Day five began like every other day on our trip: walking downstairs to fill up on a full English breakfast. Since we stayed in a hotel that night, rather than a traditional inn, we served ourselves from a buffet instead of being served at our table. But the selection of food was vast and had more than enough to satisfy our stomachs. We then checked out of the hotel and began our day in Birmingham.

Like I mentioned before, Birmingham is England’s second largest city and has a population of over 1.1 million. Industry and manufacturing have had a very heavy influence throughout the city’s history, which gave it a blue-collar feel in my opinion. We had a few items on the list of things to do that day, but a couple of our original plans had been scratched from that list. That included a Peaky Blinders tour, or “Birmingham Slogging Gangs Tour,” as the website put it, that focused on the real Peaky Blinders gang of Birmingham in the early 20th century. I had watched a few of the seasons before the trip and very much enjoyed the show, but everyone else in the group had seen the entire series and were big fans. For all of us, it was a pretty big draw to visit the city.

But as the trip drew closer, we found out that the tours, unfortunately, were only offered Thursday through Sunday, and we were there on a Wednesday. So, that was a bummer. We had also planned on doing a guided tour of Villa Park, the stadium for the Aston Villa Football Club. However, like the Peaky Blinders Tour, we discovered as the trip neared they were using the stadium for a special event that day and would not be offering tours. We still wanted to visit the city, though, and see what it had to offer.

We began our day’s journey by going to Villa Park. Even though it was hosting an event, we at least wanted to walk around the stadium and take pictures. Since they are a big-time, and historic soccer team, we thought it would be worth it to go to the stadium and see everything we could. When we got there, we found out the special event that kept us from being able to tour the stadium was a huge city-wide job fair, with all different types of people there looking for jobs. We walked around the stadium, took some pictures, went into the team store for ten to fifteen minutes, and decided there really wasn’t much to see. A little disappointing, but with my newfound fandom of the Birmingham City soccer team the night before, and learning they were big rivals of Aston Villa, it didn’t bother me too much to get away from such a “horrible” place. All jokes aside however, I will say, that the neighborhood around the stadium was sort of run-down. It appeared to be taken over by immigrants who didn’t take care of the area and who possibly envied the streetscapes of Detroit. So, actually I was pretty glad to get out of that particular area.

Right before leaving the historic, but run-down neighborhood, we walked up the hill from the stadium to the absolutely stunning Aston Hall. The mansion was completed in 1635 and was privately owned until it was bought by the city in 1864. It is now open to the public for touring where people can enjoy lavish interior design, furniture, paintings, and outdoor gardens. It is even considered one of the most haunted buildings in the United Kingdom, and offers ghost tours, which I absolutely would love to do. We didn’t tour it, but just walking up to the outside of the place to get pictures and to gaze at the impressive mansion was definitely worth it.

While Birmingham is a big city and has a lot to offer, one of its biggest draws to tourists is Brindleyplace, an area by the famous canals that feature many cafés, pubs, restaurants, and shops. Known for its canal system, the city has a total of 35 miles of canals, which is more than the city of Venice contains. And while I was a little less than impressed with the Aston area of Birmingham, I loved Brindleyplace. The canals were awesome, especially walking alongside them through one of the tunnels. You could also get a feel for the history of the city by being around the canals. Looking at them today would essentially be the same as looking at them 150 years ago. They look very old and were once a vital part of Birmingham’s industrial history. All the pubs and restaurants around the area were a nice touch as well. Overall, it was a very cool place to sit, relax, and eat/drink.

By the time we arrived at the canals, it was lunchtime. And since we were in the perfect spot for it, there were plenty of options to consider. We ended up at The Brasshouse, a fancy-looking pub situated right on the canal, where I ordered the traditional British dish of bangers and mash. To pair with the meal, I ordered a Broadside Bitter ale. And of course it was all very delicious.

With a full stomach, we walked around the canals and took in the sights, including the Black Sabbath Bridge that crossed over one of the canals, commemorating the famous rock band that originated from Birmingham. Then we walked over to the lively Bullring Market area, which is filled with shops and markets. It was a pretty neat area to spend a couple of hours, however we didn’t spend quite that long there. We mainly just walked around, taking everything in. St. Martin’s Church was a cool site to see, as well as the Peaky Blinders mural painted onto a long wall beside the street.

