Blogs from Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

Sandy and I arrived in the UK last Saturday and made our way to Twickenham in time to catch the afternoon games of the London Rugby 7s. On Sunday, Canada finished in the top 8 and England finished 4th, losing to Ireland In the final game. We spent a hectic week visiting family and old school friends and are now sitting in Birmingham airport waiting for our flight to Paris for the final stop in the Rugby 7s World tour.... read more

Just two weeks before we set off- a few last minute things to sort out and we're ready to go.... read more

Geo: 52.4814, -1.89983An early start from Reykjavik at 4am but even leaving Iceland is easy with self check in for people and baggage meaning the queues were for the masses.We arrived into central Birmingham and found the 'quaint' Britannia Hotel without any trouble. It is rather tired and probably a caricature of a British hotel except the shower is great.Birmingham central has a huge shopping and market area, the Bullring, and the requisite Victoria Square, town hall and impressive church. However it was all pleasant enough for a stroll and people seemed quite normal!We found our way to the canal where we spent an hour or so doing research - that is drinking a local beer and watching the locals navigate canal boats through a channel that was about 6 inches wider than the boat itself. ... 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

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