31 Spots on the Final Nottingham Tour

One of my final days in Nottingham, I made sure to just walk around with my camera to take pictures of all my favorites.  I, of course, wanted to share them with my Us in the UK family.  Many of our visitors will remember some of these pictures, as they are places we walked by or visited on our "Sarah's Daily Life" tour.

1. Albert Hall
   
2. Nottingham Playhouse
   
3. Nottingham Castle
   
4. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem
   
   
   
5. Shopping Streets
   
6. Capital One Ice Arena
   
7. Ugly Bread Bakery
   
8. Wired Cafe
   
9. Train Station
10. Tesco Metro
    
11. Pitcher & Piano
    
12. Nottingham Theatre & Cornerhouse
    
13.  Miscellaneous Parks
    
14. Clubs, Restaurants, and Pubs
    
15. Brown's Bar and Brasserie
    
16. Beautiful Streets
    
17. Annie's Burger Shack
    
18. The Park (Gated Neighborhood)
    
    
19. Our Flat
    
    
20.  The Gym
    
21. Old Market Square
    
22. Wollaton Hall and Deer Park
23. Another Street Filled with Restaurants, Shops, and Pubs
24. Favorite Indian Restaurants (Jeff and I disagree on which is the best)
    
25. Favorite Quick Eat...BarBurrito
    
26. Bus Stop to Derby
    
27. Library
28. Best Late Night Food
    
29. Poundland (Yes, similar to Dollar Tree)
30. The Canal
    
31. Trent River
    

#30daysofappreciation {Round 3}

The final round of my 30 days of appreciation is here! I hope you have had fun following the random and silly things I have appreciated over our time here. Obviously the list could go on, and I am appreciative of more than 30 things! I have lots to be thankful and appreciate in the next few days and weeks as we will be reunited with family and friends (most of who we have not seen in a year and a half).  We have some exciting things happening for us in the upcoming weeks, thinking about housing, cars, new jobs, etc. For rounds 1 and 2, click here!

Here goes my final tribute to my #30daysof appreciation instagram challenge...

#Day21:Pigeons
I got some "heat" on this one for posting it on instagram.  Many not understanding why I will miss them.  One of my best friends commented, "Luckily we have them in the US."  I never see them in Indy, and to most people (like Jeff) they are just an annoyance.  Jeff calls them "winged rats".  I just like watching kids chase after them, their unpredictable nature, and just the fact that they live such simple lives.  I think we could all learn a thing or two.  Pigeons just worry about eating and being their the rest of their crew.  If you think about it, getting things we need to survive and being around people we love is all that really matters.

#Day22: Bus (Public Transportation)

I have mentioned how appreciative I have been of the cheap airlines, but the bus, tram, and train systems around here are amazing.  I wish the United States had a more reliable method of getting places other than our own vehicles.  I take the bus to/from Derby-Nottingham pretty frequently.  I meet up with friends, go to the gym with Jeff, and use it as a change of scenery.  It is a really easy bus ride, and fairly enjoyable as long as it is not stuck in stop/go traffic.  Jeff has looked into how long it would take me to get to my new job via the bus (over an hour) and it would only be a 13 minute drive.  There is a perfect example of how they do not function as well as they do over here.                 

 

#Day23:  Education Courses

I was so lucky to find out that Rolls will pay for spousal education.  It has been fun, kept me up to date in the field of education, and occupied at times throughout the last year.  I am only a few weeks away from having my Certificate for Literacy Instruction (15 credit hours) through Ball State University.  This was an area I was passionate about, and I am hoping to take it back to the classroom with me in the fall.

#Day24: No Job
This one is definitely bittersweet, because I definitely missed teaching over the last year and a half.  But I really tried to reflect every single day, enjoying the freedom.  I could make plans during the day, have lunch with friends, go to the gym on non-busy hours, and complete many personal projects because I had the time to do it.  My favorite was grabbing a blanket, book, and sitting in the sun enjoying the afternoon.  Although, I will miss the freedom, I am so excited for my new adventure as a first grade (ages 6-7) teacher starting next month!

#Day25: Better Halves Club
About twice a month, a group called the Better Halves Club meets up for lunch (normally in Derby).  I had my final luncheon with the group, and they all came to Nottingham for a Mexican Fiesta at our flat.  It is so nice to have other Americans here to ask for advice whether it be general living questions or traveling tips.  We are able to comfort one another on those "bad days" that no one really understands but each other. I think we will all hold a special bond for the rest of our lives. 