After enough walking around though, we had one more thing on the list of “things to do in Birmingham.” This was to go to the Old Crown pub. The pub is the oldest one in the city, as well as its oldest secular building, built way back in 1368. Of course, being that old, the place is filled with an abundance of history. Since the Peaky Blinders tv show had some influence on us visiting the city of Birmingham, I had read before embarking on our trip that the actual Peaky Blinders gang used to drink at the pub. So, we all thought it was pretty cool to drink at the same place they did. But more impressive to tell is the fact that Queen Elizabeth I stayed a night at the pub in 1575, in a room above the main entrance, while traveling through the city. It all had me thinking about just how many famous and infamous people have enjoyed a drink at the exact same spot we were. The possibilities seemed endless.

We all ordered a beer and sat down at a corner table. The place wasn’t exactly fancy, but it didn’t have to be. Its history did all its talking. It also wasn’t crowded at all. I guess because it was around 3:30 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon. But it was great to have the place almost to ourselves, other than a few people scattered here and there. We enjoyed our beer, just sitting, talking, relaxing, and absorbing the atmosphere. It was definitely a good experience, and very nice to sit down after walking the majority of the day. Our beers were followed with some glasses of whiskey before we left the historical pub. While drinking my whiskey, I wished I had been wearing a suit like the Peaky Blinders do in the show, but at least I had my English-style hat on, which made me feel a little bit like Thomas Shelby. Putting that thing on every day made me feel like I had a British alter-ego. Other than being able to drive well, I was suddenly a normal English guy enjoying baked beans for breakfast, watching soccer (or football, with the hat on), and even adjusting myself to pronouncing it “Birmingum” instead of “BirmingHAM.”

Our enjoyable time in the pub came to an end with our last sips of whiskey, signaling the next and last phase of our trip. Getting back into the rental car and saying goodbye to the country’s second largest city, we would soon again be welcoming the country’s largest city. After making our way southeast for probably three hours, with traffic, there we were in London. There were many things to be excited about after getting to London. It’s one of the most iconic cities in the entire world with tons to see and do. But another reason it was great to be in London was because that meant no more driving for the remainder of the trip, other than going back to the airport Saturday morning. The Underground, or “The Tube” as it’s often called, would be escorting us throughout the city for the next couple days. And that was a great feeling.

Before the trip, I had a really good feeling that I would love London. Just from watching YouTube videos and searching the internet while planning the trip, I knew London would be awesome. And as it turned out, I was correct. London was absolutely incredible. I know that by just being there for two days we barely scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. But in those two days, which I feel like we made the most of, the rest of the group and I really enjoyed our time there. So, when we finally arrived in London that Wednesday night, I was excited to say the least. I’m sure we all were. We were also hungry.

We checked into what would be our hotel for the final three nights, The Lensbury Resort, at around 7:30 that evening. The Lensbury is a four-star hotel that was established in 1920 as a sports/social club for employees of the Shell petroleum company. Though the buildings from 1920 were demolished, the main building that replaced them and stands to this day was built in 1938. It is a very grand-looking building that gave us a sense of disbelief that we were actually staying there. Aside from how impressive the building is, it also sits right alongside the River Thames, the longest river in England. The entire area was beautiful, with nice historic houses and buildings. Teddington was the name of this affluent suburb of London, and our home for the next three days. We all really liked it right away.

There were a few different choices for dinner located within less-than five minute’s walk from our hotel. After walking past lit-up tennis courts filled with players, we ventured into a pub called The Tide End Cottage. It was a cool-looking local place that looked like it had been around for quite a while. They had food. They had beer. Which meant they had us. We ordered a beer at the bar, grabbed a table, and ordered our meals. I can’t remember what I ordered that night, but I remember being satisfied with the meal and beer. We took our time and just enjoyed the evening. It felt really nice to be in London with a full schedule ahead of us and an adventurous spirit within us. Cheers!

Garett

England Trip: Day Five