Friends in love and war

Today we experienced the first delayed train of the year to Birmingham. We were heading there primarily to see the Ikon Gallery’s partnership with macLYON: Friends in Love and War, which features works by over twenty artists from the British Council Collection and macLYON that explore the theme of friendship. I’m trying to see more art because I don’t understand it. This was wonderful, but I am sure I didn’t appreciate it properly.

After that, we went to see the related concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: CBSO Explores: Friends in Love and War, featuring the world premiere of Héloïse Werner’s Siren Suite for soprano and orchestra. Not the usual type of performance we’d see, but really interesting to experience.

Earlier, the Cuban afternoon tea was great, but there’d been a mix-up and we’d been booked in when the main service finished. The Sri Lankan dinner after the concert was excellent, and we’re on the hunt for a local equivalent.