Chocolate Overdose

The three hour bus ride to Birmingham was lovely; my bus left early, so the green green countryside was just waking up out of the morning haze as we cruised along. I made a vow to myself that I would eat nothing but Cadbury chocolate the whole day.

I love the slightly terrifying experience of arriving in a new place and having no idea where anything is. Under the direction of the information lady at the bus station, I found my way to the city center. Here I realized that the people in Birmingham love to shop. An old church split the city center into an upscale shopping mall on one side and a sea of markets on the other. I would come back to shop later; first on the agenda = Cadbury World!!

A series of helpful people led me through the bus system to the Bournville area. Imagine a 200-year-old Quaker village and you'll get a good idea of what it was like. Indeed, the Cadbury brothers wanted to locate their chocolate factory outside of the city, so they chose a spot 4 miles south of the city center to develop a live/work community, a place where their workers could stroll the parks after work or have get-togethers at the meeting house. The low-eaved brick buildings, manicured hedges, and fall colors created a rather idyllic atmosphere.

Cadbury World was, well, another world. I quickly overcame my disappointment over the absence of Cadbury eggs by the vast amounts of other chocolate products for sale in the gift shop: the original Dairy Milk, caramel, cranberry/granola, peppermint, orange, fruit & nut, white chocolate, Turkish (jelly), and dark variations of bars, buttons, and bricks. 10 pounds later (in both senses of the word), I was a happy camper.

My new chocolate collection and I then qued up for "the Cadbury experience" - a two hour self-guided walk-around explanation of the origins and production of Cadbury chocolate, jazzed-up w/ workers in Halloween costumes, cartoon-like settings, free samples, and special effects to keep the attention of the large under 7 population. Halfway through, at the phase called "Cadabra!", I started feeling the effects of my large ingestion of cocoa-butter products: the nausea set in as a roller-cart guided me past singing cocoa-beans and photographing parrots in a rather psychedelic, fun-house atmosphere.

Yet I gallantly continued on, past the packaging line, past the women decorating chocolate stilettos, onto the playground where chocolate-faced masses of children were rehabilitating from their sugar overdose as their parents recuperated on the side benches. At this point, I felt well enough to accept the last sample thrust upon me - a heavenly cup of pure liquid chocolate.

After meandering through one of the Bournville Parks, I caught a double-decker back to the city center and did some shopping. I decided against the box of Lucky Charms (priced at 7.5 pounds = $12!!), but did purchase a pair of boots. At 7, I hopped back on the bus taking me back to London and 4 hours later passed-out on my bed. A very satisfactory day.

Tonight: a ghostly Jack the Ripper tour!!