Birmingham

Another early start (a continuing theme of JoAnn's visit) for a drive to the NEC in Birmingham. The NEC is a huge sprawling conference center outside of Birmingham. JoAnn wanted to go there to attend the GCCF Cat Show, to meet some folks she knows and see how cat shows are run on this side of the pond. On the drive out of Harrogate the fields were all covered with thick frost and we could see mist rising up eerily as the sun rose. Just outside of Birmingham our car became enveloped in a low-lying fog as thick as pea soup. We dropped JoAnn off outside the show hall around 10 a.m. Brad and I had heard there was a train station in the NEC so thought we would catch the train into Birmingham city center. It took us nearly a half hour to walk from the show hall to the train station which gives an idea just how huge the place is. Once in the city center we began strolling along the pedestrianized areas right into the city's German Christmas Market. It was an authentic market with vendors from Frankfurt selling German goods and food. We each had a bratwurst and gluhwein, bringing back happy memories of German fests we attended while living in Heidelberg. I ordered a dampfnudel with Vanilla sauce but it was a pathetic version of the real thing. I told Brad it must be the Germans' way of getting back at Britain for losing the war. After strolling around the Birmingham center we hopped back on the train to pick JoAnn up. We had a very good first impression of Birmingham -- another city I'd like to return to for more exploration.

JoAnn and I went to our favorite fish and chips joint in Harrogate for dinner that night. It was tasty as usual and we each had dessert as well: pineapple and banana fritters with Cornish ice cream. Decadent but delicious.