Shopping, Tea, & Nottingham Markets

The last few days my mom was here we checked off a couple things I wanted to do before I move home.  My mom and I love to shop, especially consignment or charity shopping.  We love the deals! On Friday, I took my mom around Nottingham to about 7-8 charity shops.  We found a couple we really liked and got a few things.  There were a few shops that I have been meaning to go into, but it is just more fun with someone with me...especially my mom!  We found a couple cute tops and pieces of jewelry to add to our wardrobes.

Afterwards, we went to Afternoon Tea.  This was something special I wanted to do with my mom the first time she came over here, but we ran out of time.  We went to this cute little tea house called, Thea Caffea which was elegant and quaint.  If you do not know much about afternoon tea, it is a 2 or 3 tiered cake stand with small sandwiches, scones, and various desserts.  Of course you get a pot of tea with your experience as well.  We sipped on our English Breakfast tea while we waited for our food.  We just got a 2-tiered stand that was filled with cucumber & cream cheese, egg salad, and cheese sandwiches.  After finishing those, we moved to the top tier and had a couple amazing scones and various cupcakes.  It was so nice to have the 1-1 time with my mom and just enjoy this special English experience with her.

"There is No trouble so Great that Cannot be diminished by a Proper Cup of Tea"

 Just two girls enjoying a cuppa...or two

 Close up of the teapot and cups

 Sandwiches, scones (w/ clotted cream & jam), and sweets

Thea Caffea, a hidden gem in Nottingham

We were able to spend Friday night and all day Saturday with Jeff.  We went down to the Nottingham markets that were happening in the square in the city centre.  We never know when there will be tents or events up, as it is always something new each week.  It was neat for her to experience it, as last time she was here the square was filled with the beach (sand, rides, and games).  Of course, it changes throughout the year, and the Christmas Markets were in the same area as well. We were able to shop around, try new foods, and grab some desserts (a selection of fudge & Italian sweets) for after lunch.

Just a little fudge...

Later that night, we went to Brown's, one of our favorite restaurants that is just down the street from our flat.  My mom really enjoyed the restaurant the last time her and my dad were here, so she wanted to eat there again. I think it was the sticky toffee pudding that was calling her name again. So good. We all had fantastic meals and enjoyed her last evening her in England.  Although we took a picture, I am opting out of posting it, because it isn't the most flattering picture for any of us. Ha!

Overall, it was a fantastic 10-days with my mom! I was so glad she was able to come over here and experience it again.  And I know Jeff was glad he was able to spend our time in Lisbon, the weekends, and evenings with her as well. We look forward to seeing you in June, Mom!  Thanks for the brilliant surprise!

On to the next adventure...

 

Ostrich Burger [No Typo Here]

Jeff came home early on Friday for an appointment, so we decided to take advantage of his extra time.  We went down to the city centre to enjoy the Nottingham Christmas Market, or should I say the Nottingham Winter Wonderland.  Although it was not as large as the Birmingham Christmas Market, I personally thought it was cuter. I might be bias. I'm sure you have seen pictures in many posts of this same area, as many things happen here almost weekly. 

One of the entrances

  The side part of the Market. The first little building is where I got my yummy lunch!

Although it didn't take very long, we walked around the little buildings.  I, stopped in and looked around.  A lot of ornaments, scarves, hats, handmade desserts, Christmas jumpers (sweaters) and little trinkets.  Since we went down for lunch, I grabbed a pork & stuffing roll.  It was fantastic, and something we could mimic with Thanksgiving or even Christmas leftovers. Yum! Jeff was the brave one, and as you can expect from the blog title...he tried ostrich [insert gag sound].  This stand, which we saw at the Robin Hood Beer & Cider Festival, had kangaroo and in the past zebra and many other exotic animals. Watching Jeff order his burger, made me like my pork sandwich a little less just thinking he was going to dive into it in a second. No food was wasted, no worries. Jeff ate it and described the taste as a bland hamburger. I don't think he was too impressed.

