If you follow me on twitter or instagram, you’ll know that last weekend I won girlfriend of the year award, and whisked Jamie away on a surprise weekend to Nottingham for a little late Valentines treat. Not being from a city myself, and currently living in Norwich, which although is a city, is more like a big town, I’ve never really visited many. Of course, I’ve gone to London lots of times, and went to Brighton with my mum once or twice. Nottingham is a place I have visited a few times though, and is very close to my heart for some reason. My oldest brother George studied and worked in Nottingham for near enough 5 years, which has meant I’ve had lots of trips there.
I’ve always found Nottingham to be such a beautiful city and fell in love with it the first time I visited, and fallen in love even more every time since! And so I’ve always wanted to share this love with the city with Jamie, who has never really visited many cities either. With the occasion of valentines, and a cheap air bnb, the trip was booked!
Jamie came down to Norwich on Thursday to do a little fitness and nutrition presentation, and while he moaned about having to get up at 5am to make it to work the next morning, I surprised him with a little card which said he wasn’t in fact working tomorrow, but instead driving us to Nottingham for a weekend away! It took him by complete surprise!!
On Friday we woke up early to set off for the 3 hour journey to Nottingham. I booked a lovely little studio in ‘The Park’ area of Nottingham. I didn’t realise this existed until we got there, but it’s actually a private gated community in the most beautiful grounds. I felt so romantic walking around and just knew it would be the perfect place to get some blog shots! If you ever visit Nottingham, I highly recommend a walk round here!
After a little explore in the city, we had some very classy 2 for 1 cocktails in a Wetherspoons, grabbed some pizzas and headed home. We opted for a chill night in on the Friday, found something on TV and played the most amazing version of Monopoly ever. The studio we were in had Monopoly City version. I’d like to say we cuddled on the sofa all night, but actually got very competitive playing the game. Jamie won. (I let him).
Saturday was the main day for us – we popped out in the morning to take some blog photos, and spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly around the city. For lunch we had the most delicious pizza from ‘Ugly Bread Bakery’, and I ended up feeling so stuffed that by the afternoon we popped back for a nap and recovery before the evening!
For the evening I wore this beautiful dress from Boohoo. They stock so many gorgeous dresses, and when they offered to send me one, I knew it had to be this amazing technicoloured piece!!! Jamie and I love a good meal out, and almost every time we’ll opt for a steakhouse. On researching places to eat a few weeks ago, I saw that a new one had opened in the centre called ‘Son of Steak’. They didn’t take bookings so we turned up, and had a few drinks before our table was ready. And boy was the food worth the wait! I opted for the Sirloin with chips and an onion slice, while Jamie went for the Flat iron with chips and halloumi. It was delicious.
Following that, Jamie dragged me into my first ever Casino, he won £30 and we moved on before he started getting too cocky! My brother suggested a cocktail bar – Hockley Arts Club, so we headed further into the city to find this! After a couple of wrong turnings, we found the bar well hidden from the main road and enjoyed some delicious cocktails each. I had ‘Twister’ which came with an actual twister ice lolly (winner!!!!) and Jamie had ‘Prince of Hockley’, which hilariously had a picture of Prince attached to the glass. The bar was super edgy and had some cracking music playing too, so we enjoyed eachothers company in here for the rest of the night.
Saturday night ended with us both falling asleep while watching Bridget Jones on the sofa. The dream! On Sunday we had a lazy morning in bed, before completing our trip with a Sunday Carvery in the oldest pub in England. Ye Olde Trip To Jeruselum is a bar embedded in the caves below Nottingham castle and is full of history and some spooky stories too. The carvery was delicious and set us up perfectly for a long trip back home.
Dress* – Boohoo // Jacket – Primark // Bag – Boohoo // Boots – New Look
I had the most amazing long weekend with Jamie, and can’t wait for our next adventure! What is your favourite city?
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Lucy x