More Visitors...We are so Lucky!

As you know, after our group of friends left, we immediately picked up Jeff's family (his mom, sister, brother, aunt, and cousin).  We were so excited to hang out with them throughout their time here.  After our lunch, walking tour, and quick pint...we left them in London.  Haha, that sounds funny!  They were going to explore London and surrounding areas a bit more before heading up to Nottingham for a couple days of their trip.  They were able to see the big attractions in London, Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath, and another small village.  They were busy!  It was fun to be able to talk about these places with them because we had been there before!

They got into Nottingham on Thursday, and I was able to take them to the famous, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.  It was so busy, and I was bummed because the upstairs (which is the coolest part) was all reserved, so I could not show that part off.  We enjoyed a great lunch, and then headed up to the castle.

 (L-R) His aunt, Susan; sister, Michelle; cousin, Nathan; mom, Lori; and brother, Matthew

Always can count on Michelle (my sister-in-law) to take a goofy picture with me!

It was the time of year that the castle just had boring paintings, and not the awesome war exhibits like it did in the fall.  We were able to explore the outside area, and point out different buildings and sights from afar.  We headed inside, and walked around the building.  I was able to visit my favorite exhibit (all about the riots), and reflected that it would be the last time I would go in there before moving home! I took it all in, appreciating it all.

Afterwards, we headed for a quick tour around town, grabbed some groceries, and then headed back to our flat so we could hang out until dinner time.  They had all been on the move for the last 5 days, so we chilled for a bit as I made dinner.  We ate dinner, caught up, and enjoyed the relaxing evening.

The next day, they headed to Liverpool, and I stayed back as I had a few things to take care of.  We all met up on Saturday to explore Nottingham a bit more.  They all went to the Galleries of Justice, and I stayed behind as I had already been to the attraction twice.  Jeff went with them, and I think they enjoyed the history side of things.  It sounds like they had a bit of a different experience where they were able to recreate a trial in the courtroom, which sounded really interesting.  I think a few of them were participants, which would have been funny to see! Jeff should be writing this post, so he can tell you more about the experience!

 Siblings reunited after quite a long time

In the entryway of Pitcher & Piano

I met up with everyone at Pitcher and Piano, which is the church that was converted into a bar.  One of my favorite places to grab a pint and/or lunch.  And we grabbed both!  Afterwards, we headed to another pub which is right on the canal, called The Canalhouse.  It is really neat, as there is a boat garage that goes through the restaurant.  There is even a boat inside!  Next up, we explored the caves of Nottingham.  Nottingham is actually known as the City of Caves.  This is something we had not done before, so we were excited to do a new tourist attraction in our own city! It was a 45 minute tour, exploring the caves.  We were even given little hard hats, which we took advantage of! It was interesting to see hear and see what the caves were used for in the past.  It was like another world down there!

 Blurry shot...but having fun underground!  One of the shopping centres was built on top of the caves!

 Digging for bones!

 Our sweet hard hats!

We ended our night taking everyone to one of our favorite Indian restaurants.  Yummy! We hung out at our house later that night.  It was the last night in England for his brother, as he was heading back the following day.  Everyone headed back to London with him, as his aunt and cousin were flying out on Monday.  They enjoyed a few more attractions, like the London Eye and Wimbledon.  Their tour looked fantastic! They were able to see some things we were obviously not allowed or able to see during our time at Wimbledon, so it was fun hearing about their experience.  Jeff's mom and sister are staying a couple extra days in Nottingham, so I'll post about our adventures on the next post!


On to the next adventure...

Adding Another American to the East Midlands

It was crazy to start this post as this past week was the week in 2013 we came over here to look at houses. Now we are quickly entering our year mark...so crazy how time flies!? (Posts: First trip to Derby and First trip to Nottingham).  The Nottingham post was crazy to look at, as a tourist I took a picture of the church we now look out our windows everyday to see! And now the Christmas Market is up, and the other sites I walk by daily. Who knew that something so foreign at one time, could feel so much like home now?

Onto Scott's Visit:

Our friend, Scott, visited us this week in Nottingham after our adventure in London.  Scott was stuck with hanging out with me during the day, exploring Nottingham and surrounding areas.  We spent Monday exploring Nottingham.  I took him around the city, stopped at Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (the oldest inn in England), which is a must for all of our visitors.  We went to the Capital One Arena, where the Nottingham Panthers play ice hockey (Jeff and I's visit here).  We stopped in a local place, called the Pudding Pantry, where I have been meaning to go recently for a cup of tea and coffee.

Great day for some of my favorite British foods and brews

Tuesday, we headed to Derby to see the town and visit Jeff at work.  Afterwards the boys played squash, while I ran a few miles. We all headed out to dinner later that night at Nando's, which is a place all around England, but they have the best chicken! Wednesday was a busy day for Scott and I as we headed to the Nottingham Castle and then to a few breweries around town.  Part of the castle was closed, but we were able to see a few of the great spots, like some war memorabilia and old items that belonged in the castle or during that time period.  It was a little foggy that day, so we didn't have the best views of Nottingham, but we made do! The breweries were great, although we didn't take a tour or anything.  Both places we went screamed "English pub", so at least he was able to get a good feel of the local culture and meet some new people. We headed out for a nice dinner at one of our favorite Indian restaurants, Memsab, which is about a 5 minute walk from our house.  Everyone enjoyed their meals!

 The one good thing about visiting the castle in the winter is that you can ACTUALLY see the castle! Hooray for no leaves!

 The first stop on our mini-pub tour!

Look who finally stopped working to join us for some fun?!

