Uncle Jim’s birthday weekend: Retford, Nottingham, Doncaster

Not this weekend but the weekend before, we had a wonderful time celebrating my Uncle Jim’s birthday. Please continue reading for a description of mine, my Auntie Gina, her son Rich and Uncle Jim’s travels to; Ye Olde Bell Hotel & Spa in Retford, a day out in Nottingham and another trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster. Hope you enjoy!

We went for a posh meal on the Friday evening at Ye Olde Bell Hotel & Spa, Retford. As you can see, we dressed up nice for the occasion! The food was delicious, I opted for the lamb which was very succulent. Our original choice for dining out was Spencer’s On The Square, Retford, the venue for Uncle Jim and Auntie Gina’s wedding a few years ago – however due to covid confusions, we changed to the place they have celebrated their subsequent anniversaries. Ye Olde Bell certainly didn’t disappoint on a taste point of view, even if we did have to wait a little longer than expected for our meal to arrive – annoying!

Of all the UK cities I’ve visited over the years, I have never been to Nottingham, so I was super excited to go on the Saturday! We started off at the Victoria Shopping centre. I was quite smitten with a quirky fancy / alternative dress emporium lol. We moseyed leisurely around the shops, enjoying a latte and cake break half way. Unfortunately Auntie Gina couldn’t find a particular hair accessory salon, to her dismay and Uncle Jim’s best efforts! The weather was slightly changeable in Nottingham city centre; one moment overcast with clouds and the next we knew, rays and beams of sunshine! Nottingham City Hall in Old Market Square proudly displayed a Union Jack flag, which would then be in excited anticipation of the England football teams’ upcoming Euro 2020 games. We decided it would be fun to take some typical tourist photos with street performers and in Seaside themed comical booths, hehe. Furthermore, Uncle Jim was delighted to get a photograph with his lovely wife in front of the Brian Clough OBE statue! We finished off our great day with some more retail therapy, something Auntie Gina relished 🙂

Sunday – yes, another venture to Yorkshire Wildlife Park, haha! We were so disappointed when we arrived because the new Point Lobos enclosure for Californian Sea Lions was closed due to essential maintenance. We were however able to see the new mother polar bear Flocke and her three triplets at Project Polar 2, which was fantastic! I managed to get some pretty decent photographs of the tigers and meerkats which I was chuffed about, although it was a shame Uncle Jim was unable to catch a glimpse of his beloved, timid red pandas lol – likewise the giraffes unfortunately were not visible in their indoor huts. So though it was a sad we were unable to see some of the wildlife, it was still a brilliant day seeing all the other amazing animals. I think we walked for about four and a half hours in total around the park, I was knackered afterwards, haha – it definitely didn’t help I was suffering from a urinary tract infection and on antibiotics at the time. I was slightly relieved when we entered the gift shop at the new Yorkshire Hive at the end of the day. I bought my beautiful mum a red panda and a zebra teddy 🙂

Thank you so much for taking the time to read / view my latest travel blog post!

I just wanted to mention, it is a misfortune that we didn’t win the Euros last night, especially so cruelly on penalties – but I think the England lads did terrific in the tournament, and brought joy to so many people this Summer, in such awful, dark and unprecedented times. Well done, thank you, and bring on the World Cup!

Further reading:

https://www.yeoldebell-hotel.co.uk/retford-restaurant-bistro-bar (Accessed 12th July 2021)

https://www.yorkshirewildlifepark.com/ (Accessed 12th July 2021)

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© 2021 Lauren Parr / https://unicornpostbox.com

London May 2018

At the end of May this year, me and my mum Debbie visited London for three days, to go and see ‘Bat Out of Hell; The Musical’ at the Dominion Theatre. We booked our trip with Superbreak, and we were very satisfied customers. First class train travel to the capital city, with complimentary food and drink; never travelling first class before we really appreciated this luxury!

Our hotel was great as well, the 3* Royal National Hotel, London, conveniently only a few minute walk away from Russell Square tube station. It was massive size wise. Obviously our room wasn’t incredible being only a 3* hotel, but it did the job very nicely indeed; friendly helpful staff, clean, tidy, lovely places to eat – we were happy.

