{"id":4782,"date":"2023-08-06T19:23:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T18:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/?p=4782"},"modified":"2023-08-07T22:32:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T21:32:50","slug":"jewel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/?p=4782","title":{"rendered":"Jewel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I had some time off work, and we decided to do something with some of it.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/?p=4498\">we went to Coventry<\/a>, this year, even closer to home, with Birmingham&#8217;s Jewellery Quarter. In one way, it seems daft to stay overnight so close to home, but the hotel was a good price, so the increment over a taxi was less than you&#8217;d think, and the bonus of being able to just walk back is worth noting.<\/p>\n<p>Also, we had a number of targets in mind: a bit of sightseeing, a few pubs, and a new dining experience, so we found ourselves on a train to New Street again, and went in search of our first target:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4783\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4783\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"&quot;Ozzy&quot; the bull\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4783\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_120638035_HDR-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4783\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Ozzy&#8221; the bull, made for the Commonwealth Games, in his new home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In what they&#8217;re now calling Grand Central, the confusingly laid out resurgence of Birmingham New Street and The Pallasades, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-birmingham-66302196\">&#8220;Ozzy&#8221; has a new home<\/a>, after public pressure saved him from being dismantled, and he&#8217;s quite a magnificent sight.<\/p>\n<p>Onwards. In previous times, we&#8217;d have taken a walk out of town down Livery St, but that&#8217;s a bit far at one stretch, and rather convienently, the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/West_Midlands_Metro\">West Midlands Metro<\/a> runs from Edgbaston &#8220;village&#8221; (wankers), through the city calling at BHM before rejoining the original line at Snow Hill, handily passing our hotel near St Pauls, and dropping us on Vyse St by the <a href=\"https:\/\/jewelleryquarter.net\/a-look-inside-the-temple-of-relief\/\">ornamental pissers<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>A short walk took us to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pubblog\/?p=2739\">The Button Factory<\/a> for lunch, handily dodging the worst of the rain. Onwards to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pubblog\/?p=2744\">1000 Trades<\/a> for another drink, then a quick weave through the backstreets, emerging near the magnificence of The Gothic. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4785\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4785\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Gothic, Birmingham\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4785\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/IMG_20230806_150139122_HDR-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4785\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Gothic, ex pub, now apartments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Gothic is now apartments, having been refurbished by <a href=\"https:\/\/cordia.uk\/projects\/the-gothic-enquiry\/\">Cordia Blackswan<\/a>, and now a much better sight than nearly 10 years ago:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2402\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2402\" style=\"width: 208px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/\/gothic.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/\/gothic-208x300.png\" alt=\"The Gothic\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/gothic-208x300.png 208w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/gothic-711x1024.png 711w, https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/images\/gothic.png 1044w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2402\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">What was The Gothic pub in Great Hampton Row, Birmingham, in 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then, we went <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pubblog\/?p=872\">to church again<\/a>, went and checked in to our hotel for a nap.<\/p>\n<p>Then, we had a new dining experience planned. The Blue Nile has been on Great Hampton Row for some time, and we finally got there. It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/solicitingflavours.com\/2018\/02\/18\/wot-comes-out-of-africa-blue-nile-restaurant-birmingham\/\">Ethiopian cuisine<\/a>. A new one on me, and the food was delicious and the owner welcoming.<\/p>\n<p>In all, a pleasant day and evening, a comfortable night&#8217;s sleep, and a new experience, all pretty close to home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had some time off work, and we decided to do something with some of it. Last year, we went to Coventry, this year, even closer to home, with Birmingham&#8217;s Jewellery Quarter. In one way, it seems daft to stay overnight so close to home, but the hotel was a good price, so the increment &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/?p=4782\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jewel<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,4,21,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-architecture","category-life","category-public-transport","category-pubs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4782"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4788,"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4782\/revisions\/4788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piglet-net.net\/pigblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}