Saturday 5 May 2012

Sore Feet and Saturday Snapshots

I was going to write a book review, but we went to Birmingham to meet my younger daughter and her boyfriend for lunch, and spent the day wandering around the Rag Market, walking along the canal, and mooching around the city’s Museum and Gallery, where we visited the Staffordshire Hoard, which we have seen before, but was well worth another look - the intricate work on these tiny pieces of gold is just incredible. 
By the time we got home I was so tired, and my feet hurt because I wore new shoes (there is a moral in everything, as the Duchess told Alice, and the moral of this is that one should never wear new shoes when walking around a city). Anyway, I never got round to writing anything properly, so here are some Saturday Snapshots, some of which were taken today, and some on my last visit, when the weather was still sunny, and there were lovely reflections in the water.    
 Birmingham is supposed to have more canals than Venice, but I am not sure if this is actually true, or merely some kind of urban myth. At any rate,  the  Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Brindley Place and the Gas Street Basin (where it meets the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line) is one of the nicest spots in the city, and one of the few places which seems to have kept its character and from development.
 There are boats, and bridges, and tunnels, and some of the old buildings (including the WBC Company's headquarters) are still there. They may have been revamped, and turned into eating places, but at least they have been preserved and are being used. And there's a surprising amount of wildlife on the water and alongside it, including this Canada goose and two tiny goslings, which we spotted on the opposite bank, and you can just make them out in the photo, if you squint a bit - I need a much better camera I think.
This was printed on a  wall - I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment,
 but it made me laugh.

For more Saturday Snapshots see  Alice's blog http://athomewithbooks.net/

13 comments:

  1. Great photos. We went on a canal boat for two weeks last summer, and we're definitely doing it again, those canals are so wonderful.

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  2. I can see the goslings - they are so cute! I made the mistake of wearing new sandals on my trip to Tucson this spring, and boy did I pay for that. It's just so hard not to fall into that trap because new shoes deserve to be shown off. :)

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  3. Thank you for the tour! I'm sure you had sore feet. That looks like a wonderful place to walk and walk and walk.

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  4. Poor feet! But it looks like a great place to visit--easy to forget what you're wearing on your feet ('til it's too late) and be eager to just go explore. Love the picture of the goose and goslings.

    Here's my Snapshot

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  5. Love the geese. And it's surprisingly easy to decipher the words in the sign. Guess our minds see what we expect to see.

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  6. Sounds like a nice time. Your photos are great. I love the little babies in the corner.

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  7. Tired feet ... good day's poking about! Looks like you saw the sights! Hope there were no blisters involved, though!

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  8. Thanks for the kind comments and sympathy everyone -feet are still sore this morning, but no blisters, thank goodness! Once you get away from the shops (especially the Bullring) Birmingham has lots to offer. Maybe I'll post some more pictures from different spots on another Saturday.

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  9. I want to travel down a river in England in a narrow boat! (Hopefully I'll get a chance next year....)

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    1. Cathy, I am sure you will love it - our rivers are great, very picturesque, especially the Thames.

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  10. I love funny notes on walls or the pavement. Looks like you had a great day, despite the shoes!

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