Sunday, September 16, 2007

Nottingham

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Nottingham, which is a thirty minute train ride north west of where I am located (mental note -make a blog entry about where I am located...).

Nottingham is, of course, famous for being the home of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. The Sheriff of Nottingham would hang out in his Nottingham Castle (which we visited), and Robin would harass him and then go hang out in Sherwood Forest (which, unfortunately, we did NOT get to visit). The city also used to be known for lace manufacturing, but has since shipped that all out to automated factories, so it's just not the same...

Here is a statue of Robin, right outside of Nottingham Castle. There's a plaque along the back wall that basically says Robin gets the last laugh by being permanently situated outside of Nottingham Castle -- take that you stupid Sheriff!


Here is the group I traveled with - my roommate and two other students from the University. It was a quick, one-day impromptu trip. Andrea (in red) is my roommate's friend from school, and Caleb thankfully had his awesome camera - so hopefully I'll get a bunch more amazing photos!

Here is our group getting all ready to go tour the Caves of Nottingham. The city is built on sandstone, and the inhabitants back in the day naturally dug down under the city to create a huge and elaborate system of underground caves. In the best of times these caves were used for storage and basic manufacturing (like a tannery), but in the worst of time (and Nottingham definitely is a city that suffered from Industrial booms and busts) it was actually used as housing for the poorest of Nottingham's citizens, and as shelter during bomb raids in the World Wars.

The hard hats weren't so much for protection in case the mine collapsed, but because the ceiling was so uneven and low that you'd crack your skull regularly if you didn't have one on!


And here is a photo of St. Mary's Church. It is the oldest church in the city (dating back to Angl0-Saxon times) - but unfortunately it closes at 3:30 on Saturdays, and we arrived at 3:32. I got a few great pics of the outside though!



All in all, Nottingham was a great time. I didn't get pictures of the hoardes of people around the shopping centers (that's mostly what the city is known for now). There are a few major shopping districts (and believe you me, I tried to go shopping!) and they are PACKED with people all the time. If you're ever looking for some shopping in middle-England, head to Nottingham!

As always, check out my photo albums at: http://www.picasaweb.google.com/christine.zani
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