Jake Malbasa

Remember there are those who grimace when they hear the city being spoken ill of but perhaps don't have the time nor the inclination to point a few things out. That we have one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, for example, and the busiest single theatre in the country. That we have the UK's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, one of the most thrilling conductors on Earth steering one of the best symphony orchestras and a citizenship that is fighting tooth and nail to save the oldest working cinema. We have two of the best street food venues in the land, Michelin stars and the first and only non-London Indian restaurant to win not just one star, but two. The best gin bar in Britain and, coincidentally, one of the best bars in the country. The funniest and friendliest people you could ever want to meet. Almost 600 parks, 14 square miles of greenery, more than any other equivalent sized European city. The single best square half a mile of Indian subcontinental food. Two of the very best urban music festivals for miles and miles around. A gay village and a Chinese Quarter that mesh into the same outstanding suburb. The largest independent museums trust in the United Kingdom. An internationally acclaimed contemporary art venue that takes more risks than any gallery I experienced in 13 years in the capital. One of the most bohemian districts known to man and a hotbed for street art. Lycett. The only Baths in the country built before 1914 to have continuously hosted swimming since opening. Europe's largest concentration of jewellery traders and designers. An official gayborhood alongside the likes of The Castro, San Francisco and The Marais in Paris.The longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre companies and one of its most consistently innovative. Hammond. The first music school to be established in England outside London and still one of the best. Bonehead! One of the best athletics stadiums in the country and the largest facility of its kind in the UK. The National Sea Life Centre. The National Exhibition Centre. The National Indoor Arena and long memories. The social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands.The largest public library in the United Kingdom and the largest regional library in Europe. Britain's most important Shakespeare collection. The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found, anywhere, ever. Works by Constable, Van Gogh, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Monet, Turner, Bacon, Rubens, Degas, Renoir, Botticelli, Van Dyck, Gauguin, Whistler and countless more — all free to see. The first building to be purpose-built for the study of art history in the United Kingdom. One of the world's largest coin collections. Symphony Hall — the finest acoustics in the country. Snobs. Still. Somehow. Mr Egg. Still. Somehow. Cat Deeley!