UK cheechako

Amsterdam wasn't our only adventure....

Although Amsterdam was probably the highlight of my family's trip, it wasn't our only adventure. While Yankee was working (don't know why he would want to go back to work and not hang with us every day???) we had quite a bit of fun in/around Nottingham. One day we took the Crime & Punishment tour at the Galleries of Justice. My sister & I were both chosen to take part in a mock trial - she as the judge and I as the accused. Sounds about right huh? Apparently I played a big part of burning down a silk mill in Beeston during the Reform Bill riots. Not surprisingly, she found me guilty and I was sentenced to hang. Here are some pictures of the trial and the museum. I don't know why she got to wear a nifty costume and I didn't. Maybe I just looked the part without one?

After the museum we headed to the nearby Pitcher & Piano bar for beverages. Now, the Pitcher isn't any ordinary bar. The first time Yankee and I saw it we didn't even know it was a bar. That could have had something to do with the fact that it is a Church turned into a bar. Yep, that's right. A bar in a church. Seems wrong, but that didn't stop us from checking it out. I wish I could post some pictures, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. You can check out their website or this other link for some pictures. I'm sure I can twist Yankee's arm to go there this weekend and take some pics - for the sake of the blog of course. :) Anyway, back to the story. We all went inside to check out the bar and order our drinks and then headed outside to sit and enjoy the nice day. As soon as we sat down my Dad excused himself to take a walk down the street to enjoy a cancer stick. Well, my brother-in-law & I had nearly drained our Hoegaarden pints and he still wasn't back so I went looking for him. I looked everywhere with no luck. By the time I got back to the bar he reappeared. It seems he had walked down some steps to a courtyard and made a friend. Mind you, I walked down the same steps while looking for him, but turned back when it started to get a little too secluded for my taste. Well, it seems he met this guy down there and got to talking with him. He learned the guy was originally from Portugal and would like to visit the US someday, but didn't think he would be able to because he had been in jail. I wander what the guy did that was so bad he didn't think he we be able to get in the US? Needless to say, we kept a careful eye on my Dad after that.

Another day we took a tour of the City of Caves. Yankee and I had not taken the tour because to be quite honest the entrance, which is inside Broadmarsh shopping centre, looks really cheesy. But the tour isn't cheesy at all. It's really quite fantastic. The only negative is having to wear a hardhat during the tour. It was amazing to walk through the underground caves and hear stories about their history. The tannery was especially fascinating. You can read all about it on their website. I'm guessing I'll be going back with Yankee one of these days.

posted by Yankee Girl @ 11:22 AM