Blogs from West Midlands, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 4

Phil pulled us out of a glitch. Before arriving in England we had only reserved our places to stay in Manchester, where we arrive and depart from the airport...we wanted to be flexible. That worked out fine until now...Fri/Sat and no beds at the hostels. Phil got on his laptop and found a Hilton in Coventry where he could use his rewards program. Got up in good time and headed to burford for breakfast. Walked thru St. John's the Baptist Church, one of the large Cotswold 'wool churches' built between 1160 and 1475. A wool church is an English church financed primarily by donations from rich merchants and farmers who had benefitted from the mediaeval wool trade, hoping to ensure a place in heaven. Then off to more of the Cotwolds regions. Upper Slaughter, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, ... read more

Fair warning, this first post will be a little cheesy. I'll cut that s**t out after this. I've mentioned the idea to a few people across those years, and as you can see, I meant it. I know I'll look like a bit of a tulip if we don't make it past Surrey, but hey, the die is cast. Roll on May 1st 2015. So I like travelling. Caught the bug in 2001 through the BUNAC exchange program, spending a glorious, heady, eye-opening summer on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, hand-making fudge in huge copper cauldrons. The people I met, friends I made and things I saw, I will never forget. I have forgotten how to make fudge. It wasn't enough though, and that trip did teach me that most important lesson: If you want ... read more

Woolly says – Having experienced the delights of Stratford I was rather chuffed to find out that our evening’s entertainment was to be at the theatre. Being a cultured type of mammoth I knew I would be in my element hob knobbing with the elite and famous. As I made my entrance I awaited the salutations and celebrations of my arrival, not a thing! There were plenty of people milling around but no one seemed to realise that I had arrived, all I could hear were whispers about cats, shouldn’t that be Mammoths! I stomped up the stairs closely followed by Jo and daughter Zoe and plonked myself in our seats, daughter Zoe was clutching a magazine with a picture of some cats eyes and Jo was burbling on about cats as well, what about the ... read more

A visit to Birmingham (also known to the locals as 'Brum'), the UK's second largest city, probably does not figure on many tourists' schedules when visiting England. It's had a tough life. But there's no reason for it not to be on the itinerary and the local tourism machine now promotes a 're-invented and reinvigorated' city. If you look past the very impressive 'Bullring' shopping centre, by no means the 'largest' or 'newest' in the UK but something of a local icon of which the locals are very proud, the city has plenty of history and culture on offer. In particular, in a city which was at the centre of the industrial revolution in all its gritty glory, you might not expect to find the most modern and largest public library in Europe. Built with some ... read more

Current Mood: Sad to leave. Happy 3rd Birthday Josh xx Love you mate! After a Fun filled Six weeks of hanging out with the lads, eating with my Family and wondering back and forward from wales it was nearly time to say goodbye to everyone and head off to Koh Tao for another Dive Course. Yes that’s right guys I was getting my head back into the books. Before the tears though we would have one last bash. This would come in the form of a three year olds birthday party. Planning had been going on for weeks. There was a tonne of food. Dad brought over a box full of samosas from his Alum Rock buddies, everybody turned up with boxes of beers and I was to be in charge of the BBQ. As per ... read more