Traveller's Tales...

Nottingham

Today I have just come back from Nottingham, where I went with my friend Charlotte to visit her brother, who is at university there. Having heard great things about the nights out there, I jumped at the chance to go and try it for myself. We caught the train there yesterday just before 1pm, and had to run to the station after a delayed met meant we had eight minutes to get there once we arrived in Manchester city centre!

We got to Nottingham at half past two, and after a quick trip to Tesco for supplies, we caught a bus to Alex's accommodation. It took us a good half an hour, before we realised that we had got on the wrong bus, and so had to wait until it got all the way back into the city again before getting another one! Finally we met Alex at half past four, and went to his room to meet some of his friends. We chatted for a while and played some card games before the majority left for dinner (they are in catered halls) while we ordered some pizzas. The pizza delivery guy was about an hour late, but we had just been watching some TV and catching up, so it didn't make much difference.

After we had eaten we started getting ready for our night out, before playing some drinking games and then heading upstairs to where everyone else was. There were so many people just in their one house, it was such a different experience to my own university life! We headed out at eleven, and went to Rock City, where a club night called Crisis was on. I have never been in a club so big, it looked like when you see pictures of places in Ibiza! They had lots of floors each playing different types of music, and drinks were fairly cheap, so it was a good night. We didn't leave really late, but by the time we had got home and into bed it was gone 3am, and Charlotte and I were knackered after our long day so soon crashed out.

The following day we got up surprisingly early, and once we had packed up, we said our goodbyes and went back into the city to catch our train. We stopped at McDonald's en route to satisfy our slightly hungover cravings, and I slept for the majority of the journey home. It was a really good trip, meeting new people and seeing some new places, and I would definitely go back to Notts for another night out!

Weekly Update!

Sales, NYE and a Long Drive! (delayed from yesterday)

This week was relatively quiet after the bustle of the Christmas period, but I still ended up being away from home for the majority of it. Apart from the couple of shifts I worked, I was the definition of a social butterfly! On Wednesday I went to Crewe to stay with my boyfriend, and had my first opportunity for a bit of sales shopping. Compared to previous years, I was slightly disappointed, as the reductions were minimal, and it only seemed to be off a very small selection of stuff. I did manage to get some really nice khaki/ brown knee high boots with a slight heel and buckles on the back from Dorothy Perkins, which were a steal at £30.

On Thursday I drove back home and did the evening shift at work, followed by the early morning one on Friday, which always kills me (I have to be up at 6.20am). However, they were the only times I worked all week, so I was then free to enjoy New Year's Eve. My friend Emily decided to host a party at her student house in Nottingham, so a convoy of cars drove there on Friday afternoon. It was a really good night, as there were lots of different people there, a large number of whom I didn't know, so there was plenty of opportunity to get to know some new faces. On New Year's Day (the passengers very much worse for wear) we drove back to Manchester, and I had the chance for a couple of hours extra sleep at home before I drove to Crewe for a second time.

The following day was my flatmate from last year's 21st birthday party, so a group of us planned to travel to Letchworth in Hertfordshire where he lives to go.

As I'd driven to Crewe the night

before, the monster journey (I was going via Banbury to pick some friends up) was slightly shorter, and after about four and a half hours on the road we arrived at his house. It was a brilliant day, my friend Laura was back in England from Paris so it was great to see her again; and there was gorgeous food and a free bar- which we made full use of!