More about the city again

The 10th of August marked the departure of all my relatives from the East of England and my cousin's boyfriend. They spent the morning and a part of the afternoon packing their belongings, finally leaving around 2:00pm. My aunt and uncle from Nottingham, my brother and I were not present when they departed, though, as we had left for the centre of Nottingham around midday (we did, of course, say goodbye before we set out).

Our primary reason for going to the centre of Nottingham a day after my brother and I went there the day before was to find new pairs of walking shoes for us (mine were wrecked from the mud jump, and my brother's were falling apart and in need of replacing). We visited a handful of shoe stores before coming a place called Millets, where we found shoes that suited us in every way - they looked decent, were durable, comfortable, and not too expensive. It was a relief that it only took us half an hour to shop for shoes, rather than an entire afternoon, as has happened before.

With the main objective out of the way, we had a small lunch at a Caffè Nero. We then went to the local Hotel Chocolat outlet, followed by going to another small store to try our luck at the £148 million pound Euromillions jackpot (the same one that Gillian and Adrian Bayford won). With several hours in the afternoon still ahead of us we went to the City of Caves (known colloquially as the "Nottingham caves") to learn about the vast cave network located underneath Nottingham.

I found it fascinating to learn that over one thousand years ago the people of Nottingham built and lived in underground caves. A few hundred years later, around 1500, a tannery was housed in the caves; this led to the pollution of the city's drinking water when the animal skins were washed in the cave water, which led to the river. In the 1800s the residents of Drury Hill, a neighbourhood, lived in basements within the caves; the basements were often one-room dwellings, and the cramped conditions combined with the poor sanitation led to a number of diseases affecting the inhabitants. The most recent use of the caves prior to their conversion into a tourist attraction was during World War II, when they were utilised as air raid shelters.

After we had completed the tour of the City of Caves, we walked over to Nottingham Castle:

My aunt, brother, a cousin and I visited the outer gate to Nottingham Castle last year, but we chose not to enter because of the high cost at the time (I think it was around £10-£15 per person); with it being less expensive on this second trip there (about £5) we did decide to visit the castle. I'm glad we did, too; the castle itself was primarily a museum, containing local artifacts and information about the city's links with other parts of the world, but in my opinion the best part about the castle was the main balcony on its grounds, offering amazing views of Nottingham:

I have seen pictures of Nottingham taken from this vantage point, but I never realised until then that they captured from Nottingham Castle. Can you spot the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station in the first picture?

This is the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem - also known as The Trip to Jerusalem Inn - the pub we visited after leaving the castle's grounds. The Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem claims to be the oldest inn in England, but this label is disputed. Disregarding the supposed age of the building, it was a quaint little place to have a drink (I had a Coke), and I found it interesting how the building is built into the cave system (in the lower section dust from the sandstone often falls from the ceiling and into food and/or drink).

After a refreshing drink in the Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem the early evening had set in, and so we returned to our grandparents house. Our family members from the East of England had long departed Nottingham by that time, and were probably even close to home. Those of us still in Nottingham went to Nando's for dinner that evening; I had two "yes!" moments in the restaurant when I correctly guessed the names of two of the waitresses without looking at their name tags.

Our grandparents took us back to their home after the meal; with that day over, only one full day of the trip remained.