Friday 25th August 2006

Bambi's birthday, seven years old. As the girls ah still on summer hols we're off to the West Midlands for a couple of days. We're booked on the 1.20pm tour of Cadbury World (http://www.cadburyworld.co.uk/en/cworld). We're up at 6.40am, the dog is at my parents so no need to worry about him. Bambi opened her cards and presents and whilst the girls played with the new toys SJ and I got ready and prepared a basic travel lunch. Left home at 9.30m with the tomtom (http://www.tomtom.com/) programmed to avoid toll roads we embarked on the 3.5 hour journey around the M25 and up the M42 to Bournville, shrine of Cadbury chocolate.

After lunch en-route and a few DVDs (portable DVD players are a godsend for long journeys) we arrived just in time to enter the museum at our allocated time. After a few hours at the attraction, which as a family we agreed was not all it's cracked up to be, we headed for our hotel. I booked a hotel using www.laterooms.com for £45 a night for a family room including breakfast for the four of us. Cracking value but it turned out to be one of those, okay for the night type places. Crossroads motel meets Fawlty Towers. A link to the hotel website is included here so you can avoid it. http://www.hotels-walsall.com/. I would have been gutted had we paid full price of £160 for a family room. The hotel is undergoing a re-furb but the dining room and pool have yet to be touched. The breakfast was awful and the staff were playing multiple roles, just like Peter Butterworth in Carry on Abroad (at the Spanish resort of Elsbels - Hells Bells, get it...of couse you do).

Still, after a night in Elsbels we travelled to Dudley to the Black Country Museum (http://www.bclm.co.uk/) and excellent and highly recommend visit for young and old, the kids loved seeing the 19th centruy school, funfair and coal mines.

Back hom on Saturday evening making a stop for a curry. A great couple of days.