After having early celebrations with Faye's family last weekend in Sheffield for her birthday, we moved the celebrations down to Sara's home town, Birmingham, to snoop around the infamous German Christmas market that we'd heard so much about.
Five of us had a delightful journey stood next to the toilet, having already lost 3 comrades to the clutches of their bed, and another 1 to...erm well, a haircut he really needed to get. We survived the smelly cramped journey and made it to Birmingham a little dazed by the crowds and already scoping out the emptiest Nando's to grab some lunch.
I'd never heard of the German market up until last year (there's my sheltered life shining through again) and two of the boys we were with had never really been to Birmingham, so it was nice to have a good wonder around. We popped to and fro from the Bullring back to the markets, with a few other detours along the way. Our oddest detour had to be when we ended up in the art gallery and museum, which we spent most of our time in, fascinated by the history of Brum/playing with all the interactive things put in place to keep children entertained.
The German market in full swing! It was so nice to see it all lit up in the late afternoon. Personally, I think the polar bear is terrifying, but Faye thought it was photo worthy.
We popped into Selfridge's, once again another place I'd never stepped foot in, and all these cakes were seriously hard to resist.
We had to wait a little for a table in Nando's whilst I moaned about feeling ill, but once we were seated and our food was served up we were all pretty happy to get back to some shopping. I didn't splurge much money at the market aside from some delicious doughnuts and chocolate covered fruit, but everything did look really lovely...it was just a shame I had very little money to spend!
I got treated to a shared platter, but he wasn't too happy about the photo in return...
The Bullring all busy and beautifully decorated (I have to say Meadowhall beat it for decorations though - sorry Sara!)
The day in Brum ended in Cafe Nero with the chance to re-cooperate with a caramel latte before facing the busy trains again, at least this time we got a seat!
Once back at the house we weren't allowed much resting time with Faye's and her friends joint birthday to get to...which we were already late for. Once the lambrini (yes, my budget's got THAT low) was flowing and we were all dressed up we got on the move to the house party around the corner, which was definitely eventful!
All ready and dressed up. It's fortunate we managed to take such a nice photo before we all got a bit too drunk. For once, I maintained some dignity (genuine achievement)!
I can assure you Faye woke up on her birthday with a smashing hangover and the wise decision to spend the day in PJ's, eating Maccie's and watching films...we of course, respected this decision.
It's only 14 days until I return home to Cornwall now! This semester has seriously flown by.
So...
Cue the end of semester panic, it's deadline time.
