Britain is so much better to explore in the summer. We headed only two hours by train to Britain's second largest city, Birmingham, or Brummers as it is so fondly known. Birmingham was an amazing shopping mecca with the fantastic Bullring shopping centre keeping me entertained for hours. We even splashed out on a Selfridges ice cream sundae that was so large it made us sick!
We do love the canals though so spent most of our holiday long weekend canal side. There were some great developments along the canal in Brummers with fantastic waterside dining and drinking, and the sun was brilliant!
We also took a day trip to Stratford upon Avon which had even more picturesque canal vistas than Birmingham. We spent most of the day by or on the water rowing, picnicing, drinking, reading and lounging but managed to take a photo of Shakespeare's birthplace. A definite highlight was rowing leisurely along the canal (and chilling sitting there while Si did the muscle work)! We capped it all off with a trip to the Cadbury factory and scored many freebies of the chocolate variety. Wicked trip all round.
Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?
It was probably the best day of the year (thus far), when we visited Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford-upon-Avon for a taste of Olde England. The weather was so nice it seemed like a waste of sunshine to go in the actual house Shakespeare was born in, but we did take a photo outside it.
Instead, we spent the day on and around the mighty river Avon. We went for a bit of a row on the river, which was nice and relaxing, and yes, I did eventually have a turn rowing. We picnicked along the river, we relaxed on beach chairs and we had fish and chips by the river for tea. Unfortunately we did pay the price though, with our first sunburn since Greece last year.
Birmingham was a bit shabby in places, but we had an excellent time. The shopping district is very impressive, and we took the mandatory Me-with-a-Beer picture at a pub overlooking one of Birmingham’s canals.
The Cadbury factory was worth a visit. I think it’s about the closest you can get to a real-world Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. We enjoyed all the samples, and it was a sweet end to a brilliant long weekend.
Pics are here
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