on the road again

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I am in the car now listening to Damien Rice and making my heading towards The Linear Hotel in Liverpool for the night, I left Brighton on Monday and made my way to Nottingham which is about a 2.5 hour drive. I stayed at the Days Inn which, for the price, was very reasonable. I was very happy with the hotel. I got into Nottingham about 4pm and the Galleries of Justice was closing at 5pm so not to feel rushed I decided to relax, went down to the bar on the first floor to have a Budweiser, was nice to taste something familiar. I had a chicken burger and chips (French fries) for dinner with a nice side salad. Then I had a 25 ml after dinner drink called Cointreau. It tasted very strong and sour- obviously made from lemons and oranges. It was syrupy, but tasty. I went back to my hotel room and relaxed some more. So needless to say my Monday wasn’t highly exciting, I just wanted to get to Nottingham.
I woke up around 8am this morning and hopped in the shower. The water pressure was glorious. I have a few knots in my shoulders that have been a bitch to get loose. I had a beautiful English breakfast- complete with—wait for it- baked beans…isn’t that wiggy?? Baked beans were always a picnic food to me something you would serve with BBQ ribs or hot dogs during the 4th of July. It was a pleasant surprise. Today my main goal is hitting up the Galleries of Justice and getting to Liverpool by tea time, which I am making good time if I do say so myself.
I got to the Galleries of Justice and the receptionist said that there was a class of French children going through a tour and if I waited 30 minutes I would be able to go through without a tour guide to just walk around. I happily accepted that offer and told her that I would be back in 30 minutes. I walked down the street at a “tea room” or what I would like to call a quaint little coffee house called the Hungry Pumpkin (apparently Nottingham is famous for their pumpkins?) I had an unsweetened white coffee and decided to try a brownie (the clerk was just a sweetheart, older man- with a jammed pinky finger that I looked at for him…told him “Just put ice on it and wrap it up, you should be okay” lol) 30 minutes passed by very quickly. Before I knew it I was taking a deep breath at the doors leading to the infamous court room of the Galleries of Justice. Now, for those of you who don’t know what the Galleries of Justice is, let me give you a little insight on this infamous building. The Galleries of Justice was formerly known as Nottingham County Goal, Shire Hall. The most infamous thieves, murders, rapists, and felons went to await trial and execution including the most famous of them hall- Robin Hood. It was built sometime in the 1500s and you can tell that from its archaic and creepy appearance. Everything smelled like dirt and musk to me. Story has it, The Galleries of Justice is haunted by several of the inmates including Robin Hood and the Sherriff of Nottingham. This location has been featured on Ghost Hunters International who received some very good evidence proving it’s haunting. I am a paranormal freak so this was a dream come true. It was one of the main reasons why I came to England in the first place!!
I opened the door which leads to a massive, dusty and dingy courtroom. The floor creaked with every step you took and there were many factors that would lead a person to psych themself out, I had to calculate that into my analysis. This was the biggest room of the entire building. From there you go down a very small stone spiral staircase to a black heavy wooden door with a sign that says “This way for flogging and hanging”. Once you open that door you are walking into the actual series of prisons called “The Bloody Code”. It included The Pits, the Night Cells, and the Hulks which were the prisons where felons awaited being beaten, sat in solitary confinement, or waited to be transported to Australia or the gallows. The cells were literally 5ft by 9ft and the ceilings were low, most prisoners had to stay seated to feel any sense of comfort. The Pits were dungeons with dirt floors that had a small narrow cot. You could even see where they would be chained to the wall and there was what looked like a device to chain them upside down to the wall. It gave me a freaky and heavy feeling so I started recording video. I could definitely feel the history in such a small room. It was slightly overwhelming. There were many more rooms which were all equally as impressive at the two I’ve talked about, but if I continued typing and describing each room this blog would be a lot longer than anyone in their right mind would be willing to read lol. The road to Liverpool hasn’t too terrible, it started raining a little bit, but it looks like it’s clearing up and it’s 15:00 exactly. Should be at The Linear in Liverpool in less than 30 minutes, just in time for my afternoon tea!! Haha. Btw, I looked up because I was asked for the next step of directions and a monument of a penis was off in the distance...only in Liverpool….wow….
I think I’m done…lol

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