Welcome to Nottingham!
Should be renamed "Not much going on-ingham". This place is pretty dead but that doesn't mean it isn't cool. Last nights show was nothing to write home about, seems the English are all on holiday? Either that or it's all a bunch of bullshit, but we all managed to have a good time. Elvis and I cut out early and took a stroll that ended us back to the room. She fell asleep and I watched an Amy Winehouse tribute, it was pretty sad stuff. Did I mention we were in London when they had her funeral? We might have seen the procession. Probably not, but it could have been.
Nottingham is pretty small from what I can tell, we walked around the entire day, with original intent to see the Nottingham castle. Our plans were foiled when the sign read "Closed Mondays", how do castles close? Who knew they took the Mexican holiday of Mondays off? It sucked but we got over it. We took some pictures of what we could see and moved on. Quattro rode his skateboard all over the town, nearly killing himself at every turn, board flying in the street a few times- I told him if he chased it in the street, even once, I would throw it off a bridge and we are in England, there are bridges everywhere. He did manage to stay out of the streets BUT what I didn't tell him was that he would be equally punished if he did something stupid like fall 6 ft out of a tree.... so you know what he did? fell 6 ft out of a tree. Scared the shit out of all of us (and the 5 people that ran over to him). I was taking pictures of the caves on the side of the castle wall about 50 yards away. I heard a crack and a scream and then he just laid there, I felt that panic that you never feel as a parent until something bad happens. Apparently he grabbed the weakest branch on his way up and the fucker snapped. He is/was okay but I am pretty sure someone is going to need some BenGay tomorrow. He landed straight on his ass/back- it was not good but we must carry on.
Anyway, we had a snack and a pint at "Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem". Fried pickles, duck spring rolls and chorizo chips (seriously fantastic!) I guess it is the oldest pub- ever! We sat outside with some other families and it was quite nice. Elvis was picking all the duck out of the rolls and devouring it, which is good because the girl eats like a bird. Not really picky, just doesn't eat very much. Quattro wasn't eating much because he was high as a kite on his very first (ever!) 7 UP. His face reminded me of that old saying... something about the cat and the canary? You know what I mean, he looked like he was getting away with something grand and in a way he was. I told him a long time ago "no sodas until you have all your adult teeth" I don't know why I say these things or how I make them up ("No gum until your 4" was another good one) but I do. I try to do the right thing all the while figuring out what that means.
There's a picture of me in a nappy (we are now using this term as it is better than my 6th most hated word, "diaper") with a Pepsi, I'm quite sure I was potty trained at 2, I'm no genius but this tells me I was sucking down the brown crack before I had control of my bladder. No judgement, just different strokes for different folks and you know, it's a very different time
So after Quattro enjoyed his first mild addiction and Eddie and I ignored each other (I'm kidding) and all the nibbles were gone, OH and the failed suicide attempt, we wanted to check out the waterfront... I am not sure if we just got lost, couldn't read a map or if the "waterfront" they are advertising was in fact the brown, stinky liquid that ran under a walking bridge. There was a massive collection of garbage in a corner, so we were all pretty thrilled about that. We were about to pick out another destination off the trusty city map but we looked down and noticed our little chicken was fast asleep. Anyone with toddlers will agree that this was a clear time to go shopping because when she is awake, someone gets the shaft (Eddie) and has to go entertain her otherwise, shit's getting broken. She may look like a dainty little flower, but this "she-she" can bring the house down and snap the china.
After we made our purchases at Topshop, I tried on about 35 pairs of shoes and walked away with none, bought a camera cord the lady SWORE would work (and doesn't!), we found our way to the town square where there is a mini carnival. Not exactly what you'd think you'd see but there it was, rides and everything. But the strangest part was this mock beach they had brought in. There were beach chairs and kids in swimming suits... no beach but there were beach balls. It was weird. I liked it. Quattro played some crappy games and won some crappy stuff. He picked out this giant sucker looking thing to find out it wasn't a sucker, it was a plastic one that housed 8 little ones, he felt robbed. I liked it. Not because I didn't want him to have a giant sucker, more because I like the little lessons he learns. What you see is not always what you get.
Elvis woke up from her nap happy and said she was hot. She was right, it was wicked hot and humid, so that's always pleasant. It would have been nice to think we can go back to the hotel and cool off but the hotels in England don't all do the air conditioning or even the forced air- this joint does the table fan.... super classy. It's nice to enjoy the same hotel two nights in a row, it's a pure luxury, even if this isn't the Chateau Marmont but some A/C would rule, hey at least they have wifi. Most of the budget hotels here are 3 stars which is not what you would get in the states. Most budget hotels in the states could very well house a dead body under your mattress. This is a nice place and the location is rad, so that gives it another star in my book. I could definitely be a professional hotel reviewer. We will have stayed at 37 hotels in 38 days on this trip. So far they have been decent with the exception of the one I booked on our first night- 0 stars.
On our way back from the weird carnival/ MTV beach party someone yelled "Hey Quattro!!" which wouldn't be a big deal if we weren't on the other side of the world- so that was pretty cool. A fan from last nights show I'm sure. Q is still getting up onstage and rockin' out. He even messed up the end of the song and in true rock guy form he said "I hate that part" and then finished the song. Good moment for everyone.
Now we are back in our hotel room where it is still hot, boo. We all just laid low for a bit then went down for dinner. It was pretty good and other than the waiter being a real slack ass (one of those who don't write you order down, you just know it is coming back with mistakes) we had a great time. Even got to start making jokes about Quattro's fall from grace. Now it's bedtime which is a very spuratic event around here. At home we have some sort of routine. even if it's flexible- we just haven't gotten there yet. We will.