Birmingham

We had a super early start, so we treated ourselves to porridge at Marylebone.

We arrived in Birmingham around midday and it was a little rainy.

There’s a cute bull statue out front which reminds me of the one on Wall Street but a little less mean.

The Bullring shopping centre was the first thing we came to from the station and it looks very futuristic.

We started the day off with a huge breakfast at Wetherspoon’s, which would fuel us for the rest of the day.

We then went to The Pen Room, which is an awesome museum dedicated to pens and nib-making. The museum is free and well worth a visit.

There was so much to look at including thousands of nibs and inks. There were nibs for every occasion. I really want one of these music writing sets.

One of the volunteers helped us to make our own nibs. This is how they turned out. The one in the middle has King Christian of Denmark’s head stamped on it.

We even got to try out a braille typewriter. I wrote my name and Cut Out + Keep in braille.

We then got to try out some of the nibs and quills. They were really nice to write with. Next time I spot a feather, I’m going to turn it in to a pen. I bought a holder for my nib, so I can try it out when I get home.

We also had fun decorating my notebook with MOD (Ministry Of Defence) and Trademark stampers.

We headed back along the canal and found The Canalside Cafe, which is really pretty pub and use to be an 18th century lock keeper’s house.

I had hot spiced cider which was really nice. My parents joined us after their visit to the museum and my Mum brought me back a squished penny with a canal barge on.

Birmingham looked pretty at night when it was lit up.

Though the Cadbury factory was closed, we decided we still wanted to see Bournville, as it's my Dad's favourite chocolate bar. The town was created especially for the workers at the chocolate factory.

We will return to tour the factory one day soon, especially as they have a squished penny machine inside.

We headed back to Birmingham with just enough time left to have a quick look around the massive, three storey Forever 21 store in the Bullring. There were so many nice things. I can’t wait until they open up their four stores in London this year!