This weekend I was going to go to Cardiff. Then that fell though and then I was going to just stay home, have a weekend to rest, and work on my paper like a good student. :) But...my roommate and a couple other people had planed a trip to Nottingham...and I wanted to go. And someone dropped out a few hours before. And since they already had tickets and a hostel, I got to go!
My sister is a big fan of the BBC series Robin Hood! It's a really good show! My roommate is also a fan and that's why she wanted to go. Robin Hood is just a cool story/legend. I love the British legends like Robin Hood and King Arthur and Merlin (that have both become BBC series). It kinda makes you wonder how much of it is just stories and how much is real. Robin Hood seems like it could have actually happened and it was cool to see some of the sights that connect with the legend even if it may not be actual history. And there was some opportunity for Robin Hood quotes.
Friday night we left for Nottingham, and spent the night in a hostel (which ended up being really, really nice, and having memory foam mattresses). Saturday morning we went around Nottingham for a bit and got to see "Nottingham Castle" which actually isn't there anymore. But there was also a statue of Robin Hood there. Then we caught a bus to Sherwood forest which is actually closer to Edwinstowe, which is a little town right next to the forest. So that was about a 40 minute bus ride. We got to the forest and walked around a bit. It was so pretty! We went to the Major Oak where according to the legends Robin Hood and his Merry Men use to meet. It's over 1000 years old so they've blocked it off so people can't climb it and such to preserve it. It can't really support itself now so they've built things to help its limbs. After walking around a bit and climbing some other trees (getting funny looks from British people and such) We went and checked out a few other things at the sight before catching out bus back to Nottingham. Unfortunately we got a bit distracted so we watched the bus drive away...and the next one wasn't for 2 hours. Luckily that didn't mess up our plans for getting back to Oxford but we also had two hours to wait around...so we went into Edwinstowe. There wasn't much but it looked like a nice little down. There was an arts and crafts centre with some cool stuff to look at. We ended up just walking around town. Also in Edwinstowe there is the church where Robin Hood and Maid Marion were said to be married in. We just walked around the outside because it wasn't open. We caught the next bus, which was also the last bus, and we headed back to Nottingham. Though we didn't have much time there so basically just went from one bus station to the next to head back to Oxford.
It was a really fun trip but you need more time in Nottingham that I though. To be honest I was wonder what on earth are we actually going to do in Nottingham, but I wish we would have had more time. The castle isn't really worth going inside unless you want to go see the museum. It's not even the real castle, just the grounds so if you ever go just walk around the outside and that's fine. There are also caves that we missed out on (since we missed the bus). Sherwood forest is fantastic! It is fun to walk around and a lot of the locals so to bike there are to take nice walks. I would if I was a local. How cool would that be to just go on a walk in Sherwood forest on a regular basis!!! I felt rushed the whole trip so if I go again (and I'll tell this to my sister if she ever gets to go) I will spend some more time there. But sometimes you just don't have to option to spend a lot of time somewhere.
I'm running out of time here. Thursday I leave for Germany, Belgium, and France (yes I've already been to Belgium and France but that's just how it works out sometimes) and then I'll be there for over a week, then the first weekend in December I'm going to Cardiff, and then I have one more weekend here!!! I hope I get to go to London one more time!!! It's one of my favourite cities!
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