Cheers Y'all: 2011

London was amazing!! I don't even know where to begin. We got there on Friday a little after noon. After we checked in at The Cumberland next to the Marble Arch, we went walking around Hyde Park. It's a lot like Central Park in that it is an oasis of nature and quiet in a bustling city. We came to Serpentine Lake and some of my favorite pictures are from there. There were swans and ducks all along the water's edge and they weren't afraid of people. I was squatting down taking pictures and a duck plopped out of the water right beside me. He didn't move away from me. We had been there for a little while and were about to leave. I stood up and contemplated trying to pet the duck. I took a small, slow step with my right foot. He took a small. slow step with his right foot. I took a small. slow step with my left foot, and he did the same. Mark was watching and laughing. He said it was like the duck was mimicking me. There were the fattest squirrels I have ever seen eating their acorns. We walked on to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It was closed and there wasn't any water running (disadvantage of going in winter) but I bet it is really pretty in the summer when it's in full force. We never made it to Kennsington Palace...maybe next time. There was a Christmas Fun Fair in the park and we walked through it. We didn't stop because there is a smaller one set up here in Nottingham that we knew we'd be going to. We had to go back and get ready for the play. We had asked the concierge about the best way to get there and he said a taxi...5-10 min. So we left about 15 min early thinking we were giving ourselves a little extra time. We finally got a cab and the traffic was so bad that it took us 30 minutes to get there! We saw Wicked and we were both blown away!!! I am a believer in the statement that the real talent is on the stage! I can't describe just how good it was. We had eaten such a late lunch that we didn't eat supper until after the play. Most places around the hotel were already closed. We found a little restaurant called The Spaghetti House. When I say little.....it honestly had 9 tables in it. But the food was amazing! And the service was great! Saturday and Sunday were full on touristy sight-seeing days! We had tickets for a bus tour. I made Mark sit on the open air top so I could take pictures. It was cold and windy while we were there, but not enough to keep me on the bottom :) The sights were amazing! It's like a lot of other places, the pictures don't do them justice. We went into Trafalgar Square. They had a monument to countdown till the Olympics, foutains and of course statues :) We walked down Downing Street where all the government buildings are. We saw where the Prime Minister lives and monuments to veterans. The WW1/WW2 monument was still decorated with the poseys from Rememberance Day on Nov 11. We saw guards on horseback that you could go get your picture made with. We did a walking tour of Jack the Ripper. It was one of the best parts of the trip. The guide did a great job and it was so neat to know we were walking in his footsteps and that a lot of things are still the same as they were back then. We were walking through the east end of London (Dickens's London) and they still have gas powered lamps, cobblestone streets, small alleyways, the pub where "Jack" and the ladies of the night frequented. Mark had to get a book in the train station because he wanted to know more about it after that. It was funny because the guide said the people that live in that area don't like to talk about it and you could hear people as we were walking by say "That's the Jack the Ripper tour." On Sunday we went to Buckingham Palace. What a spectacular place! We were at the fountain and Mark asked on of the security officers about how to get somewhere and he asked where we were from. We said Alabama and he said he hadn't been there yet. He's been to 35 states...more than us. I told him that I had missed our big game to be there and he said that queen was there and waiting on us :) He was really nice and funny. He's the one that took the picture of us in front of the palace. We then went to the Tower of London. That was neat too. We had a tour from a Yeoman Guard that told of the bloody history of the tower. He talked about the public executions and where people were held. He talked about one that escaped with the help of his wife. He showed us where the private executions were held. He has the neatest job in the world! The Yeoman Guards have to have served 22 years in the military and they live on site with their families. The church on the grounds is where they go to church (it also has the crypts where the executed are buried). They have their own pub. It was just incredible. Then we toured the crown jewels. Now THAT'S some jewelry! The crowns, the sword, the coronation robes, the gold....it leaves you speechless. Some stuff is still used. We went through White Castle Palace, which is where Henry VIII (and many other kings) lived. It was used as a residence for 500 years. It's now a museum and has armor from the 1600's on. There is also a little chapel in there. After the Tower, we took a riverboat cruise on the River Thames and got off at Big Ben. We walked around there for a few minutes and then took the tube back to our hotel to get our bags and head to the train station. We managed to take as many forms of transportation as possible....train, taxi, bus, boat, and subway. St Pancras train station is pretty and is a sight seeing stop itself. There are several shops and places to eat in there. We ate supper there then took the train home. We were exhausted!! But we also left there with a list of things to do next time. London is definitely a place we will go back to many times while we are here!

Cheers Y'all!

We have been living in Nottingham for about 2 1/2 months now. I have been thinking about doing a blog for most of that time, so now that I have finally gotten around to it, I guess I should start with what the last 2 1/2 months have been like.

We live in a flat in the city centre of Nottingham (notice I am already trying spell things the British way) :) It is a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath. It's a lot smaller than what we are used to but it is plenty of room for the 2 of us (and visitors!!) Being in the city centre is so convenient to everything! We have a small grocery store at the bottom of our building and another one across the street. There are restaurants everywhere and the shopping is endless. We still haven't tried all the restaurants here and they keep opening new ones. The only disadvantage to being in this location is the noise. At night, all the college kids come out and take advantage of all the pubs and such and they are not quiet about it :) It takes some getting used to but we can now usually sleep ok through it. I do have some "just in case" ear plugs in the night stand.

We spent the first few weeks just trying to get everything set up. We had to use rental furniture until our sea shipment arrived. It only took about 2 weeks though. We were very grateful for that. It makes a big difference having your own stuff! Getting things delivered and set up do not happen fast around here. We were here for a month before we had broadband and we started working on it on day one. I still have a pay as you go phone because we can't get a contract phone until we've been here for about 3 months. We also had to get a home phone for us to have our broadband set up through. And the restrictions on it are like the ones for cell phones when they first came out - free minutes on nights and weekends, and you get charged to make calls on it during the weekdays. Fortunately, I don't really call anybody :)

The city had a lot going on in the month of October. They have the oldest pub in England, Ye Trip to Old Jerusalem and it's built into a cave. They introduced their seasonal ale, A Knight's T'Ale, and had people dressed up as knights and squires to bring people out for it. They also have Goose Fair every year. It's a travelling fair and what makes it such a big deal in Nottingham is that there are several small ones that travel around the country, and they all meet up in Nottingham and set up so it's the largest one. We went one night and it was pretty impressive and it was a lot of fun, The next weekend was the beer festival at the castle. Very interesting! They had over 900 varieties of beer. It was more fun just people watching though. They also have the Robin Hood Pageant on the castle grounds each year. Mark was really afraid I was taking him to a beauty pageant, but it just shows what times were like in the days of Robin Hood. They have a jousting tournament, games with kids, falconry, they have tents set up with people showing different trades of the times (candle-making, pottery, alchemists). It was really neat. We have enjoyed discovering the city we live in. Now it's time to travel!!

winner of joust at Robin Hood pageant