Birmingham and Peaky Blinders

After the victory of the English in yesterday's round of 16, the whole city was completely out of control :-) Since there are not many English people in the hostel, but more Spaniards and South Americans, the enthusiasm there was a bit lower, especially since the few English people there are more interested in rugby.

Since my hostel is located in an industrial area, albeit very close to the center of Birmingham, my first impression of the city was rather negative when I arrived. Since all the streets in the neighborhood are extremely littered, I initially preferred to go back to Bristol. However, today I discovered that north of the Bullring area everything is much nicer, cleaner, and cozier. Anyone who comes to England for shopping can confidently venture here to the second largest city. The streets are not as crowded as in London, but the offer is about the same. However, I am not here because of that...

The main reason for stopping here is the Peaky Blinders, a notorious gang from the 1880s. The TV series of the same name is not really true to the historical model, but still worth seeing. However, since the booked walking tour, led by historian Carl Chinn MBE, only starts at 7 p.m., I had to find something else for the day.

Most museums and tours here have to be reserved several days in advance, are extremely expensive, or are so far outside the city that I didn't feel like going there. Otherwise, I have to honestly say that there is not much exciting for me personally in this city. Since only a few historical buildings have been preserved, that was not an option either, and the places where J.J.R. Tolkien could have gotten his inspiration from sound more like marketing. So I went to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which is free. At first, I thought it was a small museum, but after 4 hours, I realized that I had only explored a part of it. In addition, the building was so maze-like that you can easily get lost in it. In the end, I managed to find my way out again ;-)

The Brummies, as the locals are called here, are quite likable despite their peculiar dialect, and one doesn't stand out particularly with a beard :-D

So it was finally time for the long-awaited Peaky Blinders tour, which was very interesting. Carl showed us all the connections between the series and reality and led us through all the important gang-related locations. I naturally had to quickly get used to the Brummie accent, which turned out to be faster than I thought. As the only one who came from far away, I was also the first choice for the show fight as a Peaky Blinder.