Nottingham Part 3

Here's the hotel we stayed at. I can heartily recommend this to anybody going to N'ham --very nice

owners, clean rooms, free Internet and close to the center.
Here's their website: Park Hotel
I'd say Nottingham is excellent pissup material (for you WT people reading this),
amongst other things there's the best Indian restaurant I've been to (and I've been to many), 4550 Miles from Delhi
There's also a really great Turkish restaurant Antalya which is definitely worth visiting.

Not to mention the countless cafes, pubs, bars and clubs.
I'd say one would be very hard pressed to be bored in Nottingham. Or starve.

Can you tell I want to go back already?

Nottingham Part 2

Near the Lace Market area. Not a bad place to live!







So, the housing situation turned out well. Not well enough for us to come home with a definite place, but well enough for us to be comfortable with possibly renting a flat unseen. We visited several apartment buildings, and also found formidable possibilities online.

It seems there are a lot of "modern, professional" flats in the center, which basically translates to Scandinavian standards. I'm now very confident that we'll find something which will work for us, and not just as an emergency last-chance option. I will come back to this when I know more.

There are several potential areas, one better than the next. At this point choices (area-wise) are between best Indian restaurant on the planet, a nice, colorful area, an area with countless cafes, bars and pubs, and so on. You get the idea.
Not a bad situation to be in, as all areas are very much desirable.

Nottingham Part 1

A street with lots of cafes in the center. One place has deep, comfy sofas which I can see myself sinking into very often.


So we're back from Nottingham. I have to say it exceeded my expectations by about a million times. The immediate center is large and nice, lots of shopping streets and promenades, and restaurants and cafes beyond belief. The center is also cleaner than any other I have seen in England (to be honest I was expecting something akin to Birmingham), and there are lots of apartment buildings and houses within a minute from the immediate center.

I'm still dazed (but not confused!) by the trip--I have to say I can hardly wait to move.

The city seems very calm and safe; the center area has many potential areas for us to move to, all with different perks (read different restaurants or cafes nearby).

I wouldn't be me if I hadn't had a look at the shops, and I have to say that the shopping situation seems far superior to most cities I've been to. A close second to major European metropolises, I have to say.

I realize that I sound like a gushing a teenager, and also that I have rose-tinted full-strength glasses on, but I don't think that's the case. Perhaps if I'd never lived in England, or hadn't been to other cities (let alone lived in one), I might have a somewhat skewered idea of the city, but I think I am experienced enough to see things for what they are. And what they are works very well for me.

I think we're going to be very, very happy in Nottingham.

Bad Pickychick, Bad.

Last night I realized I'm a spoiled girl.
Why?
Well, I used to get so excited about travelling, that I'd have trouble sleeping for a week before the trip, and I'd also start packing at least a week in advance. I'd be taking stuff out and putting stuff in, pretty much obliterating any point there would've been to packing in advance, but I was just so excited I couldn't wait to go, and of course packing in advance will expediate the departure...

And now?
I left packing until last minute, trying to sort clothes out 30 min before heading out for the England game (and we leave today after I get off work).
Yes, we're going to Nottingham; yes, I get to explore the city we'll be living in for at least four years. Yet I haven't lost any sleep thinking about the trip, I haven't gone around town in a frenzy, buying travel-size bottles, jars and potions.

Apparently I'm taking it for granted.
I am bad.

But I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a list of mitigating factors ready:

1) As we will actually be moving there this isn't the culmination of the Nottingham experience

2) I'm waiting to hear on whether I get to continue working for my present company even though we're moving to England. I've been told there's a meeting about it TODAY. Of course I've been around enough to know that meetings of this nature are easily postponed and even if they're not, stuff rarely gets resolved effectively or quickly. But still.

So. We'll see how this develops.
Also, good news seems to coincide with travel for us. Last time I was going to England I found out about a year-long job the day before. On our way to Riga our house sold. When we were in Paris MrPicky got invited to an interview for the Fellowship he subsequently got. So there is precedence with things like this. Which doesn't make it any easier...

Picky's Countdown Schedule Begins

Holy shit.
Somehow time has crept up on me.
2 weeks until we go to Nottingham.
7 weeks until we go to America.
11 weeks until we start moving to England.

Wow. Now, of course, time could not possibly go fast enough, but I'd rather be on the cusp of moving with everything done and sorted. As things stand now, there's just so much stuff which needs a severe dose of logistics.

I'm so excited about the Nottingham trip. Four days to snoop around and try to figure out where we want to live!
I will be stuffing myself with Indian food and Naan. Oh yes.
It would be so nice to find a flat then, as opposed to perhaps having to fly to England again before the move (before the America trip? After?)… That would certainly simplify things a great deal.

As summer is seriously sucking here, I cannot wait to bask in the warmth of both NY and LV. All of a sudden +50C doesn't sound unpleasant at all. Sun, pool, watermelon? How can I possibly contain myself. Not to mention 5 days in New York… I do think we'll like it there. I am going to have to do some serious shopping (it's illegal for a female of the species to go to NY and NOT shop, right?), and hopefully we'll be able to go to either an SNL or Daily Show taping. Not to mention the museums. And the cafes. And the food. And oh my, we only have 5 days.

Yesh.
I can hardly wait for our trips.

I also can't wait for it to be, say, October, and for us to be all settled in, either.

But it's odd that although I sound complainy, I'm not stressing out, worried, or pulling my hair out. This is definitely something new, as far as mindsets go.