Rock This Town - From Shakespeare to Sabbath

The birthday fun continues! Yesterday I met up with my friend Nikki in Birmingham for a day of culture, fabulous food and fun.

I spent years in commuter hell passing the Hall of Memory in Centenary Square on a twice-daily basis, it felt good to stroll around and admire it at leisure. It was erected between 1922 and 1925 to commemorate the 12,320 Brummies who lost their lives in WW1.

Made from Portland stone, the foundation stone was laid by the Prince of Wales on 12 June 1923 and it was opened by Prince Arthur of Connaught on 4 July 1925 to a crowd of 30,000. Construction cost £60,000 and was funded through public donations. The four statues around the exterior are by local artist Albert Toft. They represent the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and Women's Services.

Our first stop was the Ikon Gallery in Brindley Place to see some contemporary art; Chasing Rainbows, an exhibition by local artist, Betsy Brady and our songs were ready for all wars to come, a short film by Palestinian director, Noor Abed.

The Ikon is located within the former Oozells Street Board School, a splendid Neo-Gothic grade 1 listed building designed by Jon Henry Chamberlain in 1877.

The cafe was an absolute delight with the original Victorian stained glass windows, reclaimed industrial furniture and marvellously atmospheric crumbling plaster walls. The mint tea was divine.

Despite it towering over the city's skyline for over eight years, I'd never been inside The Library of Birmingham, which cost £189m to build and opened to the public in September 2013.

It's Europe's biggest library with creatively planted secret gardens situated on several of the terraces where visitors can sit and read.

Situated on the 10th Floor, the wood-panelled Shakespeare Room was designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1882 to house Birmingham's Shakespeare collection. The room had originally been situated with the city's Central Library but outgrew its space was moved to another location in 1974. In 2011 it was taken apart, meticulously labelled and, upon completion of the library, hoisted into place and reassembled. 

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that Shakespeare was a local lad!

The view from the tenth floor. I've said it before and I'll say it again, cityscapes thrill me far more than the countryside.

Birmingham has 35 miles of canals, more than Venice.

Wandering along Broad Street we spotted something neither of us had seen before, The Black Sabbath Bridge.

Named in honour of Birmingham's legendary metal band, the bridge was unveiled in 2019 by former band members, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, who cruised onto the scene aboard a narrowboat watched by hundreds of Black Sabbath fans.

Rock Horns at the ready!

With its hoards of Xmas shoppers, festive music and the overwhelming stench of processed meat, we gave Birmingham's Frankfurt Christmas Market (apparently the largest of its type outside of Germany) a wide berth.

After a circuit of the magnificent Victoria Square, it was time for lunch.

I'd wanted to eat at Dishoom, based on the legendary Iranian eateries found in Bombay, for years. There's one at Kings Cross which we tried many times to visit when we traded in London but it was always fully booked with queues around the block. I was thrilled to see that they'd opened a branch in Birmingham and Nikki had booked us a table as soon as we'd got back from our last meet-up in the city. 

If you've ever been to the Parsi cafes in Bombay you'll appreciate how authentic this decor is.

I love IPA (India Pale Ale) and Dishoom's own was exceptional, perfectly described as delectable with citrus notes.

The best chaat I ever had was in Delhi in 2019 but Dishoon's was equal to that dish of dreams. Described as warm-cold, sweet-tangy, moreish with golden-fried sweet potato covered with cool yoghurt, pomegranate, beetroot, radish and carrot. Tamarind drizzle and green chutney lift it nicely.

The vegetable samosas were proper, home-cooked ones with a tangy coriander mint sauce for dipping.

I'm sure I've banged on about my love for Vada Pav when I've posted my Indian travelogues. Dishoom says that it's a much loved, humble and unifying Bombay street staple. Hot potato vada, crunchy titbits and chutneys, tucked inside a soft homemade bun. Sprinkle the red spicy masala to taste.

 

Rupi, our attendant, was so excited when Nikki told her that we were celebrating my birthday that she insisted on treating me to a pudding - which, like all the dishes, we shared. I loathe ice cream so Nikki kindly took care of it, I didn't want to offend Rupi's generosity by not leaving a clean plate! 

After a wonky toilet selfie (we only had one beer each, honest!), we had another wander around and to our surprise, it started snowing and in such a pretty, swirly way we could almost have wandered onto a film set. Although it was cold, we didn't think it was that cold! Mindful of how erratic our public transport system can often be, we hurried back to New Street station before our trains home were cancelled.

Thanks for a fabulous day, Nikki!