I was given the opportunity to travel to Birmingham for a work assignment and could not wait to explore another part of the UK! I managed to get some serious exploring and touristy fun things done on my days off and had an awesome time in Birmingham.
Three facts I did not know about Birmingham:
1. It's the second largest city in the UK and is actually known as Britain's second city.
2. Birmingham has more canals than Venice.
3. There is a Cadbury World.
It's also hugely diverse and was such a great place for people watching. Our hotel was right next to Bull Ring shopping centre which is the biggest centre I've been to since moving to the UK. Edinburgh is incredible for many things, shopping centres - not so much. I was sooooo pumped to spend pretty much my entire pay check in Bull Ring! There's so many options! TAKE MY MONEY!!!
My Birmingham work schedule included my two days off as well as an overnight, which mean I had three full days to explore. I spent one of those days on a train journey to Warwick Castle and Stratford Upon Avon, and the other 2 days wandering the streets of BHam. Look at the canals, they're so pretty!
Of course one of my stops was at the incredibly beautiful Library of Birmingham. The library is extremely modern inside and out, it actually looks more like an upmarket department store inside. There is also a Shakespeare Memorial Room on level 9, a beautiful Victorian style room that houses their entire Shakespeare Collection. It also has some incredible views over the city.
Next up was Cadbury World with Adrian! We did a quick bit of research before going in, and according to their website visitors spend an average of 3-4 hours in Cadbury World. Pffttt as if we would spend that long there! We did. Of course we did. There was so much to do! We went to 2 magic shows, explored the 4D Cadbury movie experience and history of Mr. Cadbury and his relationship with Birmingham. We also went on a ride that I can only describe as terrifying. So Cadbury World tried to push this character they created of a cocoa bean, which unfortunately can only be described as a poo with eyes and arms. The ride takes you through a bizarre fantasy world where we explore the cocoa bean world and watch as they have pillow fights in their rooms, enjoying ski trips and parachuting, ride bikes and do all sorts of things that cocoa beans should not do. Were Cadbury Word on drugs when they created this ride? And they sung. OMG they each had creepy high pitched voices while they rocked their brown bodies and stared at us with their ridiculous wide eyes. A place of nightmares.
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| This is what nightmares are made of. |
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| This gorgeous manor was somewhere near Cadbury World |
Lastly I explored the Pen Museum in the Jewellery Quarter, where I had the opportunity to create my own calligraphy nib using machines from the 1800s. SO AMAZING. I absolutely nerded out over this. They had thousands of nibs and examples of beautiful old calligraphy pens and I was prepared to spend a fortune at this place. I was then informed that each nib was .25p. Holy mother of the pen gods I'll buy them all! Nibs are not cheap, I think the last one I purchased was £7 from an art shop.
This was certainly a great end to my Birmingham trip!
I love this beautiful city Birmingham. The most I like is the boats going under a small bridge and the modern library is amazing. Thanks for sharing this nice post. airport parking deals uk
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