http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , United Kingdom , England , West Midlands en-us Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:58 +0000 Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:58 +0000 Locks today 9 total 35 So much for only 3 hours motoring each day 6 hours Friday and 8 today to reach good moorings at Crofton. Farreaching views for most of the way with a lot of sunshine. The Kennet Avon Canal runs between wait for it..... the R. Kennet in the east and the R. Avon in the west. Hving travelled uphill since we started today we crossed the summit via Bruce Tu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/blog-786643.html Well it39s been a lovely sunny bank holiday weekend with friends but seems mine has been extended a bit I leave on Monday 13th May flying out to Spain where I meet with one of my gorgeous childhood friends Laura. I will be spending 4 weeks out there...Excited muchThis is the start of the journey where I will relax soak up the sun and meet the people.It was sad saying goodbye to my clos http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Kidderminster/blog-784654.html This is the official start to mine and kelly39s journey tickets to Boston MA purchased 346 awsome http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-784250.html Its been a funny old week with sadness that after 6000 miles over 1500 GBP in fuel and seven weeks of travel we have said Goodbye to Georgie Woolly says I was very sad to wave bye bye to Georgie and as I wiped a tear away I tried to find my new seat in Oliver. Oliver joined us on Friday and much in the way that we choose Georgie we climbed in and out of quite a few vehicles checke http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Stourbridge/blog-780990.html A lovely weekend of spiritual activities at Birmingham more to come. Mainly photos for the present. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-780700.html Welcome to the Severn Valley Steam Train Railway If you were asking me what my favorite attraction in the UK was I would certainly list in my top three attractions the Severn Valley Steam Railway which runs from the town of Kidderminster to the town of Bridgnorth.I discovered it back in 2008 while organizing a weekend around Stratford upon Avon and the Cotswolds with my Friend Christine and our http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Kidderminster/blog-780690.html Welcome to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens I discovered these gems of Botanical Gardens two years ago after attending a fair at the Birmingham NEC and was I in for a pleasant surprise They are of course much smaller in scale and variety than places such as Kew Gardens though 15 acres in size but they are definitely well worth a visit especially at Springtime.They are located in Edgbaston a f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-780166.html Woolly says So very very sad we were heading for Ghent and were now in Stourbridge How come. We set off to visit Brugge on the way to Ghent Jo was not feeling too well and after four miles on the road with severe winds nearly sending us over we pulled up. We sat for a short while in silence before Ian and I decided that something needed to be done Contacting Jos consultant the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Stourbridge/blog-779737.html I have always enjoyed reading travel blogs. Most travel blogs I read are produced by friends who have the fortune of being able to afford the opportunity to visit far away lands. These blogs are mostly entertaining and I enjoy getting the views and opinions of these wonderful places from people I have enjoyed company with and who are good friends and people I would like to just mention a friend c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-778273.html Starting at Birmingham Airport Airport Parking http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-775950.html Following the signs for North Wales we were making good progress to rendezvous with Zoe at Porthmadog. Woolly says well we were until the Sat Nav took us onto a left turn as the roads got narrower and narrower Ian and Georgie were not impressed and when we were forced to follow a diversion into even narrower lanes things were not looking good. Sensibly they decided to ignore the Sat Nav http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Stourbridge/blog-775448.html I Visit Birmingham twice a year for conferences organised at the ICC. I usually fly out with my wife and 2 kids and stay in a Birmingham Hotelnamely the Hyatt Regency on Broad Street. This time around I decided to stay in a 2 bedroom apartment near the mailbox which is slightly further out from the Hyatt but as we usually like to dine around the mailbox we thought this may be a better option.We ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-772937.html ComfortZone announce that their bookings for serviced apartments in Birmingham have soared in 2012 compared to 2011. The trend was noticed by the marketing manager during the summer of 2012 when many customers began to testify that they rather stay at the comfortzone apartments over the hotels in Birmingham city centre. This trend is becoming more popular with families younger professionals and o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-772197.html Due to the conditions we have had and weather to come its time to get away Were taking the Motorhome to Manchester airport and parking it up for a month and heading to the much sunnier climate of Alyana Turkey. The plan is to spend some time in Alyana before hiring a car and heading off for a tour round Turkey. If time allows we will jump on a ferry to Cypress Packed and ready to go http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Stourbridge/blog-769697.html An interesting first night on the road. We had arranged to stop on the car park at the ltspangtSir John Houblon Publtspangtltstrong stylemsobidifontweight normalgtinltstrong stylemsobidifontweight normalgt Bishop39s Stortford. We were made so welcome and had a brilliant meal at a reasonable price. Having decided that we didn39t like the fixed rear bed and co http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Stourbridge/blog-766610.html What a week. The past 7 days have been both amazing and emotional. I39m down to the final preparations which have been a lot more complicated than they should have been.For starters it has only recently occured to me that I am taking a rucksack not a suitcase and that my luggage padlocks have nowhere to attach. I have therefore spent much time agonising over other options. The very helpful http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-764085.html So the countdown has officially begun. Thought I39d start the travel blog before I actually start travelling so as to capture how much more nervous and equally excited I get over the coming weeks. To be honest I thought I39d feel more nervousexcited by now. Maybe it hasn39t really hit me yet despite this week marking 2 real final countdown moments.Leaving WorkAt the grand old age of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Birmingham/blog-763264.html What a little gem What can I say I feel a little lost for words trying to find the right things to say about Wightwick Manor. How did we end up visiting. Well it sort of came out of the blue. We had been out and about on Saturday and today was going to be a day of doing very little. A visit to the optician and a flu jab appointment booked . Having suffered from swine flu a few years ago I had http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Wolverhampton/blog-760479.html September 10 Coventry to Ballinasloe I got up early and got ready and took my stuff downstairs to load up and go to the train station in Rugby. Con took me to the station and I caught the train from Rugby to Holyhead via Crewe. I was disappointed that they had no internet on the first train and on the second one they wanted me to pay for it. Maybe I am spoiled but I have grown accustomed with w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Coventry/blog-747988.html http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Coventry/blog-747982.html