The Nottingham Mistake

For the third time within just one month I went up to the Peak District again. After my navigation course in Foolow and our Easter break in Buxton I went for my outdoor first aid course to Youlgreave,  staying in Bakewell.

Friday
Whenever I go somewhere quite far away, I pick a town or city I've never been to more or less halfway there. This time it was Nottingham.  I figured if I leave work at 1pm I'd make it by 4pm on more or less free motorways. How could I be so mistaken? The M4 and M5 were terribly busy with an unusual amount of idiots out there, braking for no reason, jumping lanes or speeding 80 towards a queue. Arg. The A road into Nottingham had the longest roadworks ever, so that I finally checked in to my hostel at 5pm after squeezing my car into a slot in a multi story car park that was obviously not made for estates.
Dumped my backpack onto the bunkbed in my 3-bed dorm and went out. 21 degrees and bright sunshine improved my mood a bit, but the things I really wanted to see - the castle and the caves - were already closed. That left only a ginormous shopping area with all the high street brands. But they were all closed now as well and I had no interest in shopping anyway.
After wandering around a bit listlessly I got myself two bottles of Gold at a Saintsburys and went back to the hostel around 7, watched some Netflix on my phone and turned the lights off at 10.
I woke up again when the other girl who slept on the single bed came into the room and again sometime later when a third person entered. I assumed that it was the inhabitant of the upper part of my bunk bed. Hushed voices, some rumaging, more whispering. It was a man, but mixed dorms are not uncommon. Sounded like they might be friends or partners. Couldn't really understand all of what was said.
Sleepily I turned around but was wide awake all of a sudden when I heard her say "Please leave." And after some more words "Can you please just leave." There had been no argument before, no raised voices, something very dodgy was going on. My pulse picked up and was racing so fast within seconds that I could hardly breathe enough. I openend one eye just a tiny bit and saw her in her pyjamas sitting upright and a guy next to her sitting on the bedside.
With adrenaline flooding my veins I was just about to get up and help her, ready to kick his balls if need be. I felt a weird kind of panicky resolution to protect us by all means necessary. I've never been in a real fight and this intoxicating feeling of utter alertness, senses picking up every tiny thing amplified and the steely strength of my limbs were totally new to me. I had absolutely no doubt that this guy would never even know what knocked him down.

Luckily she was able to get him to leave just then, locking the door behind him. I asked her if she was alright and she just said she had forgotten to lock the door when she had come in earlier. Shit... never ever had something like this happened to me!
For the rest of the night every noise from outside woke me up in an instant. And this being a hostel right in the centre, there were many noises of banging doors or voices and footsteps outside our door.

So to say my stay in Nottingham to have a look around and get a more relaxed start on Saturday morning didn't quite work out, is a complete understatement. What a waste of time,  money and energy. I guess next time I pick something closer to Bristol like Gloucester or Tewkesbury,  so that I can still sleep an hour longer next morning but also have more time to venture and spend less time on busy motorways.