 I tell you what... Leftover turkey & leftover stuffing all on a roll is the way to go. Let me know if you try it on the 26th!

Although he did not "heart" his ostrich burger...least he was brave enough to try it.  Also, sidenote: notice the little kids in the background in their bright yellow gear. All children on field trips have to wear this so their adult can easily find them. I know my teacher friends agree with me...great idea!

We grabbed some chips (fries) and watched the minimal amount of ice skaters on the rink in the middle of the market.  There were some adorable little kids learning how to ice skate with a parent, and other people just enjoying the beautiful day.

Ice skating rink and the beautiful Christmas tree

Onto the next adventure...

This & That in London

Jeff and I headed down to London on Saturday, hoping to pick up our friend, Scott, from the airport and then travel around seeing the "go to" sites and some new spots as well. Scott had some trouble at the airport, and was unable to get here on Saturday.  Jeff and I decided we would still check some places off our list in London and stay all night as planned.

After a 2-hour car ride, and multiple rides on the Underground we dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed on more train rides to get to Greenwich, a district outside of London. We were heading there to visit the Royal Observatory. The prime meridian is located on the grounds of the Royal Observatory.  We were both able to stand in two different hemispheres at one time.

 The picture on the left is where the original prime meridian stood until 1851 when a new telescope was invented, so the "line" was moved.

 Showing the time of day. You can see the UK's sun had already set, but my friends in the US were still having plenty of daylight!

 Two different sides of the world!

 

Official time!

 

Although the prime meridian was interesting to see, the skyline of London was beautiful.  A little dark and foggy, so pictures, as always, never do it justice. But it was beautiful to see! We walked around the grounds, which had many interesting things to read, see, and observe.  I'm sure Jeff would be able to explain some things he learned in there better than I, as it wasn't quite my cup of tea. But all-in-all, it was great to learn things about the prime meridian.  We learned about ways to tell where you are in the sea (if you're ever lost) based on the time in Greenwich, then you can find out your own longitude and latitude.  Hoping to never have to test that theory.  

Skyline of the Business District

After the Royal Observatory, we checked off one of my "To see" places, which was Greenwich Market.  We looked around at the homemade products, but didn't buy anything (as after this post, I've been to quite a lot of markets in the last week).  Although, I take that back---we bought an AMAZING churro on our walk out of the market.  One of my favorites!

 

The girl photo bombing my picture must want a churro, too!

We headed towards the Thames River, saw an old ship that had traveled around the world delivering supplies many years ago.  We walked around the area for a while, then hopped back on the train to get to another area of London.

Next up on the list was the Business District, which held all the major banking skyscrapers.  We enjoyed the area as it was filled with modern buildings, lots of shopping areas, and plenty of people out and about.  We walked around this area, found another Christmas Market to walk around, then made our way to an ice skating rink.  The area reminded me a lot of Rockefeller Center
around the holidays.

 Business District

Another cute Christmas Market

The next morning, we woke up to a rainy, windy, and cold England day.  We went to the British Museum,  which we have visited before.  We popped in just to see the Rosetta Stone, which we missed the first time. Literally the first thing you see when you walk into the museum. Not sure how we missed it the first time!

Since we already had visited the museum, we left and headed towards Harrod's, the biggest department store in Europe...5-acre site, over 1 million square feet. Jealous? It was amazing, although crazy busy, as people were frantically buying Christmas gifts.  You could spend multiple days here, although the average person would not be able to afford much. Funny story about that later... There 8 levels to the store, 27 restaurants, and about as much designer clothing as you could ever want.  Gucci for your toddlers to personal shopping to a Gentleman's Lounge with barber services.  Insane!

 Opening time! The line was wrapped around the building to get in.

 Because the sun sets before 4:00 over here...we were able to see Harrod's lit up as well.

