Birmingham in April

Last weekend, after moving to Brighton (terrible timing I am aware), I took a trip to visit a group of friends in Birmingham. Although I had visited the city before, I hadn't  been in almost 2 years and trust me a lot has changed. I also forgot how big Birmingham is - living in Brighton and Hove, such a small scale city, and generally staying away from London means that I tend to not visit places this size. The last few weekends I have spent in woods and forests and so a few days in a busy city definitely felt alien. 

Being the large city that it is, there is so much to see in Birmingham. One of my friends took me on a walk around some of Birmingham's canals (Birmingham has canals?!). It was really peaceful, being a pretty dreary and rainy day not too many people were around. It kind of reminded me of walking around Amsterdam last summer, although it's not as pretty and I definitely couldn't get out a book to read, I still felt that comfortable feeling of safety. I didn't recognise my surroundings but because they reminded me of somewhere that I knew I felt happier about going for a long walk in the rain.

It is also nice being shown around by a local. My best friend, Ella, has lived in Birmingham for almost 5 years now and so not only does she know where things are and is able to give me a tour, but she can tell me about the history of the city and some of the buildings. It was fascinating being somewhere that I know I will never live, not because I dislike Birmingham, I don't, in fact I really enjoyed my trip, but I am so happy in my bubble of Brighton and I know I will never crave to live somewhere that is so big and busy. 

I often get an overwhelming sense of anxiety when travelling, I haven't recently but this weekend involved a lot of public transport and so my journey to and from Birmingham was the least bit calming. I felt so tired when I finally got back to Brighton (good old replacement bus services on a Sunday) but I am so pleased that I made the effort to go to Birmingham. I had a great 48 hours and spent time with friends that I don't see very often (and I am making a note to see them more). 

When we think of trips and travel, a lot of the time we are expecting to leave the country that we are in, going somewhere far to experience another culture. I love travelling to other countries and I believe seeing and experiencing more cultures makes us better people - but I am really interested in exploring my own country and all of the UK for that matter. I will be doing my research as to where is next on the list...