Run: chronicle of a trip to Nottingham

Picture by Lenka

Last weekend of November. Saturday: 3 a.m. The eyes of Ale, Lenka, Sabine and Ádám extremely open. No, we are not in a party. Just going to the bus station. No, we are not going to any party. It´s call tourism and trying to optimizing time while saving money. Two hours later we arrived in London in a dense fog and with the car white because of the coldness. After one hour of waiting there, we caught another bus for four hours to the center of Nottingham. This time the hostel looked better than the previous time but was difficult to find.

In this city, there are more than four hundred artificial caves that have been used for centuries for several purposes, from shelters during the Second World War, to a distillery. Who knows how many secrets have been kept there. Our first stop in the city was to visit six of these caves. It was so cold outside but a nice temperature underground. Then, we went to what they say is the oldest pub in England, and also built inside the sandstones: Ye olde trip to Jerusalem.

In the afternoon, we walked to Wollaton Hall, a big country house in the middle of a beautiful hill and with so many deers. However, the night came so quickly and the fog persisted, so after a long walk, we had no alternative but to came back completely frozen and without seeing anything.

About ten a.m on Sunday, we walked to the central bus station from where taking a bus to Sherwood forest (again a patient and kind bus driver made our journey cheaper). The travel is beautiful but even more what we´ll see there. Is the area where the Robin Hood legend takes place. The autumn and the sunlight were getting through the branches. The temperatures were down again but was well worth it. Despite is a popular tourist destination, as soon as you start walking, just nature can be listened to.

The main tree where the medieval hero hid the loots is highly protected and trapped by contemporary society, as its branches are sustained artificially to keep the icon. Its magnitude it´s impressive but a visual conflict with the rest of the landscape. There are some wooden benches where the first lights of the sunset were catching them (at 2. pm....). We sat down there to have lunch... really bad idea to eat terribly bad cooked spaghettis without stopping to jump for avoiding freezing feet.

Coming back to the city, we visited the Christmas market and returned to our hostel to take our belongings. The chat with some more other travelers was so long and we had to run to the station. And surprise, surprise, it´s full and the second one is almost one hour delayed, just the exact time we had to change the bus in London. They guaranteed we were going to have enough time but the waiting seemed eternal, and when finally appeared, needed to wait for another twenty minutes.

We tried to rest during the four hours sitting but the departure time of our bus to Bournemouth is close and still far away from Victoria Station. The bus stopped. One minute left. Run. Has already closed the door but the driver showed compassion and let us go in. Was more than 2 a.m. when we finally went bed, as tired as if we´d been in a party but with so many different experiences.