Jeff surprisingly lasted a couple hours in this place, despite his lack of love for shopping. We grabbed lunch, and on the way we spotted this gentleman in all white (did I mention it was raining and puddles everywhere). Naturally, I looked at his whole outfit to see he had a pair of the shoes Jeff and I pointed out in Harrods that were...wait for it...over 1,300 pounds ($2,200).  He was just walking around in the puddles with his white two grand shoes. No big deal, right?

We grabbed one of my favorite lunches, a chicken pie (Jeff got the steak one), and walked around Hyde Park's Christmas Market. Yes, that makes #4 for me in a week.  Anyway, after much confusion on where we were meeting our friend, Scott. We FINALLY met up with each other in the late afternoon.  We took him around to the major sites in a few hours, stopped in a pub for some drinks, and then were back in Notts around 9:30. It was a long, but great weekend!

 The boys!

Onto the next adventure...

New City, New Christmas Market...

On Thursday, I went with my fellow Better Halves Club (BHC) to the Birmingham Christmas Market, or as it is truly called, Frankfurt Christmas Market and Craft Market.  It was a "win-win" as I could visit another Christmas market without dragging Jeff around like a puppy dog.  I think Jeff appreciated I went with other people as well!


I rode in with Jeff to work, went to a cafe to have a cup of coffee, muffin, and catch up on some articles for my online coursework. It was a lot cheaper to ride from Derby than Nottingham.  I waited to meet up with some friends to head on the train to go to Birmingham, which is less than an hour away.  We enjoyed some quality time on the train, catching up, and swapping stories.

This area in Birmingham is known as the Bullring

The Christmas Market filled multiple streets in Birmingham! It reminded me a lot of Oktoberfest because there were many German individuals running the stands, all the structures looked similar, and of course all of the yummy German food! We made our way around the entire market, taking one side at a time.  Most of the structures had Christmas decor, hand-carved items, ornaments, beer/wine, and other souvenirs.

 Lots of homemade, hand-carved toys. You can see the stand to the right

I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, although I found a couple cute wallets. But then, after opening them up, I realized they were not going to be able to fit American money into this wallet. So unfortunately, no purchase there. Sidenote: If you are intrigued about the money differences, I found a blog post written by an American about the money difference & his experience in the UK as well. 

So no wallet, but then I started realizing how many wonderful cakes, candies, nuts, etc. that were available.  I stopped at a homemade candy shop, and got Jeff about 6-7 pieces to enjoy later that night.  Anywhere from a vanilla donut inspired chocolate to amaretto or even chili flavored. I think we picked some good ones. Only one left...

We then enjoyed a wonderful lunch sitting outside (non-rainy, might I add).  We all got sausages, and a few of us got some mulled wine.  It was first of all...amazing! Second, I loved it so much that I think I am going to start serving it for Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations next year. Such a warm and holiday-type drink! Look for that, Christmas 2015! Plus, we got to keep the little souvenir cups! #score

The area at the top is where all the food vendors were located.

We continued around the market-filled streets. I was disappointed about the lack of samples at this market. I'm sure it has to do with the amount of people walking the streets.  I was able to sample a few different warm almond flavors. I was deciding between the Amaretto or Bailey's flavored. I went away with with Amaretto one, as it wasn't as sweet as the Bailey's. I was hoping to enjoy it on the train ride home, although the train was so packed I kept it in my purse.

Birmingham has a great shopping centre.  Many different stores, and I especially enjoyed Selfridges, a high-end department store.  They had all designer brands, but I really enjoyed the lowest level which was Christmas decor, LOTS of different foods, gifts, and American food products.  Although the American products were EXPENSIVE! I mean, would you pay six pounds (roughly $9.60) for a small container of Hershey's cocoa? I was laughing as there was a whole section dedicated to Hershey's kisses and Reese cups. Yum! I resisted.

 Reeses. Reeses. Kisses. Kisses.

Another bull, only this one is made out of JellyBellies!

Jeff met up with me, we played some squash, and enjoyed a few of the treats I purchased earlier in the day on our way home.  All-in-all, a great experience at the Birmingham Christmas Market.

