Friday, June 11, 2010

11 June 2010 Nottingham Castle, tram trip to Hucknall, Bus rides



Nottingham Castle



Lyn & Mick by Robin Hood statue



Lyn in Maid Marion Tiara



Mick Robin Hood West



Entrance to Nottingham Castle




Cave under Nottingham Castle



View of Castle from below







Ratcliffe-on-Soar 2000mw coal fired power station








Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem oldest pub in England









England (St George) flag on front of Nottingham Council House in the city centre to support the England football team








Today we went to the Nottingham Castle and toured the underground caves with a guide giving us detailed information about the castle and the kings etc. It got a bit complicated and gruesome at times! There is nothing like that in Australia.

We caught the bus into city. It stops right outside our window here at the hotel. From our window we can see the fancy electronic sign at the bus stop which tells you what time the buses are due to arrive and what time it is now and they are correct to the minute. The signs have an aeriel on top so the info may be transmitted to the sign by the bus. It makes it so easy. We then did a tram trip out to Hucknall and back and then to the railway station. The Nottingham transport is very modern .

There is only one railway station now which used to be the Midland Station (now called the Nottingham Station). The old Victoria Station was demolished and replaced by a super shopping centre (Westfield).

It cost 3.20 pounds (just gone up from the published 3 pounds in the travel brochures) for unlimited travel for the day until 4.29am the next day so we made the most of it. It gets light at about 4am and it doesn't get dark here until after 10.00pm so we could be out late but we like to get home at about 5pm as we are usually buggered by then. We have to wear our airline masks overnight otherwise we would never get any sleep with there being very few totally dark hours.

Boy the buses were packed on the homeward journey. We sat upstairs as they are Double Decker buses and you get a great view but I (being a mechanic) was a bit worried they were going to tip over with all that weight above the centre of gravity.

We had a good look around the shops today and the jewelery seemed expensive and the electronic goods a bit cheaper than Australia. They have Samsung and LG TV's but also other brands that I haven't heard of. A 32" Samsung 100Hz LCD TV with LED back lighting was 475 pounds. Whilst we were in the city centre some council workers erected this huge St George flag on the front of the council house in the city centre. The flag is used as the flag for the England football team. I don't know why that is. Anyone help?

The Merseybeats who are doing a concert locally, arrive tonight (2am) to stay here at the Tudor. We are looking forward to that! They can't be doing too well as they are staying here!! I must Google the Merseybeats to see how famous they were.

The distant shot from the top of the Castle is of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal fired power station which produces 2000MW of electricity.

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