Details are still sketchy for flights into and out of London. I hope everything clears up and I can travel tomorrow (April 20, 2010).

In preparation for my trip next week to Nottingham UK, I went to AAA to get my International Driving Permit. It’s not really necessary for the UK, but a British colleague of mine recommended it ‘just in case’. Good enough argument for me. Though I went there just for the permit, I ended up getting a lot more done than I anticipated. I’m a Plus Member and this one trip essentially paid for the membership dues.

Renault Twingo

I’ve been battling the Internet in search of a good deal on rental cars in the UK (they call them ‘car hires’). The present exchange rate (1 UK£ = 1.5365 U.S. dollars) is horrendous so I had almost resigned myself to getting what they call a class ‘A’ car. Like the Renault Twingo (Mini, 2-4 Door, Manual, No Aircon,). As you can see it’s basically a go-kart. At 6’3″ this would be more than a tight squeeze. But in the name of keeping costs down, I had pretty much considered this to be the one I’d get. Next on the pay scale are Class ‘B’ (Economy, 2-4 Door, Manual, Aircon) and then Class ‘C’ cars. An example of a Class ‘B’ car is a Vauxhall Corsa. This is apparently an upgrade but from what I can see it’s only benefit is air conditioning. So now I’m thinking I’m stuck like a sardine in a steam room in my Twingo. A Class ‘C’ is relative luxury. Hertz was offering a Ford Focus Zetec Climate

Ford Focus Zetec Climate

(Compact, 4-5 Door, Manual, Aircon). At 189.19 British pounds (290.69 U.S. dollars) this was so not happening. Enter AAA. Enter 25% off. Enter happy me tooling around the countryside in a Ford Focus Zetec Climate. Was very happy about this massive discount and I had no idea AAA had that kind of bargaining power.

Vauxhall Corsa

I also got a free map of the UK ($5.95 retail). Didn’t have detail of Nottingham but does show the major arteries. Always nice ot have a full map. GPS doesn’t always work and there are only so many Google Maps directions you can print out.

The International Driving Permit was a nice score at $15 (25% off for Plus members). But what I missed out on was FREE passport photos (you just have to pay tax which would be $0.70 in New Jersey). Unfortunately I got my photos at a photo store and they charged me $10.95.

Lastly, I got my CashPax of British Pounds. A CashPack is a bill-size packet of foreign currency in small denominations available in Euros, British Pounds, US and Australian Dollars, Yen, Mexican Pesos and many other currencies. This service, along with a full line of American Express Services (Travelers Cheques, etc.) are available for face value without service charges.

Awesome Awesome Awesome

So I’m off to Nottingham. Including maps, I have a 19 page document of stuff to do/checkout. Probably won’t get to all of it but it’s there just in case. Scroll down for all the info. Downloadable PDFs (I separated the infosheet from the maps for easy reference) are available at the very end of the post.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 – Virgin Atlantic # 18

Newark Liberty Int’l (EWR) to London Heathrow (LHR)
Departure (EWR): April 20, 8:00 AM EDT (morning)
Arrival (LHR): April 20, 8:00 PM BST (evening)

Monday, April 26, 2010 – Virgin Atlantic # 17

London Heathrow (LHR) to Newark Liberty Int’l (EWR)
Departure (LHR): April 26, 8:25 PM BST (evening)
Arrival (EWR): April 26, 11:10 PM EDT (evening)

Information

• http://www.thingstodoinnottinghamshire.co.uk
• http://en.godine.co.uk/
• http://www.itsnottingham.info/
• http://www.visitnottingham.com

Tourism centre

1-4 Smithy Row, Nottingham NG1 2BY

Food

• Alley Cafe Bar Longrow West, Nottingham – Tel 0115 9551013 www.alleycafe.co.uk
• Fish Fryer? 108 Trent Boulevard, Nottingham, NG2 5BL – Tel 0115 982 0658?
• Brown Bettys 17b St. James’s Street Nottingham NG1 6FH – Tel 0115 941 34 64

