#oneaday, Day 50: What Happens in Birmingham, Stays in Birmingham

Like a low-budget T-Pain, I’m on a bus. Well, technically a coach. The National Express of Divine Comedy fame, no less.

I’m on my way to Birmingham to meet up with Twittery-bloggy types @Bungiesgirl and @WhatGracieDid, which is all terribly exciting. Taking a previously-online-only friendship to that “next level” is always an exciting step, particularly if it means having a “mini-break” of sorts, to sound all Bridget Jones for a minute.

Birmingham has, on more than one occasion, been the venue for meetups such as this. In my years before Twitter, I used to contribute to the Times Education Supplement forums (and indeed met my wife there). Many active members of the TES community were in the area, so it was a good central place to meet.

One thing that always strikes me when going to places like Birmingham, though, is that I can’t imagine them being seen as “tourist” destinations, even though I’m sure plenty do flock to places other than London every year. Think about when you’re going on holiday—if you’re having a city break abroad, you’ll generally tell people that you’re going to Paris or Rome or New York or Toronto or wherever and people will know where you’re on about. I often wonder if people in other countries know any UK cities other than London.

“Oh yes,” they’d say. “We’re having our honeymoon in Birmingham.”

Well, firstly, there’s a marriage that’s going to get off to a rough start, and secondly, it just sounds strange. What is it that makes cities such as San Francisco, Berlin or Milan so special that they’re internationally known? Or is it just that living in a particular country causes you to take it for granted?