Apr192012

Gail Carriger Swans Around Nottingham

I was at school at Nottingham Uni over a decade ago. I lived in the international dorm on the MBA campus for a little under two years working on my MSc (an MS for us USA folk) in Archaeological Materials.

Returning gave me an inexplicable feeling of warmth. I’d missed the old city. This was compounded by the fact that I still have some very dear friends still living in the area.


The steampunk event at Waterstones was a blast. It was quite well attended. The steampunkers were out in force, Pimms and cake flowed freely, and I was generally out-dressed.

After the event, we went out for food to a lovely vegetarian restaurant called Aubergine. I consumed a little too much wine and far too much cheese on a bed of lovely fresh vegetables. These last were a welcome addition to my heretofore British Breakfast meets European yoghurt meets Walker’s crisps diet.

View out the window of my hotel, very gothic.

The next mourning we tool a walk in Wollaton Park for a peek and the old Hall.

Turns out this is to be the next Wayne Manner in the new Batman movie. Unexpected notoriety for this corner of the Midlands. Inside were some beautifully decorated Victorian rooms, my favorite being the writing desk in the corner (of course) and the chaise lounge. A chaise lounge plays a small but vital and quite active role in the second Finishing School book.

Then we visited my old pub, the Hand & Heart. When I worked there is was quite the dive bar but it has been done over. It’s a great pub, one of the oldest in England as 3/4 of it is actually inside one of the famous Nottingham Caves. These Limestone caves honeycomb all under the city and have been used for hundreds of years for everything from tanning yards to pubs. It’s always been very odd to me that none of the Robin Hood mythology or rewrites have ever used these caves.

We did a little vintage shopping, I feel in love with a blue pleated knit skirt but I have no room in my suitcase for anything.

Another veg restaurant for lunch and much discussion over the self proclaimed burrito (which bore almost no resemblance what-so-ever to a burrito). I stuck with halloumi sandwich = lovely. It’s very hard to get halloumi back home so I try to eat it as much as I can whenever I can.

Cocktails and dinner at my other friends and an early Saturday night. My goodness the young people are quite mad in this part of the world, and the skirts were very very short. I’m getting old.

The next morning it was back to London. I thought to sneak in a few days with family, but it turned into quite a bit of business as well. London Book Fair was in town. And now I am in Sweden having a wonderful time. More on that later.

As I said, time and internet are both still chancy. I promise to blog whenever I can.

GAIL’S DAILY DOSE

Your Moment of Parasol . . .

Quote of the Day:

“Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn’t try it on.”

~ Billy Connolly

I have a book set in Nottingham!

BOOK DE JOUR!

Defy or Defend: A Delightfully Deadly Book

 

Defy or Defend Office Pastry Plate Silver Green HEader

PICK YOUR VENDOR!

Direct from Gail

A vampire hive descending into madness. A beautiful spy with a sparkly plan. The bodyguard who must keep them from killing each other. 

New York Times bestselling author Gail Carriger brings you a charming story of love, espionage, and Gothic makeovers set in her popular Parasolverse.

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