Maybe it won't be so bad getting to Donington...
The day after our journey to Belvoir Castle, we decided give the bus another try and head to the Donington Race Park to see the Donington Grand Prix Collection, the world's largest collection of grand prix cars. I could tell by the bus map that there was a stop very close to the track. When we got on the bus I asked the driver if that was the best stop and he said yes and he'd let us know when to get off. Great. Good to know we won't be having any 'adventures' this outing I thought to myself. Wrong. We proceeded to the back of the bus as we had the past two trips. Well, that would turn out to be a big mistake. There were quite a few stops and at each stop more people got on the bus than got off the bus. The bus was so full there were people standing all along the aisle. People were commenting that they had never seen so many people on the bus. Lucky us. We tried to make our way to the front of the bus well before our stop, but of course we weren't successful. I pushed the 'stop' button but the driver apparently didn't hear. As soon as we made our way up there and told him we were going to the track (something he must have forgotten as soon as we pulled out of the bus station) he pulled over and pointed us in the right direction. After walking along the motorway for more than a mile and some fence jumping (see picture below), we arrived at the track.
Here are a couple of pictures taken inside the race museum. I've got more, but Blogger is again being an uncooperative pain in the arse. I'll just put them in a new post.
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!
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.
