What do two Brits abroad do when they visit the UK? Go to Marks & Spencer’s and Waterstones, of course!

My hotel buddy, Mica Allan, was still around in Birmingham following the conference, so we had a long, relaxed breakfast at the hotel and then headed into the city for a bit of shopping.

Then, hoping to find some older buildings to look at, we made our way to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and on to Centenary Square. Love the mix of old and new architecture – there was plenty to look at.

Down by the canal

Mica needed to head home, so we said our farewells and I carried on down to the canal area. They’ve done a great job there. You can pootle along the tow paths and over bridges, and there are lots of lovely pubs and cafés. And – again that mix of old and new – you can often see big shiny modern buildings in the background, too. Works for me! I did an Adventure Lab cache this time – a digital scavenger hunt that took me on an interesting route.

Evening entertainment

There was a gorgeous cinema (Everyman Birmingham) by the canal that was showing my film of choice (Wicked Little Letters) at the perfect pre-dinner time. Really enjoyed that – there were only 4 or 5 of us in there and it was beautiful and luxurious. Great service, too!

Dinner was steak and ale pie and a glass of red at the Malt House pub on the canal to round off a wonderful day.

To read more about my networking tour and my reasons for doing it, have a look here.

And you’ll find the rest of my diary entries here.