Day 4
Today is the highlight of our trip and the main reason why we planned this vacation :) We are finally back in Nottingham after graduating for 8 years (9 years for hubby) ! Nottingham may not be a popular town to visit for those coming from holiday overseas (except probably for the Robin Hood Pageant which is held each year in October) but it does hold significant meaning to hubby and me and probably those who had studied here before.
As we had slept pretty early yesterday, we woke up at 6 plus and by 7am, we are ready to explore!
We walked to Beeston as it is quite near to Willoughby Hall where we stayed. On our way to Beeston, we passed by Broadgate Park where I stayed during my final 2 years in Nottingham. Nothing much has changed from the outside which brings back familiar memories.
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| Outside of Willougby Hall |
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| Broadgate Park entrance which I exit every weekend to go to Beeston |
This is where hubby used to stay... the most right window on second floor....
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| Hubby and his brother's accommodation flat |
Unfortunately we couldn't go in to have a closer look at the gate is closed during weekend and require access card.
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| Gate to access the flat hubby used to stay.. |
As it is still early, most of the shops are still closed though we could see some grocers started to set up their stalls. This is one of our favourite grocers stall which only opens on Saturday. We patronise them almost every week to stock up our weekly supply of vegetables and fruits. They do go at a really cheap price which is great for us as students.
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| Grocers on Saturday next to the butcher |
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| Chinese grocers we used to patronise |
It was really windy that day and temperature only about (3-5 degree celsius), so we seek shelter at Greggs which opens early and got ourselves a set deal (a pastry and a cappuccino for 2 pounds). We ordered a chicken bake and it tasted as good as before, especially in the cold weather. Love it as it was served piping hot!
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| Greggs Promotion |
Another place with pretty good deals which opens daily.. got ourselves a box of strawberries :) They are really sweet!
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| Strawberries on sale! |
We continued to walk until the end of Beeston where we usually go in the last (the Argos area). One of the cheap chocolate stores that we like is now closed down already...
We are really not too used to the cold weather as we just got to UK few days ago from Singapore so after strolling for an hour or so, we decided to walk back to Willoughby Hall where we stayed to take our car keys plus a quick toilet break...
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| Back to room to get car keys and a quick toilet break |
Pick up our car key and we are on our way to continue exploring :)
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| Our drive in UK |
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| Our drive in UK |
Now it is nice and warm in the car with the heater... Our next stop is Rutland Hall where I stayed during the first year of my university life. I could still remember the first day we arrived and it was already dark... picking up our keys and lugging our luggage up to second storey where we stayed as there is no escalator. I was lucky to get the same hall as one of my college mates so we do help out and look after one another during our first few months in a foreign country.
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| Entrance to the block that I used to stay. Block K. |
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| Main Hall Block which houses other Blocks and Dining Room |
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| Our mini square in the main block. Below the pointed area is our hall mini library. |
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| At Rutland Hall |
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| Entrance to dining hall |
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| Dining tables in our dining room seems to have changed. Used to be long and more ancient looking. |
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| Block F, where one of my other good friend stay... Got to know her during our stay in Rutland and manage to stay in touch even until now. |
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| Our locked keypad to enter the respective blocks which changes code every now and then. |
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| Downs... the road we used to walk to our classes each day |
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| Outer side of our Rutland Hall |
Next stop is to Trent Building and Portland Building.
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| Trent Building |
We parked at Trent Building and went to Portland Building. Pass by notice board and saw this "type" of study which we used to participate in the past. It is some psychological test which we gets to earn some cash or some chocolates. We used to love going for this for extra cash and to help up with the study...
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| Psychology study! |
Hubby miss his grilled chicken drumstick leg at Portland Canteen but it is closed today as it is Saturday so won't be able to eat it... We will be leaving Nottingham on Monday so no chance to taste it... One of our little regrets... but this does give us a reason to come back, isn't it? :)
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| Portland Cuisine |
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| Entrance to NatWest, the first time i opened bank account on my own... |
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| Interior of the bank |
Most of the shops in Portland Building is not opened as it is weekend. The student union shop however is opened, thus we went and get ourselves some T-shirts as souvenir :)
We were famished as it was already 11am and we only shared a chicken pie and a drink earlier, so we went back to Willoughby Hall for our complimentary brunch.
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| Students started to flood in already once brunch is served |
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| Brunch Menu which is rather extensive |
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| This is where brunch is served |
We get to choose from selection of fruits, yogurts, some cooked food and toast...
This is what i had....
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| tadaa... our brunch cum lunch :) |
We were quite full after our brunch, thus we skip our lunch :) save money on one meal.. hehe!
After brunch, we went back to our room for another toilet break then it is time to explore Nottingham City Centre! On our way there, we passed by the slope that we used to walk from Raleigh Park to city centre...It is about 20-30 minutes walk and we walk to city centre almost every week for our groceries to save on bus fare... Those were the days...
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| City Centre |
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| The quaint building which houses Hard Rock Cafe has changed to another restaurant now |
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| Old Market Square |
Broadmarsh Shopping Mall now has this new Chargebox for Free.... for those who needed to charge their phone halfway while shopping!
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| Free Charge Box |
Bus station where we took National Express Bus to London, to Heathrow Airport and to various town nearby to explore. We used to buy our tickets in advance especially when we get the 1 pound deal... really good deal to go London for just 1 pounds from Nottingham (about 3-4 hours bus journey)
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| Broadmarsh Bus Station... |
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| National Express! |
Almost done with city centre so next up is our favourite groceries shop at Aldi... they do sell really cheap and quality biscuits and chocolate and some other yummy food. Though the location is pretty far from where we stayed (30-45 mins walk probably), we do make the effort to walk there every few months to stock up our supply...
After which, we visited Jubilee Campus which held much memories for hubby as he used to work in the kitchen here. It is still the same setting as before according to hubby...
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| Kitchen where hubby used to work |
The pretty library at Jubilee! You don't need stairs to reach the top as you could walk round and round until the top of the building :)
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| Jubilee Library |
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| Close up of the library! |
Spend a while exploring Jubilee as I could see hubby has lots of memories of this place.. I was really freezing so I just find somewhere to hide....
Next stop is lakeside... which is one of the landmark of University of Nottingham. Really pretty and comes with lots of swan too!
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| Lake side |
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| Famous lake with pretty swans |
Next is Pharmacy Building where I studied for 4 years... Still could remember the prescription test that we had, the practical classes making tablets, creams at the lab etc...
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| Hubby waiting while I go down and snap photos of Pharmacy Building where I studied for 4 years! |
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| Yay! School of Pharmacy Building... |
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| Interior had definitely changed.... |
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| View standing from front door of Pharmacy Building overlooking the area around the lake |
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| Little walkway to access to Coates Building or Queens Medical Centre where we have some of our classes as well |
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| Coates Building |
We went back to Beeston as the last stop of our day...
Iceland is open so went in and see see look look.. Warburton bread... used to wait for it to become reduced to clear... can be reduced until 20 pence... kept it inside freezer and slowly eat....
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| Warburtons Bread |
Had some Thorntons ice cream too.. even nicer to eat in this weather.. hehe!
Lastly, dinner time at Lucky Restaurant. We had two person set meal... Food was ok, we are mainly eating for memories which is great!
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| Dinner time |
Back to room and rest to refuel for tomorrow!
Tomorrow, we will be attending Sunday Service at Cornerstone Church where we used to worship while studying in Nottingham. I was baptised there as well!
We then will be travelling down to London and I can't wait for dinner tomorrow at Burger and Lobster, the much raved 20 pounds lobster!
Read about our day 5
here.
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