Last Friday I seized the opportunity to immerse myself in the Derby traditions, culture myself with UK, and adopt the European values by… going to the 35th annual Derby Beerfestival, of course!!! Deciding whether or not to go was the easy part, picking between the 250 beers and 50 ciders from local microbreweries, now that’s a completely different story. Split into categories from super dark logger to blonde, it was difficult to know where to start. Between my selections and the roommate’s I went with (Stuart, Angy, Anna) I was able to try more varieties of beer and cider in one night than I think I’d tried up til then. No Natty here! Overall a great evening, complete with live band performances and a souvenir pint glass to commemorate my experience.
After getting a late start on Saturday, Nottingham was next on the cities to see. Stuart and I hopped on a train to city center and a taxi to Wollaton Hall/Park. This Victorian mansion has stood the test of time having been built in 1588 and its extensive grounds have been converted to a large park. With natural history exhibits displaying hundreds of stuffed animals and landscaping that would make the Queen proud this manor definitely exuded ye ‘old Britain. While all the history was intriguing Stuart and I knew it held a much more interesting roll in history than the old manor of a wealthy lord. It is more notably known as being Wayne Manor from the final movie in the batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. For a few extra quid (“pounds”/the equivalent of saying bucks for dollars), Stuart and I took a private tour which included special access to the top perspective room, a walk around the balcony, and decent into the creepy cellar and underground well, led by a fascinating volunteer tour guide who we found out collected classic American muscle cars.
We caught the train back to Nottingham where we met up with a friend of Stuarts who attends University of Nottingham and had just completed a study abroad at UVA. The three of us went to Ye Olde Jerusalem, the oldest pub in Nottingham built in 1189, grabbed some Italian (I enjoyed my first pizza since arrival in England), then went to Glee Comedy Club. There were 4 comedians each funnier than the last and all hilarious. This was my first experience with live stand up and I definitely plan on visiting some back in the States, it was a riot!
I had the pleasure of being invited, with my two housemates, to a lunch meeting and reception with the Vice President of Finance for Rolls-Royce North America and about 20 Virginia State Legislatures the following week at work dealing with inspiring youth to pursue engineering as a degree. The 3 of us were specially introduced and I enjoyed a lunch of fresh exotic fruits, hot sandwiches, and decadent deserts as opposed to the standard PB&J, crackers and carrots.
Following the spirit of Wollaton Hall’s part in the Dark Knight Rises, I organized an outing to see the movie at the Derby movie theater (very similar to Tysons back home). A few weeks before I had chanced upon two co-workers who I had worked with last year at Crosspointe while they were on a 6 month rotation in the states as recent university graduates. The two of them plus one of their friends, my two Rolls-Royce roommates, Fumbi (a recent RR hire who I met on orientation), and I grabbed dinner in town and enjoyed the adrenaline pumping 2h45m movie. I had a great time catching up with my past colleagues who I had enjoyed lunch with almost every day last summer.
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