Robin Hood

During the break, Katy and I took a day trip to Nottingham which is about a three hour train ride North of London. Nottingham is very close to another town called Edwinstowe where the famous Sherwood Forest from the Robin Hood story is located. I was so proud of the two of us as we were able to find out way around the city and figure out the transit system there.

Once we arrived in Nottingham we made our way to the bus station to get to Sherwood Forest. One thing I immediately noticed is how the English accent in Nottingham is different from the accent in London. After our hour bus ride we reached the Forest. It had a great walking trail and we were fortunate as it was a gorgeous day, although quite cold. There was a Robin Hood exhibit on site which went through the stories of Robin Hood and the history behind the legend. We also saw Major Oak - the big tree where Robin Hood and his Merrie Men hung out.

We took the bus back to Nottingham and explored around there for a while. It was really nice to get out of London and explore a new, less busy place. I've been finding that London is becoming too much for me lately and I needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. There are many networks of caves in Nottingham carved out of sandstone so Katy and I went cave hunting and had a little tour. The caves were also used as a bomb shelter during WWII.

Next we went to see the Robin Hood statue downtown and got some good pictures of Nottingham Castle up top of Castle Rock. Right beside the Castle was a pub called "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem." I had first heard of this pub on a Buzzfeed article called 25 Pubs You Must Drink In Before You Die. (http://www.buzzfeed.com/timchester/25-legendary-british-pubs-you-need-to-drink-in-baqg#.yc6Vxb49e) Ye Olde Trip is actually the oldest pub in England which dates back to 1189. Crusaders would stay here on their way to Jerusalem.