Me and Jono spent the weekend in Birmingham, we were there for the Model World Show, and I managed to do a little bit of sightseeing while we were there too, so I thought I’d write a blog post to tell you all about it.
Firstly, we flew from Ireland West, I love this airport so much, it’s small but perfectly formed and it’s so stress free. Jono hasn’t been on a plane since 2018, and he was in his wheelchair, and the staff couldn’t have been more helpful. We booked our flights with Ryanair – you get a free seat if you need special assistance. A lovely member of staff wheeled Jono up to security and we waited in the special assistance area until our flight was ready to board. A member of staff took us onto the plane with a lift, it was so easy.
The flight only took around 55 minutes, and there was a bit of a wait at the Birmingham end because we were waiting for special assistance, but it wasn’t too bad. We stayed at the Ibis Hotel, Birmingham airport, it’s just across from the airport and was so handy and easy to walk to. The hotel is nice, the rooms are quite basic, but the restaurant/lounge area is quirky. We had dinner in hotel that night, I thought it was expensive, and I think Ireland is cheaper these days. The food was nice though and the service was great.
I was out and about early the next morning. I got the monorail from the airport, I love the monorail, it comes every two minutes and takes people too and from the NEC and Birmingham International Railway Station. It’s free too, and it’s wheelchair accessible. You can see a video of it on my Facebook page.
I took a train to Birmingham New Street and had a little wander around. Primark (Penneys) opens at 8am, and there’s a Greggs in it! So that was breakfast. There’s also a Vintage/pre-loved clothes section, and you can read more about that here. I would love to see something similar in all the Penneys shops.
I headed back to the NEC and visited Resortworlds, this is a lovely place, there is a hotel, spa, shopping centre, cinema, bowling, and more, all under one roof. Some of the shops include a Next Outlet shop, Lindt (every flavour of chocolate that you could imagine), Beauty Outlet, Hallmark, The Works, and more. It’s just beside a lovely lake with a waterfall, and I think it would be lovely to stay here.
At around 11am we visited the Model World exhibition; I’ve written about that in another blog post, and you can read all about it here. Dinner that night was a takeaway from Greggs at Birmingham Airport, cheap and cheerful, and does the job.
I was up again bright and early on Sunday. The public transport doesn’t start early on a Sunday and the shops can only sell items for six consecutive hours on a Sunday, so although Primark opens at 10.30am, you can’t actually buy anything until 11am. Luckily, I’m not a shopper, so I went to explore the Catacombs at Warstone Lane Cemetery, what a stunning place to visit.
I started off in the cemetery and wandered around the orchard and the gravestones, it was just so peaceful. There were only a couple of other people there, and some friendly birds. The sun was shining, and the cherry blossoms were swaying in the gentle breeze. This is a very special place, and so worth a visit.
This hidden gem is in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, and the last burial took place there in the 1980s. At the heart of the cemetery are the catacombs, they date back to the mid-1800s, they are spectacular and look very much like an Amphitheatre in their design.
I walked from the cemetery to New Street Station (I took a quick look at Moor Street station too – it’s stunning). I strolled around Victoria Square, taking in the scenery and the blue skies, before I headed back on the train to the hotel.
Our flight back was later that afternoon. We arrived at the special assistance area to be told to make our way to the departure lounge. It wasn’t the same experience as Ireland West airport at all. We made our own way to and through security. On a side note – if you are getting duty free you are only allowed one litre of spirits per-person from the UK to Ireland.
We had lunch in Burger King (expensive, but it is the airport), and made our way to the boarding gate, which if I’m totally honest was chaotic. Everyone was put in one room, there was no space for people who needed special assistance, and we were starting to think that we had been forgotten about. Half the place had boarded before someone came for us. They came in the end, and we got boarded, but we were very happy to see the special assistance crew and their smiling faces at Ireland West Airport.
All in all, Birmingham is a very easy place to visit and to navigate your way around from, the monorail and train connections are brilliant, and I’d have no issue doing it again.
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