This place is a real oddity. Very old fashioned and mainly inhabited by ageing Poles. Pictures of the (last) Pope abound.

Head downstairs for the great little Polish food store (good vodka and sausages) and the interesting restaurant. This place serves seriously authentic Polish food. Anyone who has eaten Polish food will know that it is an acquired taste, but for those who already know they like it, this place is excellent. Beware - the menu is in Polish and many of the staff do not speak English.

Polish Catholic Centre Social Centre Bordesley StBirmingham
B5 5PH

0121 358 7102

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The re-invention of England's great Victorian cities as laid-back, 'continental' style urban spaces has been a bit of a hit and miss affair: a couple of trams and a branch of Pret A Manger do not a cafe culture make. But there have been some notable successes in the re-branding of these former industrial titans that has been gathering pace from the 1980s and 90s onward. And nowhere is this exemplified better than in Birmingham's superb Symphony Hall.

It is unprepossessing from the outside (the bog standard 'post-modern' architecture, all atriums and shopping-mall sheen, betraying the fact that it shares its premises with the 'International Convention Centre') but the perception is transformed on entering the auditorium itself: a vast, arresting horse-shoe of red, silver and gold.

The acoustic in the hall is truly astonishing and is probably best experienced at an orchestral concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) who, post-Simon Rattle, are continuing to make great music under the less frizzy-haired but still highly dynamic directorship of Sakari Oramo.

The orchestra has adopted the highly civilised practice of giving midweek matinee repeats of their evening concerts. These are ideal for layabouts (like me), anyone at a loose end in Birmingham (difficult concept to grasp, I know); and, especially and splendidly, pensioners.

From my balcony seat eyrie the rows of white perms in the stalls below looked like the little knots on a candlewick dressing gown; and a slight but clearly discernible aroma of Murray Mints hung limpidly in the air.

A slight gripe is that, for these matinees, the blokes in the orchestra dress in ordinary business suits - as if they had just strolled in from the Heating and Ventilating Contractors (Midlands Branch) Annual Conference across the way. Obviously the full penguin suit is not really on for an afternoon gig so I'm not quite sure what the answer to this sartorial conundrum is. Something like a Seinfeldian 'puffy shirt' would get my vote.

www.thsh.co.uk

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The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is one of the best things about the city. It was brought to fame by Sir Simon Rattle (now with the Berlin Philharmonic) in the 1980s.

Easily the most important of recent cultural heritage about the city, since it's one of Birmingham's very few claims to international fame. The city has a long way to go to catch up with the likes of London, Manchester and Glasgow in terms of self belief, culture and progress, but if it gets more of the likes of the CBSO as home grown talent, then it will go a long way.

www.cbso.co.uk/

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