【英文版】
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On the day I arrived in Birmingham, England, the weather was not perfect. Although the sky was occasionally blue, the clouds were mostly pewter-gray. Fortunately, the dark dismal morning did not mirror my spirits. I was just so thankful that it did not rain.
When I was walking around and passed by a well-maintained garden, a splash of vibrant colors exploded before my eyes. Newly cut green grass was like a comforting blanket covering the whole area. Under the darkened sky, I was happy to still see green leaves on the trees, delightful flowers, and even some birds flying over the buildings. I thought to myself, “How wonderful that Mother Nature did not fall into a deep melancholy because of the darkened sky.”
At the first glance, it was not easy for me to read the city map of Birmingham. The town seems to be stretching across neighborhoods that are crisscrossed by wide boulevards and highways. I navigated with patience and found some places of interest.
The Bullring Square has the Bullring Shopping Center, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, as well as the Cathedral. Fortunately, New Street and Moor Street bus stations are all within walking distance of one another. I hopped on public transportation to get to places outside the immediate center.
Victoria Square is my favorite place to visit when I was in Birmingham. The City Center blocks that show off the Industrial Revolution heydays cluster around this meticulously maintained square. I saw the statue of a woman rising from a fountain known as the “Floosie in the Jacuzzi.” Standing nearby is a statue of the stern-looking Queen Victoria. My tour guide told me, “She apparently was not fond of this region and ordered that the blinds of her railway carriage be drawn when she was passing through here.” The pompous looking neoclassical buildings on the square are signs of rapid progress of this region.
Though not England’s most visually appealing city, the new Birmingham is an energetic and diverse metropolis, in the midst of a major cultural rebirth. Due to the decline of heavy industry and those devastating bombings during World War II, Birmingham has transformed its drab architecture into a modern skyline.
The city first flourished in the boom years of the 19th-century’s Industrial Revolution, allowing its inventive citizens to accumulate enormous wealth that was evident in the city streets. At one time the city had some of the finest Victorian buildings in the country. It still owns some of the most ravishingly beautiful Pre-Raphaelite paintings in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
The City of Birmingham in England is a colorful town. From its different styles of architecture to its special landmarks, I genuinely love its quirky creativity.
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