Thursday, we went out to the Galleries of Justice Museum, which I love going to.  It is where the old prisoners were held after convicted.  This building is where all of the hangings took place in the city.  You are given a convict number...which I got the same one...theft of a cow.  Scott and I both enjoyed the people in our group, as they were quite funny.  I think Scott really enjoyed it, as it was very informative and interesting.  Chances are, if you come visit me, I'll take you here as well! ha!

Thanks to Scott for being a trooper and playing along with my photo games!

And since Thursday, was Thanksgiving, we (well, I) made a big meal for the three of us to enjoy.  It was a challenge finding some of the "normal" American ingredients to make all of our favorite holiday foods...but everything seemed to turn out alright. Phew!

We ended up having:

• Chicken & Stuffing dish
• Green bean casserole
• Corn
• Rolls
• Salad
• Mashed Potatoes
• Gravy
• Mulled wine (warm wine with spices)

I know what you're all thinking if you're from the States...where is the PUMPKIN PIE? And if you know Jeff at all, he has to have pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving. Grandma, I know you're reading this thinking..."Jeff normally has his own pie every year, and now he didn't get any?"   Unfortunately, that's the case. I found pumpkin in a can, but couldn't find the necessary spices to actually make the pie. I ended up making pumpkin brownies and cheesecake, which were both good.  We had a great time sitting around the table celebrating the holiday...despite our lack of Thanksgiving desserts. I guess next year we'll just eat twice as many pieces of pie! #watchout2015Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner! Lots to be Thankful for after the amazing year we have had!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day (Well, my American friends/family)!  We thought about you during this first round of holiday festivities, and we will continue thinking about you throughout the month. 

Onto 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...

My Parents are Here!

My parents are here...My parents are here! I guess I should say were here as I am crazy behind on my posts. Anywho... I felt so blessed that my amazing parents were able to visit us for 2-weeks.  They had a long day of traveling across the pond and got in around 9 PM (local time).

I was really impressed with their adaptation to the time change. Jeff and I have a pretty hard time coming over here as sleeping in until 11:00 is so easy as you get used to the time in the states. They put Jeff and I to shame and adjusted just fine! With that being said, we were able to hit the ground running each day they were here.  The first few days, I took them around my favorite spots in Nottingham.

Thursday (August  21st) my parents and I walked around Nottingham visiting the castle, my favorite shops, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, England's oldest pub (1189 AD), and the small things like going to the grocery store! I guess you could say "The Daily Life of Sarah Tour".  We really enjoyed our time together and learning about the history of Notts.

 Mom and Dad learning I don't mess around when it comes to picture taking. Good sports for sure!

 The Nottingham Castle had a complete remodel since we visited last November. Great war exhibits now.

 Nottingham... "the worst slum in the British Empire outside India"----guess Notts wasn't too well liked back in the day. 

Dad's first pint at the British pub, Ye olde Trip to Jerusalem

On Friday, I took my parents on quite a walk...a total of 10 miles throughout the day. No one's legs fell off...don't worry.  Jeff and I love visiting Wollaton Hall & Deer Park (Wayne Manor, where Batman was filmed), so my parents and I headed there for the day.  We packed our lunches in hopes to have a picnic while we were there.  The weather didn't quite cooperate once we got there, but we were able to explore inside the hall and....under a tree to avoid the downpour. We had our mini picnic despite the weather and enjoyed the walk, even seeing some deer up close! See Jeff and I's visit to Wollaton Hall, here.

 Jeff and I have never seen the deer out front. So cool!

Some people were getting even closer than Dad was...crazy! 

Onto the next adventure...

Welcome to our Home!

Our friends, Christian & Kristin, joined up with us again, this time at our flat in Nottingham.  We were able to just spend some quality time eating, drinking, sharing stories, & just enjoying the area.  We were able to take them to some of our favorite spots and some tourist traps as well.

Friday night it was great to enjoy a bottle of wine & a home cooked meal.  We were able to just have some quality time together, hanging out. It was definitely nice to have close friends over, just as if we were in the States. Saturday we took them to Wollaton Hall & Deer Park (see my former post for more pictures) to walk around the park.  Then we took them to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (see my former post for more pictures), the oldest pub in England, where we enjoyed a few beers and lunch.

 

 Wollaton Hall is a great place for a walk or a little Frisbee!

A little pub action after Wollaton Hall.

 Bringing back games we played in college. Never too old for the silly college games! 

We ended our day walking around the city, grabbing some amazing curry for dinner, and attempting to watch the biggest boxing match since World War II in England.  We couldn't even get into a pub as they were so packed, people were trying to watch the TVs through the windows on the street. Unfortunately we missed the match.

The next day, we drove down to London for the day.  We were able to see the Tower of London & walk around the city.  We had a guided tour that was very entertaining as well as watch a show.  They taught some lucky people from the audience (Christian, included!) to use the catapult. We could have spend the majority of the day at the Tower of London as there was so much to do there. We also went to St. Paul's Cathedral where Kate & William were married.  As for most of the churches, we were unable to take pictures inside the cathedral.  It was beautiful and special that a wedding that was viewed around the world took place there. Not going to lie, I was visualizing them standing at the alter while inside. haha!

 

 On the walk to Tower of London. 

 Tower of London. It was so large that I couldn't even get the whole grounds in the picture. 

 The show was very entertaining! 

 Christian was a part of the show! He helped 3 other men use the catapult.  They did a great job! 

 Inside of the Tower of London. 

Another shot of the Tower Bridge. One of my favorite buildings in London!

 

Great travel buddies! Miss you guys already!

We were blessed to have another visitor...Jeff's dad, Greg, the very next day Christian and Kristin left.  He stayed in Nottingham this time, which was great because we were able to see him almost every day he was here.  Lots of quality time and yummy food! Thanks for a great visit, Greg, and helping us feel right at home!