*This post has been done for a while, but I was waiting on a few pictures a friend took during the day. Hoping to update the post soon with some of those pictures, as I know she has some great ones.  Check back in a week or two if you'd like to see some more pictures of our Birmingham trip.

Onto the next adventure...

Let the Christmas Festivities Begin!

On Saturday, we drove about an hour to a small city called Bakewell, which is near  Chatsworth House.  We had never been to this place before, although it is in the same area as the Peak District, one of my favorite places in England. We met up with two of our other American friends to go through the Christmas Market.  Our day didn't start off the best as Jeff forgot his wallet, we drove around for an extra 15 minutes looking for an ATM, and the minute we got to Chatsworth House the rain began. Typical wet and cold English day. Plus we forgot the "good" camera. This is becoming a pattern, isn't it?

 Nice, lovely day to be outside shopping...maybe not so much.

Little better of a view to see all the tent-tops and people!

We walked around the market for a while. I enjoyed all of the taste-testing.  Homemade cheeses, crisps (chips), biscuits (cookies), cakes, sauces, spices, and many other goodies.  There was so many neat tents set up with handmade decor, clothing, accessories, and many things. I found some cute bracelets and scarves, but held off because...well I have too many as is.

I went to these one tent to look at these small cakes as they were covered with chocolate. I was intrigued, so I asked the owner what they were.  He described them as chocolate covered marshmallow fluff on top of a wafer crust.  I was just going to buy one to try, but it gave my friend, Jo, and I a broken rum & raisin flavored one to try. So yummy...I bought 5.

I got an "after eight" which was mint flavored, white chocolate/strawberry, cappuccino, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate.  All looked about the same but has the different flavorings mixed into the chocolate.  We have both enjoyed a few so far, but I'm guessing they won't last much longer!

 One was crushed in the process of getting it to the car safely. But you can just see how much marshmallow fluff is inside!

 Close up on the "After Eight" one. And yes...they are all gone as I am typing this on Monday evening.

We grabbed a basket of chicken & chips (fries), talked for a bit, and walked around the grounds of the House a little. Since the weather wasn't cooperating, we did not walk in the gardens or go inside the house. The gardens were huge, and I think I'd like to go back on a nice spring day to enjoy them.  We will have to add it to our "To Go" list.

 Thanks to Jo & Jeff for inviting us, and letting me steal a couple pictures. 

And, as some of you might be wondering. Jeff was in attendance, although he wasn't loving the experience as much as I did. Therefore no pictures for him.  That man will never love shopping...

Onto the next adventure...

We Bought a Flat in Barcelona!

....Just kidding, although if I had to pick a place to own a vacation home...Barcelona would be the spot! We had an amazing time.  This city was the best of both worlds, great history & architecture as well as the beach.  We took advantage of both!

We got to Barcelona around dinner time on Wednesday, well I should say America's dinner time (6 pm).  We found out dinner time in Barcelona is from 9-11 pm! We actually were able to eat around that time due to being so busy throughout the day and evenings.  On Wednesday night, we were able to grab our first round of tapas: patatas bravas (potatoes with a cheese sauce), peppers, & chicken.  It was great! 

We, well I should say, I, woke up on a mission on Thursday.  This was the first trip that I really prepped for and did my research.  It helped that a few of our friends over here gave some suggestions, so from that I made an itinerary.  I know what you're thinking...poor Jeff. I eventually calmed down once we checked a few things off of our "to dos".  We were able to see this place called Casa Calvet, and to be honest we could barely find it because the building didn't really stand out from the rest.  Jeff laughed that I even had it on the "must sees". If you're reading this, and planning on going to Barcelona, you can definitely leave this one off of your list. I'm not going to even waste blog space by putting a picture up! hehe

We headed towards La Monumental (former bull fighting stadium), which was fantastic.  There were not many people there, so we were able to take advantage of the stadium and even stand in the middle of the bull ring.  La Monumental no longer does bull fights, which completely bummed Jeff out. We ended up getting some great pictures and really enjoyed our time there.  This was one of Jeff's favorite places we went while in Barcelona.  He has his eye on attending a live bull fight at some point. Yikes!

