Surrey - Day 1

We are a bit late with this posting.  The hotel only has WiFi in the bar and restaurant area, so we are posting during breakfast.

We awoke to a very nice morning in Nottingham. We first went to the Nottingham castle - which is a very different castle from the others that we have seen.  Naturally, lots of things focus on Robin Hood and his connections to the area:

The castle proper is more like a house within fortified walls:

Isaac found a horse to ride ("I'm on a horse!!"):

And Leslie found a place to keep Isaac and Rob "right where they should be":

From there, we went to the Nottingham City of Caves.  Nottingham has a long history of people using caves for living locations as well as workshops and storage areas:

During the 1960's the city was erecting a new shopping center and it was thought that they would tear down an old tenement that was on site and using the bricks to fill in the caves.  During a preliminary survey, they found the remnants of a series of caves used as a tannery and that was the only medieval tannery known in England.  As a result, they brought in archaeologists to preserve the sites:

From there, we went on to Sherwood Forest.  This week there is a large celebration going on at the forest and there were many, many people there.  It was a carnival atmosphere starting with Friar Tuck along with two likely lads:

Rob and Leslie as Robin and Maid Marian:

And Leslie with a medieval ratter:

Some new headgear was involved (naturally):

And the canonical Robin Hood figure in the greenwood:

Off to meet Stephanie and other cousins as we go through our last day in the UK.  More later.

Cheers!