It was a cold and rainy day in Birmingham, effectively ruining my plans to visit Stratford-Upon-Avon. In case you don’t know what’s so special about that place, it’s the birthplace of Shakespeare. So the second option was to head to the city and do more exploring, and visit the architecturally acclaimed Library of Birmingham.

With over 800,000 books spanning over 10 floors, the Library of Birmingham is the largest public library in the UK. If that isn’t enough to wow you, it is also the largest regional library in the whole of Europe. The top floor of the library boasts the Shakespeare Memorial Room, housing Britain’s most important Shakespeare collection, and one of the two most important Shakespeare collections in the world. Of course aside from the information boards, we couldn’t touch anything else. Before entering the room, I was treated to a panoramic view of Birmingham city. Wished it wasn’t pouring though, I would have loved to head outside for some pictures.

After spending a good hour marvelling at how vast the library was, and stumbling across a few rows of books I couldn’t afford to spend the afternoon finishing them in one sitting, I braved the rain once again and stopped by York’s, right in the heart of the city.

The cappuccino I had was delicious, the ambience warm and a welcomed respite from the cold outside. Just what I needed before heading out again in search of Primark… again.