#Day26: Skype
What an amazing invention!! It has been so wonderful to see family and friends on a regular basis. A few of my friends go out of their way to chat every so often (and it is always fun to meet their new additions through Skype since I can't be there in person), and my family is so sweet to dedicate an hour+ a week to chat and catch up.  It has also been amazing to watch my niece and nephews over the course of the last year and a half.  I have been able to be in the picture, chat about their lives, and have tickle fights though the tablet...which is always hilarious.

#Day27: Historic Spots
Many times we head to a place because it is a beautiful or I fall in love with the pictures online.  It is an added bonus when we visit these incredible spots that we find so much history embedded within.  Of course, we have our outings that are all about the history.  It is so neat to experience and see so many old places around just England or around all of Europe.  

#Day28: Fresh Flowers 
People over in here in England are always carrying around fresh flowers they pick up from the market.  When you go to friends' houses they will always have a vase filled with fresh flowers.  It is a nice touch! Jeff brought me home some "just because" lilies the other day...and they are just gorgeous!

#Day29: Unique [and Delicious] Cafes:
One of my good American friends comes to Nottingham quite frequently so we can try new restaurants around the city.  The quaint little cafes seem to be our favorites.  We tried one final cafe before my "deportation".  The cafe was called the Kitty Cafe, and you guessed it...it has real cats inside! You have to book in advance, but you can enjoy a cup of tea/coffee and/or lunch all while enjoying the sweet (to be adopted) cats.  What a cool idea! We had a blast, and loved continuing our destinies by being crazy cat ladies! Thanks, Emily for a great afternoon!

#Day30: Jeff
Okay, okay, I know I already posted an appreciation for him.  But the both of us have been reflecting on our journey over the last week and we truly will miss life just being about the two of us. Before you think I am a mean person or take that the wrong way---OF COURSE we are excited to see our family and friends!  Life is just so simple over here.  We don't have very many belongings, we travel on the weekends, and we eat in almost every week night.  We enjoy our nights filled with dinner, chatting, and Netflix marathons.  We will miss this quality time together, and hope the hustle and bustle of the US lifestyle doesn't take our quality time away.

Hope you all enjoyed my #30daysofappreciation through instagram and the blog.  It was a great way for me to reflect and get some closure on our whole experience.  I could have continued for another 70 days and did a #100daysofappreciation, but obviously I didn't think that far in advance.  Thank you for letting me share all my trips, the items I'll miss, and all of the items/people I have appreciated while being abroad.  I could have put each and every one of your faces on an instagram post, as you all have been so supportive...even if you are 4,000 miles away!

On to the next adventure...

Final Dinners/Lunches with Friends

After a few people could not make our Leaving Do, we met up in smaller groups so we could have our proper goodbyes with one another.  One night, I rode the bus into Derby to meet up with 2 other couples (and obviously Jeff) to have a fantastic steak dinner.  This is the first time I have had steak over here, and in the last 3 years... It was really good and I left completely stuffed! It was fun hanging out one last time as a group.  I am extremely appreciative of these people, as they took Jeff and I in and treated us as if we had been friends for a long time.  That was such a great feeling so early on in our journey living over here.

We will miss them all dearly, and hope to meet up with them regularly with trips in the United States or over here in Europe.

Also, I had a Mexican Fiesta at our flat for my American friends in the Better Halves Club.  If you do not remember, we get together 1-2x a month for lunch.  We are able to share stories, give travel tips, and be a person to talk to get advice about living abroad.  Being a part of this group was wonderful, as I came out with a few really close friends.  It also gave me a lot of information, so I could go back and share with Jeff.  I'm not sure we would have known the procedure for getting his driver's license without these wonderful women.  Anyway, I wanted to see the group one last time before flying out.  We normally meet in Derby, but they all graciously came the long hull to see me for a change.  We were able to munch on tacos and other Mexican dishes.  It makes me even more excited to eat about 500 Taco Bell tacos within the week!!

I was also able to give them some of my "extras" or things we were not taking back with us to the states.  It was nice to give them to people who could use them instead of trashing things like cleaning products.  The rest of the stuff they didn't want will make its way to the charity shops  or some other local friends in the next couple of days.  

 

Jo and I

Luela and I 

  The Better Halves Club (minus the photographer, Luela)

On to the next adventure...