Monday 21st May

Our first stop on the underground was Piccadilly Circus, where we enjoyed a gorgeous banana and caramel milkshake each at ‘Five Guys’ restaurant, we also got some fab photos with the ace street performers surrounding the statue known as the statue of Eros (mum’s favourite thing to do, pics with street performers, hehe)

We walked to Leicester Square next, and Trafalgar Square shortly afterwards and took the opportunity to capture some nice touristy photos; of the famous William Shakespeare statue in Leicester Square, The National Gallery in Trafalgar, Nelson’s column, the four lions, etc

We finished off the day with a nice stroll around the Apple Market in Covent Garden, relaxing for a while, enjoying refreshing pineapple & apple and apple juice smoothies

Tuesday 22nd May

Tuesday we hopped on the tube and headed to my favourite place in London, Camden Town! (My suggestion, not mum’s, lol) We walked leisurely around the market, checking out all the cool alternative style clothing, and quirky bits and bobs. We drank a few dark fruit ciders in a beer garden overlooking the beautiful canal, soaking up the gorgeous sunshine

Later that day, we continued to enjoy the sunshine and people watched in Russell Square garden, only a few minute walk away from our hotel, the Royal National. The water feature in the middle of the park is particularly pretty I thought

Somewhere I was really excited to visit was The British Museum. Unfortunately we arrived later on in the day, when it was close to closing, so we did not experience all exhibitions and galleries on offer – such as regrettably not seeing any Ancient Greece and Rome exhibitions – however we still saw some amazing Asia, Ancient Egypt and Africa artefacts and art, and learnt a little about the history and the traditions of these cultures

Tuesday evening we journeyed on the underground to Tottenham Court Road tube station, to go see ‘Bat Out of Hell; The Musical’ at the Dominion Theatre! I have seen a fair few West End shows, including ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Lion King’ twice, ‘Othello’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Blood Brothers’ three times, as well as ‘’Mary Poppins’ in Manchester, ‘Mamma Mia!’ in Newcastle, and very recently ‘Wicked!’ in Liverpool, and so on… Bat Out of Hell is one of the best, up there in the top three, absolutely amazing! I have grown up listening to Meatloaf’s music, my mum has always loved him. It was such a magical moment glancing at her during the performance, seeing her beaming with happiness, miming along to all the songs. We had excellent seats in the stalls, only seven rows back, with such a spectacular view of all the action. The musical showcases the epic rock n’ roll love story between Strat and Raven, set in the post-apocalyptic city, Obsidian. It very loosely depicts the romance of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Wendy; Strat and his rebellious friends ‘The Lost’ cannot grow up you see. The tyrannical leader of Obsidian, his daughter Raven is Strat’s love interest! – so an interesting narrative soon unfolds. The entire production was just astonishing, I could not fault it. There was a motorcycle revving up (with no place to go) on stage, bats (out of hell) flying out into the audience, fireworks (they took the words right out of my mouth), the whole sh’bam! There was a well deserved standing ovation at the end, everybody up singing and dancing, the atmosphere was paradise (by the dashboard light). We even bought two (out of three) t-shirts, hehe. I want to see it again, I need to see it again! – For crying out loud, we absolutely loved it! 😀

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Wednesday 23rd May

On our last day in London, we decided to to travel on the underground to Westminster, to go see the wonderful sights there such as the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. We captured some nice photos of Westminster Bridge and the palace taken from across the River Thames, as well as photographing the London Eye, from Westminster Bridge.

After spending a couple of hours sightseeing here, we were knackered, so we paid to be cycled to Buckingham Palace in a fab little pedicab!   

We laid back and relaxed for a while on the grass area adjacent to the palace before taking some pretty photos of the palace itself and the Victoria Memorial monument; we finished off our day with a pleasant stroll through gorgeous Green Park.

… And that was our rock n’ roll and brew trip to London! Some amazing memories to look back on with mum and cherish always 😀

We would do anything to see ‘Bat Out of Hell; The Musical’ once more in the future, maybe rock and roll dreams will come true!

Thank you for reading / viewing!

Much love, Lauren x    

 

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© 2018 Lauren Parr / http://www.unicornpostbox.wordpress.com