Hello everybody! This is my firts post in this blog and as a personal introduction I think it would be interesting to talk you about my experience in this place: Victoria square, Birmingham.

I am the one in red pants, my name is Núria Siscar, and my friends and I were visiting Birmingham for the first time when went to Coventry.

There are many interesting things  to be told about this place, for example it is worthy to know that the square is the centre of Birmingham city and that it is the home of both the Town Hall and the Council House.

This square was renamed in 1901 to honour Queen Victoria; before there were Christ Church Buildings, demolished  in 1970 and replaced with a grassed slope.

But what will make me remember this square for the rest of my life are not its historical traits but the horror I suffered when that man on the top left of the picture (who was notably drunk) came and interrupted our next photo shouting at me that I was a liar (pointing at my pants with a Scottish print).  He meant, we deduced,  that I had dark hair and brown eyes, so I was not Scottish, and he was really angry because I was wearing those pants.

We couldn’t appreciate Victoria Square because of him, he and his friend followed us shouting and insulting us until we entered a shop searching for refuge. It was a pity we couldn’t enjoy the art in the Square.

They held an international design competition for a central water feature in the square, which was won by Dhruva Mistry. The result was Mistry's fountain The River , which is the largest sculptural piece in the square. Its construction started in 1992 and was completed in 1994, when it was officially opened  by Diana, Princess of Gales.

But there are other pieces not commissioned for the 1992 redevelopment of the square. One of them isAnthony Gormley's Iron Man which was donated to the city in March 1993 by the Trustee Savings Bank.

And there are also statues that were there before the square was. Only one of them remains, it is the statue of Queen Victoria, which was originally created in 1901 by Thomas Brock, but recast in bronze by William Blove in 1951.

In conclusion my experience in Victoria Square was definitely not pleasant, but I have to say it was not because of the square, but because of the people in it. An advice? Go and visit Birmingham! It is an amazing place, but be careful with the choice of your clothes.

If anyone has the explication to the anger of the man, I will be glad for knowing it!

Weblography:

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Square,_Birmingham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970

Google Maps https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=es&q=coventry&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x4870b151656e22b7:0x4f660f5564f0689,Coventry,+Midlands+Occidentales,+Reino+Unido&ei=1ZtpUKOMCYWLhQeGqYC4Cw&ved=0CDcQ8gEwAg
http://www.royal.gov.uk http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensoftheunitedkingdom/thehanoverians/victoria.aspx