Nottingham 2...

The hotel we stayed at was booked on line, and first impressions were OK. Ann later said she wondered why we were there, as it was a bit far out. Anyway, the room was OK with a great view of the rear car park and the motorway in the distance. The triple glazed windows are required, because if you open them for fresh air, you also get horrendous noise. They are very efficient.

When we got back from the cemetery, we got a call from Ann to arrange seeing her the next day, and so we eventually went down for dinner. Worst experience we've had so far. They produce this fab menu, and all sounds good, so after we had ordered, they brought Lee the wrong meal altogether, and mine was left over from some other time, maybe lunch or the night before. It was terrible, and only because we were so hungry did we persist.

I have never been one to complain, but I didn't finish and when we left the restaurant, and the lady who served us asked if we enjoyed everything, I said a very curt NO, and told her it was one of the worst meals I've ever had. We got apologies, but they offered no recompense of any kind, and the meal had been charged to our room BEFORE we got back to it!!

(I have since received an email asking for my comments on our stay at their hotel, and they got both barrels!!. I only hope something is done about it, but I won't hold my breath)

Next day we saw Ann and she and her son James were home. He works from her house and it was great to see them again, and we caught up with as much as we could, and then had a nice lunch in the backyard. James' kids Harry and Lucy were coming by after school so we excused ourselves and went and found a laundrette to catch up with the washing. This is a big problem over here and I suppose anywhere, and so much stuff can't be tumbled dry these days, so our rooms end up looking like drying day with traveling clotheslines in bathrooms, and socks and bras hung over the handiest chair back or whatever.

We went back and took Ann out to dinner, as James and his family had things to do. Nice meal at a hotel called the Corn Mill, which Ann said would have been good for us, as they do rooms as well, and it's only 5 minutes from her house!

After the bad feeling about the hotel, and the fact we'd done our things with the cemetery, we decided to move on earlier, and cancel the last night we'd booked. We lost that money, but it was a small price to pay for such a bad experience.

(Forgot to mention we went to the Crematorium and saw the gentleman who did all that research for us about the grave sites, and I think he was pleased that we wanted to thank him personally, so I felt good about that).

We had booked Hull (see Kingston-upon-Hull) for the Friday night but rang and asked if they could do us for the Thursday as well. The people at Premier are VERY helpful and obliging, and although they have their rules, they bent them a little and we were able to get the two nights together, and so set off for The North.

When you are on roads, the direction signs are good, but we always like the big ones that give you the road number you want, and let you know that you are going to The North, or The South.

The drive from Nottingham up to Hull is very pretty, and when you get it all right and know that soon you are approaching the Hull bridge, it comes into view looking like The Golden Gate in San Francisco, and you are quickly on to it. It was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world for a long time.

It is hard to get shots from the car, but it is a fabulous crossing, and once across we had to make some very quick decisions about getting into the correct lane. We did that, but then missed the next turn which would have taken us into the road where the motel is, so we went round and round for a while, and then stopped and phoned them, and eventually got into their carpark.

The hotel is ideally situated, not far off the water, and we got a room overlooking the bridge. Great room, and an even better pub/restaurant attached, one of the best in the chain. So, lovely meal again and some wine, (surprise, surprise!!), and tomorrow we had planned to go up to Beverley, as small town 10 miles away.