Knights, cathedrals and Robin Hood

Hi there!

Things are still fine in Leicester... Molly's cooking is great, everybody is healthy (sort of) and the weather is British.

On Tuesday, we went to Warwick Castle. When we got there, I kind of got the feeling that I was in a theme park. The car park was enormous and it was a pretty long walk to the castle. We had to pay £15 to get in (= student rate!). We immediately saw that there was a lot of animation around the castle: there were knights and princesses, children could learn how to use a sword, there was a falconer, you could buy some medieval food and you could see a medieval trebuchet in action! The castle itself was not that big (compared to other castles I've visited), but it was beautifully decorated. It's owned by the Madame Tussaud's Group. So they inserted a lot of wax figures. It was really nice. We ended up spending the whole day there. We were all pretty tired when we got home. Luckily, Molly had prepared a wonderful spaghetti sauce. She and Dave didn't stay with us for diner: they went to visit some friends.

Wednesday was a bit more laid-back. We had some brunch (it was too late for breakfast) and we went to Leicester. Ann and Natalia stayed at home to work on their end work. This time, we didn't go shopping: we actually explored 'cultural' Leicester. We visited the Cathedral (which was really just a big church) and the Guild House. Then, we took a long walk. We accidentally stopped in some shoe shops along the way. Then, we visited the Archeological Museum. This was very small, but very interesting. We went home, feeling a bit cold (it had been raining all day). Molly made a lovely fishcake for tea. For desert: apple pie or apple crumble. It really was a devastating choice! I eventually went for apple crumble (+ custard!).

Thursday was 'workday'. We all stayed home and worked for school. Molly and Dave took their grandson (little Dan) to see their son (Big Dan), who lives in Newcastle. We decided to benefit from the silence in the house (little Dan can be a bit noisy sometimes). But Molly would never leave us without food! So she made us a rice dish, which we just had to pop in the oven for half an hour. You know what they say about all work and no play... so after diner, we all went to the pub. I finally had a bitter (yes, a real bitter, not an I-can't-believe-it's-not-bitter!). Boddingtons Baby!

Then on Friday, we went to Robin Hood country: Nottingham. Our first stop: Starbucks! Then, on to Nottingham castle. Of course, this wasn't as big as Warwick Castle, but still... It was worth a visit. The surrounding gardens were stunning. There was also a museum, where you could learn about the history of Nottingham. After we had our lunch in the Castle Café, we took a walk through Nottingham. At first, we wanted to visit the Caves of Nottingham. But that turned out to be less interesting than we thought. So we visited something called 'Crime and Punishment' at the Galleries of Justice Museum. It was a lot of fun! We were treated as real criminals. Evi, Timmy, Natalia and Ann even got tried by the sheriff of Nottingham! It was a very fun and interactive experience. When we got home that night, it was our turn to cook for Molly and Dave. Evi made a wonderful pasta dish (tagliatelle, smoked salmon, cream, garlic and chives) and I made my bread pudding for desert. After diner, we saw 'Pirates of the Caribbean 2'. Well, the others saw 'Pirates'... I saw Captain Jack Sparrow and fell asleep.

Today is also going to be a quiet day. This weekend is completely dedicated to 'SCHOOL'. Still, if we work hard enough today, we might pop over to 'Borders' later this afternoon. As I said, all work and no play...

Anyway, I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous about teaching on Monday...

And P.S.: I passed! :-)