Transport

• Bunneys Bikes 97 Carrington Street Nottingham NG1 7FE Phone: 0115 9472713
• Nottingham Express Transit
• I’ll be renting a car as well

Attractions

Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve

Edwinstowe Mansfield Nottinghamshire, England NG21 9HN General enquiries: tel: 0844 9 80 80 80 (8am – 8pm Mon-Fri; 8am – 12 noon Sat) or tel: 01623 823202 (10am – 5pm Monday to Friday) Park rangers and office tel: 01623 823202

Peak District National Park

Bakewell Visitor Centre Old Market Hall, Bridge Street, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1DS Opening times 1 April until 31 October: 9:30am – 5:30pm Telephone: 01629 816558

City of Caves

Enter and explore a whole new world in the caves underneath Nottingham city and descend
into the dark depths of the original Anglo-Saxon tunnels, meeting real cave-dwellers from its dramatic hidden past. See how these caves have been used and adapted over the Centuries by
local people to escape and take refuge from the world above.
Broadmarsh Shopping Centre Lister Gate Nottingham, Nottinghamshire England NG1 7LL Phone: 0115 9153784

Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard

The Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard is housed within five 17th century cottages where you can learn about the people of Nottingham through the objects made, used or owned and the stories they tell us.

This delightful museum is sited in Brewhouse Yard at the base of Castle Rock, a location that itself reveals much about Nottingham’s social history. The museum depicts the social history of Nottingham over the last 300 years and is housed in five 17th century cottages adjacent to the famous ‘Trip to Jerusalem’ public house. Brewhouse Yard once contained a thriving community of 20 houses, with a population of 127 people at its peak. Today the surviving buildings house the museum and contain a mixture of reconstructed room and shop settings, and gallery displays including ‘Toys’ and ‘Community Showcase’ which highlights work by local groups or individuals.

In the adjacent Rock Cottage is a reconstructed Victorian Schoolroom and a new exhibition ‘Growing up in Nottingham’. Also discover a system of man-made caves built into the rock. Once used by the former residents, they now house museum displays including a reconstructed air raid shelter, and are fully wheelchair accessible.
Castle Boulevard Nottingham NG7 1FB Phone: 0844 4775678 Open Tuesday – Sunday* 10am – 4.30pm

Galleries Of Justice Museum

England’s history of crime and punishment is a shocking one. As are the sinister and grim stories of Nottingham’s own outlaws which are brought to life in the building where they were judged, imprisoned and executed.

To capture and explain this grim and gruesome history, we use actors, audio guides, guide
sheets & boards, lighting, sounds, set dressing and exhibitions. Our aim is to educate and entertain and inform everyone who comes through our doors.

As well as the museum we also run the ‘City of Caves’ attraction in Nottingham’s Broadmarsh Centre.

We are the only museum of its kind in Europe! We preserve the site of Nottinghamshire’s old courthouse and county gaol as well as maintaining a vast collection of spine chilling artifacts relating to crime and punishment over the last three centuries.

We are an independent museum, and a charity as part of The Egalitarian Trust and this means we rely upon admission charges, fundraising and providing corporate hospitality.
High Pavement Nottingham NG1 1HN Phone: 0115 952 0555 Open Every day: 10.30 – 17.00

Lodging (just in case…)

Igloo Hostel
Rates: £14.50 p.p.p.n Directions: 110 Mansfield Road Nottingham NG1 3HL Phone: 0115 947 5250

Maps

• Heathrow to Nottingham
• Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve
• Sherwood Forest Cycling
• Peak District National Park
• Igloo Hostel A
• Igloo Hostel B
  

Travel Document

• Nottingham Short List

Had a lovely time celebrating the Easter holiday with some friends from church. This was a pretty neat program where all of the local churches got together to walk through town and experience the Stations of the Cross. Pictures after the jump.