Nottingham to London, final stretch.

(Brian) Sorry we've been out of touch for a few. The last week has been quite a whirlwind as we traveled from Paris for 5 days Nottingham and 2 in York. Nottingham is where Carol's family is from and still lives. I will let her fill in details of the visits we had with her Aunt and other family but I will say her Aunt (Ant) Vivienne (sp) is one of the most remarkable ladies I have ever met. She is what I thought of as the stereotypical English lady.  At almost 80 years old, she is very bright, funny, and creative. She told many stories from old family history and even gave us many English history lessons. She also knew so much about current events and news. I really enjoyed our two visits with her and going to dinner with her at a local pub.

Right now, we are on a train headed to our last stop in London for a couple days and then back HOME. Here is how Carol is spending the train ride. Linda is in the row in front of us and I am assuming she is doing the same thing.

Linda and Carol took most of the photos but I will post a few of mine.... 

Couldn't let a trip go by without a trip to at least one golf course. This one was close to Aunt V's house in Mapperly. I walked there just to check it out. Met the golf pros and took a look around the clubhouse and practice areas. Incredibly wet but there were still golfers playing. Funny, when I went in the shop and asked the pro about the Superintendent or Greenkeeper, he said "oh no, those guys don't work on weekends". Ha.

Robin Hood statue in front of Nottingham Castle. He's quite a legend in these parts. 

This is Lincoln Cathedral near Lincoln Castle, in the city of Lincoln.

A cell in the Lincoln Castle prison. Along the wall (left) they asked visitors to reflect on the visit in writing.

I never miss the opportunity to pay tribute to my colleague from Oregon.

Lincoln Cathedral from the sentry walk around Lincoln Castle.

This is Nottingham's version of a breakfast burrito. Wasn't bad. I finally gave up on an "American" cup of coffee and switched to tea. The stained inside of the cup is a pretty good indicator of how strong it is in the UK. Not bad tasting, just different. 

This is how Linda and Carol spent most of their trip after meals. This was in a tea room we found off the beaten path. When we ordered, the little girl who helped us asked when the other 4 people were going to get here.... This was all cakes and pies, etc.

And this is the beautiful spot in Whitby where we left their mother Valerie. They will tell you all about it but it was a very special moment and they did a wonderful job of honoring her memory.

DRIVING
It was quite an experience. We rented a car on Monday morning and took day trips and moved to York through the week. Driving on the wrong side of the car and the road was't the hard part, I got used to that pretty quick. The hard part was the unfamiliar road signs and the ROUNDABOUTS. They do have highways and you do drive 50, 60, 70 mph but for every intersection, there is a roundabout. With Carol in the front seat navigating, we counted exits and tried to follow the signs but they were confusing. We used Google maps on my phone and the car had GPS but we still missed a few turns. Driving in the city was not too bad except for the very narrow streets. Many times there were cars parked on both sides of the road and only enough room for one car. We got lucky and never met anyone head on but there really wasn't an exit strategy if we ever did meet another car. One think I realized is that we are extremely unfocused when we drive in the US because we take things for granted. While driving in a foreign country, I wouldn't dare check my phone, or get distracted. I never even tried to set the cruise control.

FOOD
Played it pretty safe with Fish and Chips mostly. Trying to keep the trip economical (cheap), we ate at McDonalds a few times, Subway once and their equivalent to Starbucks - Costa. Lots of Pub food which was pretty good. One place we ate near the hotel in Nottingham actually had an all you can eat salad bar and free drink refills. So much like home I ordered chicken wings as an appetizer and chicken as an entree.

SOUVENIRS
I don't have a photo to post but I bought a door knocker from an antique shop in Nottingham. It is a depiction of a Roman guard and very cool looking. I found it on a website and it was made in the 1880s and used in the UK. Not sure if I paid about $24 or $240 for it but I thought it was pretty cool.

The girls LOADED up on lots of stuff. Carol will post it, but I bought her a small piece of jewelry from the very shop that her dad bought her mother's engagement ring from in the city center of Nottingham. The shop had been in the same spot for 83 years and he bought it in 1955. H. Samuels is the name of the shop which is now a chain in the UK.