England Experience

The whole reason I planned my recent trip was to visit my sister, that lives in the U.K. The first destination she suggested was Nottingham, England (yes, like from Robin Hood). It was pretty comparable to a medium-sized in the U.S. (several hundred thousand pop.) The thing I really liked about Nottingham was the small-city feel it had, but with many of the amenities that big cities have to offer. The picture above was a cathedral turned 3 story bar & restaurant, and it looked even cooler in person. This was my first meal in England, and I wanted to try a traditional English dish, so I ordered sausages and mash (mashed potatoes). This turned out to be my best meal the whole trip because of the intense flavor (most food in U.K. was quite bland). The bartender actually filled my drink to the top and went out of his way to not make me feel alienated for being foreign. He warned me about the rudeness of many people from London, but I did not want to believe any rumors until I experienced London. Well... that bartender was right, I was made to feel inferior by almost every person from London I had a conversation with. This is not a generalization I am confirming, but in my experience, I did not feel welcome.