After a short day-stop in London, we were up early the next morning, snagged coffee and pastries at a local bakery, then took a short taxi ride to Kings Cross station to catch a train north towards Nottinghamshire to visit friends/family.
Back when I studied for a year at UEA, I was matched with a host family further north prior to the start of my first term. I got along well with them and would occasionally visit them on weekends during that academic year. Then, when they were traveling through the eastern US, they stayed with my parents (whom they met back in the UK), and with me when in SF.
A quick stop at a posh flower stall and we then boarded our train north to Retford.
We had a lovely two-day visit in Nottinghamshire–first a walk through a section of nearby parkland that was once a colliery, and then to Southwell to see the Minster and have a spot of lunch. That evening we headed to a local pub as it was quiz night. We did fairly well, placing in the top three.
The next day, Mike and I walked through another section of the nearby park. One area of the park has a very symmetrically-planted stand of trees.
That afternoon, we headed to Sherwood Forest. I’d been there once before, but this time we did a much longer walk, and this time Major Oak was in full foliage.
The next morning we headed back to London to continue on to Paris. Before heading to the station, I snapped a pic of this afghan that I made and sent to my host family a long while back.
