A Trip to Chocolate World

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I vicariously know a girl from Nodaway Valley, who Treynor competes against in school events. She just so happens to be studying in Wales this semester, so we thought we would try to meet up sometime. One unusually sunny weekend in February we met in Birmingham, part way in between. I arrived by train and walked to the Birmingham bus station to meet Alyse and her friend Rachael. One of the most tourist-y things to do near Birmingham is the Cadbury World Chocolate Factory, so of course, we went. Who doesn’t like chocolate? From Birmingham we had to take the train to Bourneville, a suburb of the city. Bourneville was basically established because of Cadbury, and it is now a nice sized little town. It took us a bit to locate the entrance to the Factory because the complex is just so enormous! We arrived about at the right time, just before the crowds. The tour led us though a maze of recreations: the Amazon, where cocoa beans are grown, Europeans meeting the Aztecs, who developed something similar to what we now call hot chocolate, and the beginnings of Cadbury Chocolate Factory. The displays were pretty detailed and were full of descriptions on how Cadbury specifically makes their product. There were even two films we watched that illustrated the production methods. Next we went on a walk through the factory where, from behind the plexi glass we could watch production and distribution. We all even took turns writing our names with milk chocolate! There was a ride at the end which was kind of weird…I think it was mostly for little kids, but we did it anyway. Basically, you get in this little car, like the ones on tracks for kids at a theme park, and then the track takes you through “cocoa bean land” the car travels through different villages that are miniature depictions of towns, country sides, and mountains. There are cocoa beans randomly placed that are doing everyday things. Lastly, we had to stop in the Cadbury store and clean them out of all of their products. MMM!
After Cadbury World we headed back to Birmingham and had lunch in a pub by the train station before we explored the city. While in Birmingham we saw the Birmingham Art Gallery and History Museum, which was a lot bigger than I was expecting! There was so much to see and their collection was great! We also saw Victoria Square, which had fountains and statues, Birmingham Cathedral, and the Bull Ring, a giant shopping center. Other than that we just walked and got a feel for the city.
Alyse and Rachael came back to Leicester with me that night so they could see where I lived, so we had a slumber party in my dorm room. Before they got on the bus the next morning I took them down town to see the town center, Leicester Cathedral, and the Jewry Wall Museum. That was about the extent of my weekend!

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Photos

The Bull Ring
crazy new building in Birmingham

Church
Not sure which church this is but it was really pretty

Amazon Recreation at Cadbury World
this is where cocoa beans