UK cheechako

The long journey to Belvoir Castle

Prior to my family's visit, we had never used public transportation in Nottingham, simply because we never had the need. However, with only one vehicle, which Yankee was using for work, we had no choice if we wanted to venture outside the City Centre. Our first experience taking the bus was uneventful. The five of us went to the Denby Pottery Factory, where the bus dropped us off right across the street from the entrance. Piece of cake. So we decided to take the bus to Belvoir Castle the next day.

I consulted a bus schedule/map and, while there wasn't a stop right at the castle, there appeared to be two or three right by it. I figured I would just tell the bus driver we were going to the castle and ask him what the best stop was. I thought it was a realistic expectation that the bus driver who spends the day driving that route over and over would be of some assistance. Nope. He wasn't really sure, but thought the first stop in that area would be the closest. So we got off at The Unicorns Head pub in Langar. As soon as the bus pulled away I got this sinking feeling that we had made a mistake. We walked into the pub, which wasn't even open yet for the day, and found a staff member to ask for directions. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him we didn't have a car, that we had taken the bus. Come to find out we were a good 10 miles from the castle. Luckily I had a cell phone with me that day (which is unusual) and we were able to call a taxi. We did find out that we probably couldn't have gotten any closer to the castle by bus anyway, which made me feel better. In the end all of the trouble getting there and back was definitely worth it. The castle and gardens were absolutely beautiful. After touring the gardens and castle, we had a nice lunch at the castle's restaurant, Steward's. Funny story. After our rough time getting there I decided I wanted to enjoy a beer with my lunch. So I asked the waitress if the local brew was good. She said yes, but that it was a rather large bottle for a lady. Needless to say, I proceeded to order one and my Dad and Brother-in-law followed suit. It was really good too!

Below are some pictures of the castle and gardens. We even saw a peacock when we were walking around the gardens!

posted by Yankee Girl @ 1:35 PM