Chartrand and the Chocolate Factory (by Marc).

It was a magical place where all you chocolate lovers dreams come true...it was actually pretty neat to see the history behind Cadbury and how most chocolate companies operate...there were definitely no Oompa-Loompas which was kinda sad...they are all extinct from the vermicious Knid...

...myself and an English chocolate lover from the 1800's, perhaps a leprechaun in disguise...

...the tour made a little pit-stop through "Beanville". It was a weird little town that was even crazier in person...not too sure what to say except for WOW...

...I believe they are long-distant cousins of the california raisins. Anyone remember those guys?...

...this is the discoteque inside the Cadbury Tour...Denise and Amy are showing off their dance moves. (It was actually a room that played all the popular Cadbury commercials on the last ten years)...

...a gorilla playing the drums to a very popular Phil Collins song. Cadbury musta paid a pretty pence to use that song for a commercial...

...a dream come true! Amy in chocolate form! It doesn't get any better than this...

That was our crazy little adventure of Birmingham. England was great and lots to see. I would recommend it to anybody...especially the chocolate tour and the visit of Manchester.
p.s. Cork is in a heatwave...it might reach temperatures of...hold on to your butts...24 degrees Celcius!!!

Warwick Castle.

Warwick Castle is Britain's most famous castle (also called 'Britain's Ultimate Castle') and is definitely worth a visit, about an hour by train from Birmingham. It's a 'working castle' with tons of actors in period costumes, walking around and interacting in character (ie. knight, princess, queen, jesters, jail guards etc etc etc). The hundreds of kids visiting the castle loved every second of this and it was very entertaining for us as well.

We began the day at the 'birds of prey' show...here is Denise before the show began (we all had no idea how impressive the show was going to be).

This man lives for his birds, and the birds do whatever he signals, it was quite amazing. Their wing span was impressive and they often swooped down right over the crowd, producing lots of oooo's and aaahhh's.

...there's a bird flying up to a trainer in the top of this tower (which we later climbed, and you can see behind Denise in the first picture). Then it swooped down right over our heads, you think it's gonna take you out!

Here's a knight telling a story of how he slayed a dragon right at the gates of the castle...actually it was pretty boring, haha.

Denise meets the Queen!

Marc is sure to take pictures of anything related to food...

On our ascent to the tallest tower...

Views of Warwick from the castle tower (8 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon)

Another view...to the right of the previous

King Chartrand the 1st addresses his crowds of fans...

Part of the experience was for children to complete 'knight school'. It was pretty cute, they were knighted at the end of the training. We saw lots of knights like this little guy running all over the place. Here we're waiting for the trebuchet (catapult) show from the other side of the river...they launched a fire ball, it was awesome.

And here we are, the castle behind us.

Also recommended on this tour...the prison experience - we all screamed, Marc did at least twice!

....this is a video of the fire ball launch, hopefully it works for you!

Manchester United (by Marc).

This building was near the hotel we were staying at. The buildings in Manchester were quite different from the one's around London and Birmingham. Very unique.

And finally, the real reason we went to Manchester....to visit Old Trafford. It's the small suburb just outside of Manchester where Manchester United play there Football games....that's soccer for all you "knackers". It was a joyous occasion shared by all!!!

A neat poster outside the stadium...There were dozens of these everywhere. The player on the right kinda looks like me....that's what Denise & Amy kept telling me....after I asked them three or four times.

We decided, with my convincing, to do the stadium and museum tour. There are some pics of the stadium and a lot of myself...proceed with caution. Could be a Chartrand overload. This was our first view inside the stadium. The football field was beautiful. Fact: The stadium holds 87000 spectators. The largest in all of England. (All cheering for me)

Another view to the left...truly breathtaking...like a young summer's breeze.

Who is that handsome devil, with the luscious locks?

Manchester United Crest. aka the red devils

Marc sitting at the press conference answering a series of questions after the winning game.

Opposite view of the stadium.

Typical menu of football matches...unfortunately pie was not apple or cherry.

A picture of Ryan Giggs...i think Amy has a crush on him. Kinda looks like me...

This man was out tour guide. He is actually the real star of the show. He cleans the players boots and...get ready for this...he is also the Official Manchetser United Tea Maker.

Sitting in the actual players dressing room with jerseys of England's finest...

Denise making friends everywhere she goes...

I think Amy also has a crush on him...

Celebrating winning the cup with my fellow teammates...very exciting!

The tunnel the players get to walk out of before a match...the tour guide played a sample track of fans screaming as we walk down the tunnel to make it feel as real as possible...

Marc exiting the tunnel to thousands of fans around the globe...

woooooooooooo!!! Best tour ever...

Getting to sit on the padded seats where the players sit during the game...I am so happy...

Amy cheering for the other team of course...or maybe for the Tea man...not too sure....

Centre line of Old Trafford....

Good looking couple if I say so myself...good photo Denise...

Statue outside the stadium...everything around the stadium had some sort of Manchester United logo on it...from parking spots, to clocks...it was like being at Disney Land.

Will and Kate memorabilia everywhere...even in sports bars...

...entering the museum...

...isn't this convenient. Amy taking a picture beside her "new" favorite player...

...looks like my trophy case...

...this one for the ladies...

...weirdo statues of players in the museum...

...some memorabilia...

...it's like I am actually part of the team...

Well that concludes our stay in Manchester. We really only went for Me because, as you might know, I am huge supporter of football. We head next to Birmingham for a few days...