confusing & very cool. Check out the love spoons in the woodworks gallery, and say to yourself: dear gods, 30 children?! and then thank everything you believe in for contraception.
I liked Birmingham. We didn't see much of it, but it had a nice atmosphere (although full of chains) and there seemed to be a lot going on. Check it out.
The Unconvention was really cool. Thanks to a bottle of wine, I felt all warm and fuzzy (rather than scared stiff, which is how I usually feel in crowds of people I might have to talk to) but also incapable of talking sense to anyone. Despite this, my team came third in the pub quiz, which was very cool because (a) I wanted to do a pub quiz before I go home, and this slaked that thirst even if it wasn't a proper one, and (b) BC denim bag. Am in love.
The bit we attended was impecably organised and very interesting. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, from the mascot-baby to the grown ups, and it was, all in all, a lovely event. I came away with exactly as many books as I went with, and a bunch of stickers and stuff, including a bumpersticker thing, which, not having a car of my own, I'm going to try to persuade K to put in his. Please help by completing this simple questionnaire:
Poll
We also got goodybags, which were amazing. I haven't read anything by the authors suggested, but it'll be interesting to give it a shot, and just being given such a thing really made my day. The amount of organisation that must have gone into this is phenomenal, so if you know any of the organisers, tell them the rock. Lots.
Dinner, that night and today, was Mexican. If I start to look like salsa, you'll know why. Good though :)
And that, in long, was why my weekend rocked. In short: K, books, and Birmingham. :)
Handily, The Bullring is right next to New Street Station, so the would-be shopper needn't ever see the city itself. So we didn't, at least not for the first hour or so, as we wandered around looking for food & making idle chitchat about the shops.
Me: This place scares me.
K: I wonder if they have a Top Man?
Then, having ogled the bizarre architecture and the art bar in a church, we went to wander around the cathedral, by accident (we were looking for Nat West). It's miniature: the size of a normal church (hmmm) but ornate and still pretty. It also "features some of the best stained glass in the world". Apparently "you probably won't ever see better stained glass". I didn't mention any of the other cathedrals I've visited: I've no idea how their stained glass compares, and I wouldn't want to accidentally embarrass the poor volunteer who seemed to be setting rather a store by it. The volunteers (all in their 70s by my guess) put on a bit of a show arguing about the organisation of the postcards as we went round. It was more country village that heart of the city and I was tempted to abuse my foreigness and stop and take a picture. I didn't though: I seemed to have picked up some of that British reserve, or perhaps just some manners.
Then, frivolities over, we went shopping. It wasn't a terribly successful trip: there aren't very many interesting shops in the Bullring & surroundings, despite the vast quantities featured. The generic chainstores are supersized, having a sale, and depressingly bland. There were also a few achingly hip boutiques (I confess: I bought something in both kinds of shop, but still) but not, well, in a particularly interesting way. Give me Goodramgate any day. I did, however, buy lots of sweets (mm, markets) avoided buying "wedding silk - any colour", a thong saying "cockpit", or a new phone (ech, markets) and instead got a pair of shoes for 50p (mmm, Shoefayre). Then dinner, which wasn't Mexican but instead at All Bar One and very nice, although we had to decamp to get cake. En route we found a couple of BC books, which was neat, and it was lovely to talk to people again.
Saturday morning we went to Tesco's (we were looking for the city Museum) and the Museum for a little bit. It's massive & rather confusing & very cool. Check out the love spoons in the woodworks gallery, and say to yourself: dear gods, 30 children?! and then thank everything you believe in for contraception.
I liked Birmingham. We didn't see much of it, but it had a nice atmosphere (although full of chains) and there seemed to be a lot going on. Check it out.
The Unconvention was really cool. Thanks to a bottle of wine, I felt all warm and fuzzy (rather than scared stiff, which is how I usually feel in crowds of people I might have to talk to) but also incapable of talking sense to anyone. Despite this, my team came third in the pub quiz, which was very cool because (a) I wanted to do a pub quiz before I go home, and this slaked that thirst even if it wasn't a proper one, and (b) BC denim bag. Am in love.
The bit we attended was impecably organised and very interesting. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, from the mascot-baby to the grown ups, and it was, all in all, a lovely event. I came away with exactly as many books as I went with, and a bunch of stickers and stuff, including a bumpersticker thing, which, not having a car of my own, I'm going to try to persuade K to put in his. Please help by completing this simple questionnaire:
Poll
We also got goodybags, which were amazing. I haven't read anything by the authors suggested, but it'll be interesting to give it a shot, and just being given such a thing really made my day. The amount of organisation that must have gone into this is phenomenal, so if you know any of the organisers, tell them the rock. Lots.
Dinner, that night and today, was Mexican. If I start to look like salsa, you'll know why. Good though :)
And that, in long, was why my weekend rocked. In short: K, books, and Birmingham. :)