Yes, Nottingham is famed for Robin Hood, yes working here one has to get used to frequent questions and some difficult conversations, but the real gemstones are those people who care for NOTHING else. 100's of caves - Did the merry men use them? Isabella and Mortimer - Did Robin Hood sneak into the castle through Mortimer's hole as well? Start of the English Civil War - Yeah! fighting against the ruling classes like Robin Hood did!
Can get a bit grating when trying to run a guided tour for a wider group, and a section tries to steer it continually towards A FICTIONAL OCCURRENCE with NO bearing on the events, location, persons or time-frame. However, the scope to wind the more strident folks up is immeasurable. "Yup, some people say this was a wine cellar, but really Little John lived here while pretending to work for the castle. Want me to take your picture in here?"
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These mistranslated signs often do the rounds, but being sent this I felt rather compelled to share. Beyond the usual rude, violence inducing or plain bewildering, this Zoo is apparently a pinnacle of "we'll translate the signs because we have to, not because we really want to". I'm very glad we stick to English in our venue, which may seem elitist, but seems to work well for both sides of the equation.
![]() If you've worked as, known, or met people who play costumed characters helping to interpret historical sites for visitors, then you'll have encountered some laugh out loud tales of the thoughtless or heartless questions asked. So imagine the questions which were asked of Azie Mira Dungey, when she played various black characters from history, in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Yup, because she was a black actress, Azie, in her own words "must have played every black woman of note that ever lived... I liked to call myself the time-traveling black girl. " You don't have to imagine what Azie was asked, as she's turned her experiences into a comedy series, currently two episodes in. In character as Lizzie Mae the slave, she fronts it as if on a talk show, where she gives funny and thought provoking answers to some occasionally dumb, and sometimes outright painful questions. And she's darned funny, giving a unique voice to a much misunderstood group from the past, as well as challenging some of our assumptions about the era's attitudes and America's founding fathers. Find out more, and go to her site to watch the rest of the show! Aahhhhh, one of those days when the phone doesn't stop ringing, and three of your colleagues are away, but amazingly all of the customers you talk to are cheerful, pleasant and don't expect you to bend the laws of physics at a moments notice; so when you can help them, they are surprised and thankful. It begins with helping a man currently in Taiwan arrange UK trains and book in advance so it didn't cost a fortune and take hours (this has nothing to do with us, and it often irks when someone expects us, rather than say, a train company or ticket website, to help them. However, he was so bewildered, yet clear and patient, he was a delight to help.) Then there was a phone call commencing "Hello, I'm calling from Afghanistan, and would like to arrange a visit in December. For reasons I can't explain, as this isn't a secure line, I won't have access to the Internet for a while, so can I sort things now? It'll give me something to look forwards to." Our answer was pretty much "yes to everything mate, Nd we really hope we see you in a few months." A rather international day! A customer phones up:
Customer: How do we get to you? Staff: Where are you to start with? In the city centre? Customer: Pretty much, we're still at the hotel and we're staying at Liverpool Street Travelodge. Staff: Uhm, bear with me while I work out where... ah, is that actually in Nottingham? Customer: No, London. Staff: Ok, so you'll need the train to get to us then, and your best route will be to talk to the hotel concierge about times and prices, they may be able to book it for you. It usually takes about two hours on the train, it's not a bad journey. Customer: TWO HOURS? Where are you? Staff: Nottingham, north of London, in the midlands area. Customer: What?! Why aren't you in London? Why wouldn't your visitor centre be where the visitors are? |
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February 2023
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