Sue had walked over to her mum’s(?) to pick up Ben and brought him back, and we were around long enough to get to play with him a bit. He’s apparently a very energetic toddler, and I had the feeling, as Mark and I left, that Sue had been left to some sort of punishment. Torture by child.
Birmingham's city centre has changed very little, if at all, from 2005. The only difference I could see was the barricades around the fountain dubbed “The Floozy In the Jacuzzi;” She was undergoing some repairs, and the workmen were actually finishing up.
This is not "The Floozy In the Jacuzzi,"
but, apparently, Queen Vicky had quite
a set of hooters!
We walked a little bit, I took a few photos — the sky was crystal clear blue — but I had covered it in 2005 with Mark and Ashley and Ed. The circumstances did however afford Mark and me more time to just sit and chat. And watch the lovely English girls walk by. ...well, I did. Mark is a married man, and thus doesn’t do such things...though he did point out several for me to gawk at....
It's only a model....
There was a group of college-age people standing with some weird contraptions on tripods. I thought they were maybe some sort of camera, though I didn’t seriously think so. Mark thought there might be some place to eat inside the mall, so we went in.
We found a fairly large panini sandwich shop; think sandwich shop ethos with a restaurant interior. It seemed a nice place. The food was pretty good, and I fell in love with yet another beautiful Englishwoman seated a few tables away from us.
Afterward Mark and I headed to The Walkabout, an Australian — or at least Australian-themed — pub. We each had a pint of Foster’s and I tried to at once figure out what NASCAR documentary ESPN was showing on the telly hung in the corner, and explain the American fascination with NASCAR. I think I failed at both.
From The Walkabout, we headed back home. I think. On the way back through the city centre I approached the young people with the strange contraption and asked what they were doing. It turns out they were doing a study of the eye/hand correlation regarding the perception of slope. I’d explain the contraption, but it’s really not worth it.
When we arrived home, Sue was gone to return Ben to Holly. Not long after we got home, Sue arrived, and not long after that, Mark ran out to get some real fish and chips. We ate them in the living room on lap trays while watching telly. And it was good.
The rest of the night, as I recall, was spent chatting with Mark and Sue in front of the telly, sipping wine... and maybe Dura single malt Scotch (Mark and I, anyway) ...and we may have watched a movie or two. If we did, memory fails.
°
(Photos ©2010 Tony Gasbarro)
No comments:
Post a Comment