Our Weekday Adventures in the Notts

Travis came back to Nottingham with Jeff and I after we had our fun in Munich, Germany. We also were lucky enough to have another visitor, Jeff's dad, Greg.  The beginning of the week was pretty low key as the weather was awful (that's saying a lot for people who are used to the rain & wind).  Travis and I sucked it up to explore the city to some extent.  We went to the Nottingham Castle and Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which are two of the many "musts" of Nottingham.  We also went out to an Indian restaurant Jeff and I had on our "to go" lists.  Watch out future visitors, we'll probably force you to do the same!  On Wednesday, Travis and I hopped on the bus to go visit Jeff and Greg in Derby.  It was a quick ride, and we were able to walk around the city, stop to have some tea, and do a little shopping at local charity shops.  Great deals, and Mom, I think I'm addicted to searching for teapots now...ught oh!

Travis and Jeff played squash together, while Jeff's dad and I had some quality time at a local bar.  We all met up later that night to try yet another pub Jeff and I had been meaning to try.  Pretty good food and atmosphere.  

Thursday, Travis and I explored Notts and visited the Galleries of Justice which was awesome.  Sorry to our visitors so far that I didn't take there...would have definitely been worth it.  This building was used as a court room to convict murderers, thieves, and pick pockets...just to name a few.  It was also used as a gaol (jail) and reformatory school.  The tour was really interesting as we had numerous tour guides depending on what section of the building we were in.  We learned some amazing things about the criminals of Nottingham and surrounding areas.  They executed people right outside of the building by hanging them in front of tons of people (sometimes thousands).  There are many other gruesome facts I learned, but I'll try to keep them to a minimum. 

I made Weaver take this picture. Can you tell how excited he was?!

 We were each given a conviction number, which identified us as a criminal and gave us a pretend crime to be convicted of.  My card read that I was a cow theft and my punishment was execution.  Other people were thieves as well, but their punishment was transportation.  Transportation meant that they were sent on a boat to Australia for __ years.  Many of them died by the time they got there though.  

Stealing cows is a serious crime!

At first we thought it was for a head...we quickly changed our mind after this photo was taken that it was probably for the waist! Whoops! 

 Carvings from the convicts in the "exercise area" which was only for marching around for an hour. 

We also learned the roles of men and women while in the jail.  They were mostly confined to their cells, but were only given amenities if they had money.  There was also an area called the Pit which was for the poorest people, and it was basically a hole in the ground that they had to stay in. Pretty scary in that area! 

The "pit". I tell you what, the mannequins set up around this place freaked me out at times. 

There were numerous exhibits that taught you more about escapes (two escaped via helicopter in 1987), staff's responsibilities, and other miscellaneous items.  I even took my own mug shot. See below...watch out I'm pretty scary! 

(1st pic) The execution spot once moved inside the building grounds (2nd pic) the area for children.  

Don't mess with me! Am I right?! 

On a less-scary side of things, we headed to Pitcher & Piano which I have taken pictures of before.  If you don't have time to reread that post...Recap: A local restaurant that converted an old church into a beautiful pub. 

 Beautiful inside, especially with hardly any people!

A pint in front of this background...so perfect!

Thursday night, Jeff came home early and we headed to the Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival.  Yes, another beer festival...It was a really neat environment as all of the beer and food tents were set up on the grounds of the castle.  We were given these cute little 1/2 pint beer mugs as a souvenir as well as drink our beer from the night in it. We were given an allotment of tickets to sample a huge variety of local breweries.  I found some new beers that I really enjoyed, and I think the boys were the same way. Although, they were a bit more daring than I was and tried some really nasty beer as well.  Not too many pictures, as we were just enjoying the environment.

On Friday, I decided to explore some areas of Nottingham that I had not been to and dragged Travis along.  We went the long route and walked down by the canal since it was actually a nice day. It eventually rained later in the day...There are so many beautiful churches in Nottingham, and I have been in zero. Well minus the church that was converted into a pub. But I feel that doesn't count. ha! We made it to two different churches in the city center, which were both so quaint and beautiful.  

 St. Mary's Church

 St. Peter's Church

We also went to this park called Arboretum that is just north of Nottingham Trent University (1 of 2 universities in Nottingham).  It was really pretty.  It had a small lake and even had some caged birds that were on display as well.  Andrew came down on Friday night, and the boys headed out for a guys' night.  Jeff and I ended the weekend relaxing, as the last month has been pretty busy!

 The lake at the park

Not normally a "bird person", but loved seeing these little guys!

Onto the next adventure...