Today was the day for the Great Pilgrimage—to The Foundry in Nottingham, of course.

After the usual hearty English breakfast, it was time for the Midland Mainline high-speed train to Nottingham. The English countryside was really lovely and green as one would imagine.

Nottingham was really pleasant. We spent some time shopping and walking through the old town. Funnily enough, we didn’t actually see or go to any “Robin Hood” attractions. There wasn’t a lot that I took pictures of, but here’s a lovely view walking from the train into town.

Originally planning to purchase an all-day bus pass and ride the city circular route, before long we found ourselves at The Foundry. Mecca! It was pretty fun running around throwing pack after pack of their lovely figures in my little shopping basket until it was overflowing. The biggest surprise: they had a whole bunch of the now out-of-production Napoleonic Bavarians! Needless to say, I ended up spending FAR too much (£400.00 vs. the £250.00 I’d planned to allow myself). But hey—it’s still cheaper than buying from home AND they gave me a V.A.T.-back receipt so I’ll get even more back at the airport.

How fun would it be to game HERE every week?

A HST ride back to London was followed by a bit of relaxation and battery recharge for the cameras. It was then club night, and we went to dinner first at one of the famous Wagamama noodle places—it was really good. It’s always shocking to me to see how many people (including us) go out to eat at 10:30 PM! It was then time to make a visit to that famous palace of nightlife, Heaven. It was a lot smaller than I remembered, and Eusebio was fairly nonplussed. I thought it was kinda fun—mostly the people watching—and I even got propositioned. However, we ended up leaving around 12:00 and making it back before the Underground shut down for the night.

Tomorrow: the big London Bus tour…