Two Days and One Night in Nottingham

The best thing about this place was its location. We alit our Megabus coach in front of Broadmarsh Bus Station, and Comfort Hotel, at the corner of George Street and Upper Parliament Street, was a doable 15-minute walk away (my husband and I were each carrying a moderately sized backpack and another bag). From Comfort Hotel, the best part of the city centre--the pedestrian-only zone around Market Square and Broadmarsh Shopping Centre--was less than 5 minutes away. The stretch of Upper Parliament Street has various restaurants and bars for the hungry traveler.

The not-so-great things about this hotel included the noise from the street: construction was ongoing during the day, and some drunken young revelers were laughing loudly outside one of the bars at night. The building itself was quite old and showed its age and lack, somewhat, of care: the restaurant bathrooms on the first floor (or second floor, for Americans) had graffiti on the wall, the stairs creaked quite a lot, and when we were there, the lift was broken and we had to walk four flights of stairs up to our room on the fourth floor.

Nonetheless, we were quite pleased with our hotel for a number of reasons. First, by booking through the Comfort Hotels website (www.choicehotels.com), we were able to get the room at a very big discount: GBP 21 for an en suite double room, less than half of its usual tariff. Second, the location made the hotel a great base for exploring the beautiful Nottingham City Centre. Third, the room was relatively clean and had all the basic amenities necessary for a short stay (coffee [instant] and tea-making facilities, coloured television, and a comfortable bed). Finally, the bathtub was quite a treat in a country where a lot of accommodations only have showers.

I probably wouldn't recommend this hotel highly at its regular tariff, but at GBP 21 for an en-suite double room, it was a highly recommended steal.

We caught the last tour of the Galleries of Justice, the old Nottingham courthouse and prison that had been converted into a museum. The tour was a lot of fun - our guides were actors who played the parts of a lawyer and a jailer. One of the members of our group was "put on trial" in the old courtroom, another played a witness, another played a judge. After that, we descended into the prison cells and we were all convicts for an afternoon. There were Madame Tussaud-like wax figures in the different part of the prison to show what life was like there.   

Apart from displaying the historical interest of the building, the exhibits were a thought-provoking lesson on the evolution of the justice system in Britain. We were surprised to find out how extremely appalling conditions once were for British prisoners, how there had been for many decades an utter lack of regard for the well-being of inmates, and how harsh the practices of the "justice" system had once been. The segment regarding the old British practice of "transportation" confirmed something I had learned on a trip to Australia: that many of the convicts who were banished all the way to Australia and other prison colonies were often no more than petty thieves - some who had simply been caught stealing a bit of food because of sheer hunger.

The exhibit also showed, however, how the British government had learned from their mistakes of the past, how British prisons became more and more humane over the decades, and how the evolution of the British prison system was one of the hallmarks of the worlds' development in appreciating the notion of human rights. "What's interesting about the British," my husband said, "is that in so many things, they were the first to make mistakes, so they wrote the book on how to do things better."

The Crime & Punishment Tour of the Galleries of Justice is open everyday, except Monday, from 10am to 4pm (last admission) during peak season (8 April to 10 September). In the off-peak season (11 September to 7 April), it is open from Tuesday to Friday 10am - 3pm (last admission), and weekends from 11am - 4pm (last admission). Adult tickets are GBP 8. The tours are about an hour and a half.

My husband and I are the types who always need to stay connected. Finding free Internet connection at the Nottingham Central Public Library was certainly a treat. Non-members of the library are allowed 30 minutes of Internet use a day. Simply approach the enquiry desk and ask and they will give you a log-in name and password. Computer terminals are full in the afternoon, and one would have to wait awhile before a terminal frees up, so the best time to check email is in the morning. The central library is along Angel Row in the city centre of Nottingham. Telephone number (0115) 915 2828; opening hours are 9am to 7pm weekdays, 9am to 1pm Saturday.

One of our main reasons for coming to Nottingham was to visit Nottingham University, one of the British universities I hope to apply to for a postgraduate degree. We left our hotel early in the morning to catch the bus to Nottingham University. Right beside the bus stop we found the Nottingham public library that had--hooray!--free Internet access (see review elsewhere)! After checking the bus schedule at the bus stop, we rushed in the library for a quick check-e-mail session, and made it back out just in time to catch our bus.

We arrived a little early for our appointment with the International Office staff member, so we wandered around the buildings a little. I was struck by how so much of Britain was very wheelchair-friendly. At the university, for example, all the buildings had wheelchair access.

The International Office staff member who met with us was very friendly and helped us learn a lot more about Nottingham. She gave us a kit for a self-guided tour of the campus, so off we went.

The campus was simply stunning! Even though the university campus was relatively new (built in the 1920s), great pains had been taken to build beautiful, tasteful buildings that gave the university a lot of character. The person who had developed the campus had been inspired by the sprawling university campuses of the United States, and had made sure that Nottingham University would be a very beautiful one. A "garden of contemplation" had been designed for faculty and students who wanted to get away from the busy-ness of the campus. Sprawling meadows over rolling hills were kept as a place for students to think and be creative. Students walking from one building to another walked through beautiful green fields, wide open spaces, and tree-lined paths. A small lake at the bottom of a hill provided a quiet spot for students and campus visitors.

After our campus tour, we met with two faculty members who very friendly and gave me very helpful tips about the department as well as about my field of research.

After lunch at the student centre (a very scrumptious rice meal at relatively cheap prices), we wandered around the campus a bit more and enjoyed a cup of coffee at the café overlooking the university's lake. Then we headed back into the city centre where we spent a few hours in the city bookstore, hankering for every other book that we saw.

After that we headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags, and headed to the Nottingham coach station where we caught our coach to Coventry. We arrived in Coventry near dusk, got a little lost before finding our bed-and-breakfast, and then finally had a very restful sleep.