Cirque du Soleil and Birmingham

Went to Birmingham yesterday to see Cirque du Soleil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirque_du_Soleil . Show was at 4.00 pm so we had plenty of time to have a look around Birmingham. We had a wander around the market. We had booked into see the Back-to-Back houses http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-birmingham_backtobacks Really good tour. Took you back to three different eras and the guide talked about the families that lived in the houses at that time. There were only 8 of us on the tour. Mind you the houses wouldn't have held many more!

We managed to grab a quick bite to eat at the Mash House (at Brindley Lock) and bumped into one of the families who we had been with us on the Back to Back tour (chances of doing that were pretty slim!) Food was great and hope they open more restaurants .... so I can try the bangers and mash or pie and mash!

The show we saw was Quidam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quidam It was excellent. A bit disappointed in the ground floor seating arrangements as you had to keep dodging the head in front of you ... but at the interval the people next to me didn't come back (obviously found better seats elsewhere) so I was able to straddle two seats and had a great view of the stage! It started off with a guy of a HUGE wheel (similar to a hamster's wheel) in which he rolls, spins, twists. How strong must he be to do that! This was followed by four young girls with Diabolos. They were brilliant - never dropping one of them! One of the highlights followed with a girl and two red silks hung high above the stage .... and there she wrapped herself in the silks and swung and fell and suspended herself. It was mesmerising. There followed a set with skipping ropes ... I remember from school trying to get two people jumping in tandem ... these would have lots of people skipping in the same rope .... and at one point two ropes swinging inside each other! I must go and dig out my skipping rope!

Other acts included the hoops where three girls would swing high above the stage - at one point holding on with just one foot (no safety nets or wires!). Then the men took to the ropes and swung high above the stage. A female hand-balanced on stage - and at times the stage was moving and she was balancing on a post. She was so flexible ... I never knew legs could stretch so far! A female swung high above the stage on a rope which was made into a swing - she was the only one who wore a safety wire - I think it was more for the audiences safety than hers! The show was finished off with the acrobats ... they performed various human pyramids and the "flight-exchange". Boy they need such strength and precision! Great show and worth seeing on stage so that you can appreciate how difficult the performances are.

Headed back to the train station along the canalside and through the Mailbox ... didn't see anyone famous at the BBC but now know where BBC Midlands comes from!