Today, we went to the black country museum a few miles outside of the city. This museum focuses on life in the 1960s when coal mining was a huge thing and how many people made their money. We first got to see a huge steam engine that was used as part of the mining process, and also got to look down one of the old mineshafts. They would send 24 people down at a time in these tiny buckets, and they would be down their all day. It was not a safe working environment and had many risks for the workers and their families. Since mines were the main companies, they could control where their workers lived and what they bought since they would also own the cities and give special money that could only be used at company stores. We then got to go into the old school they had and sit through a lesson. They would do hygiene checks each day to check your nails and shoes, and nailpolish wasn’t allowed. Everybody who had their nails done had to stand in the front of the room while the rest of us pointed and said “shame on you”. Then we just went through the rest of a basic lesson similar to how it would have been done in the 60s, which was really fun. Things are definetly very different now than they were back then.

After this, a few of us went to the cafe to grab some lunch. I had a grilled cheese and a hot chocolate and it was delicious! After this, we got the chance to walk around and explore the rest of the museums city. They had a vintage flea market area which had vendors selling vintage hats, clothes, bags, and other items. Some of the things were really cute, and it was fun to look at everything people had. Then, we went into a few of the stores and buildings to look in, such as the candy store, cake shop, library, medical building, and the fairgrounds. We were also able to ride on the haunted house and the swings, which was also funny since it was only a few of us and nobody else. Then, we watched a performance from a few of their singers and dancers. They eventually got off the stage and taught us the dance and did it with us. To finish up our time here, we road around on the old double decker bus that they had just to take a lap around and see everything.

After coming home and relaxing for an hour, I then went out with some friends. We went down to the canals and took some pictures along the water and on the bridges with the olddr buildings in the background. Then, we walked around and went to the bullring to do some shopping, then stopped for dinner. We wanted something quick, so we just went to Tim Hortons. I didn’t realize they had food, I thought it was just a coffee shop but it was really good! Then, we went next door and got gelato. I have been wanting to get this since we got here last week, and it was so worth it. I got mango and strawberry and it was delicious!!