The outside of the stadium.  The blue & white parts of the building are made of small tiles.  Amazing!

Jeff inside the bull ring.  

Thanks, Sis for letting us buy the camera.  We took advantage of the self-timer & new settings.  We love it! 

After the stadium, we attempted to go to a flea market, but it wasn't open...so we headed onto the next destination which was Arco del Triunfo.  This was a beautiful monument in the city that we snapped a few photos of before heading into a park.  Grabbing lunch was up on the agenda, so we heading through the Gothic Quarter  and stopping at a local market to grab something for lunch.  The markets were amazing & everything was fresh.  The fish were a little too fresh, if you know what I mean.  Because it was so crowded, Jeff and I made a plan to meet outside with our items of choice if we got separated.  Good thing we said this, because the minute I smelled the fish...I quickly moved away from that area.  I think Jeff ended up with some sort of meat & pepper skewer and breaded spinach.  I came out with a chicken & cheese pastry and a strawberry juice.  We ended up heading back through to get some more fruit.

 Well this is a first...just a peacock walking around the city.  The zoo was close by, so I was convinced it escaped...

Now, do you see why I ran? This AND the smell...not cool. 

Can you believe I'm still only talking about Thursday? We accomplished so much at this point! We headed back towards the hotel to get some sun at our rooftop pool! Before the pool, we saw Casa Batllo, which was so creative! This building has to be one of the best pieces of architecture in the city.  We opted out and didn't go inside, but I'm sure when we live there we will have time to do that. Am I right?  The pool was so relaxing, and definitely a great way to unwind after a long day of walking the city.  We got cleaned up and headed out for, yet another, round of tapas. We tried a few other types including some sort of pork, grilled vegetables, patatas bravas (Yes, again!), guacamole, and Pa amb tomaquet. Pa amb tomaquet was a Catalan specialty.  You were given bread, tomato, garlic, and olive oil.  You rubbed the garlic and tomato on the bread and drizzled olive oil on top. Really yummy!  

 Casa Batllo...one of the many Gaudi pieces of "art" throughout the city. 

 Pool time!

Our little oasis! 

Now...Friday. 

So, since I "planned ahead" I obviously checked the weather before we left for Barcelona.  Planning a beach day didn't seem odd at all as all 5 days were in the mid 80's with zero clouds.  Little did I know, the forecast changed and we woke up to the sounds of thunder and rain.  After getting ready and eating breakfast the rained stopped, so we started our trek to the beach.  We walked through the city, stopping in/out of a few shops, markets...and feeling a few rain drops here and there.  At the time, it wasn't looking pretty for our beach-filled day.  We got to the beach, with dark clouds overhead, and just enjoyed the fact that we were sitting beach-side.  The rain came back, and within a half an hour...beautiful skies again.  We really lucked out because due to the hiccup in our morning, the rest of the day was beautiful and the beach wasn't that crowded. We got some sun, enjoyed some reading, had a few beers, and played around in the Mediterranean Sea. 

 Before...

 After...

We didn't leave the beach until around 6:30 or so.  We headed to the Flea Market to look around.  They had this club-type atmosphere at the very top of the multi-teared market.  Jeff grabbed a piece of pizza and a beer. I think he needed that to get himself through the flea market with me.  Poor guy. After the market, we got cleaned up and went to a Flamenco Show.  This is something I really wanted to go see, and once again Jeff was a trooper and went with me.  It was an hour long show where local performers would dance and sing.  I loved it!  Their costumes were amazing as well as their level of speed when moving their feet.  It was definitely a different experience for us, as we don't normally take advantage of shows and things like that while on holiday.  

It wasn't just an ordinary flea market. This place was huge! 

 Palacio del Flamenco   

Look out for another blog post to summarize Saturday and Sunday. Phew, I'm tired.