Nottingham

Hey everyone!!...Back by popular demand, here's an update from the other side of the pond. First entry will be specifically dedicated to my visit to Nottingham the weekend of August 30.


Let's start with the train ride. I won't spend too much time on this part of the trip since it was the only that I didn't really enjoy. I actually had to stand in the beverage car for one hour along with another 25 people who couldn't get a seat. The trip became a little longer due to the lack of A/C in the beverage car. For those of you that have not experienced domestic train travel in Europe, it's pretty much like flying US Airways from La Guardia to Charlotte...lots of delays and poor service.

But anyway, so I finally made it to Nottingham and was greeted by Lisa Herty, Eddy's sister...and what a welcome that was!!...I had a delicious meal waiting for me at Le Mistral (French restaurant in Nottingham), along with a cold beer and a glass of wine.
The rest of the trip involved walking around the city, hitting a couple of pubs/bars/clubs (?) and hanging out. We watched some movies, and overall, had a really good time. I made guacamole for Lisa and her husband Marc and it actually turned out pretty good thanks to the Kenyan avocados we got at Waitrose (Basically Trader Joe's but with Harris Teeter prices).

On the way back, I was actually able to get a seat in the train and slept the whole way back. Looking fwd to my next trip up to Robin Hood's hood. (yes, he was from there).

A couple of pointers on Nottingham

1. It's a college town, so not many people were around as they follow a similar school schedule as the US. However, since every place closes around 1 am, it was pretty funny to walk around town and see people completely trashed around 10:30.

2. When you hear people say fashion hurts, just think about the women of Nottingham. Even though it was about 45 degrees (F), they were still wearing miniskirts, really tall heels and sleeveless dresses.

3. It's a nice town, but it is very hilly (I mean San Francisco hilly), so needless to say, I definitely burned the extra calories from all the pints we had.
Expect another entry pretty soon...next up...the new apartment.