Weekend Outing (Part Two: Saturday)

After breakfast, served in courses by Liz, we set out for some sightseeing.

Liz's husband, Andy, told us to check out this spot several miles from their house:

A short walk (barely a hike) gave us this gorgeous view:

Grandma took the above selfie!

 Here's her stopping to talk to two dog walkers: "They are all so friendly here!" 

One guy on the trail gave us a few suggestions for where to go next...so we headed back to the car and hit the coast:

I had never been to a rock beach so that was a cool experience. I thought of you, Grandma Audrey, and thought about all the rock collecting we like to do...but then I realized it's not quite as fun to look for rocks when that's all there is!

We wandered around a little town, where we saw an Elvis impersonator. Grandma and I both took a video of him, while Grandpa stood across the street (I don't know if he wanted to associate with us two nuts!). The man was raising money for 'Stand Up To Cancer', but we didn't have any change...so Grandpa and I went to a bakery to buy something yummy  get change. 

We then discussed how smell is deceiving and sometimes pastries aren't as delicious once we actually eat them.

 So we went to a restaurant for lunch to test that theory... ;)

Next stop-white cliffs:

The Seven Sisters

We decided to trek up the cliff to the Belle Tout lighthouse (left), a fairly famous lighthouse because it had to be uprooted and moved further in to the land (due to cliff erosion). This, as one local told us, may be common for America, but is not at all common here. Moving buildings is normally "unthinkable".

The way up was slightly terrifying because there were no fences. (In America, I feel like they most definitely would have signs of fences...it's an over 300 ft straight drop!) But it definitely made the experience more real...there was nothing obstructing the view! Above: Grandpa pretending to teeter on the edge.

The lighthouse is actually a private bed-and-breakfast (I wonder how much that costs??). It's really beautiful. 

The lady who took our picture insisted we also take one with "the better view". I'm glad we did. 

We ended up talking with her for awhile and she told us a little bit more about the town (She lives in London but visits frequently). Apparently Sherlock Holmes came here to retire [in the fictional books that is! I forget he's not actually real!]. 

When we got back down to the parking lot, Grandma and I went to the small gift shop/museum.

We discovered that the building (right) was once double it's length. Due to cliff erosion, parts of the house have fallen into the sea. The picture (left) is from the exhibit. In the museum, a jagged line on the floor showed where the cliff was predicted to be in 2040. That was definitely strange to think about. 

I haven't taken this cliched picture in London...but seeing this telephone booth outside of London was cause for a picture!

Home Sweet Home

We drove on for a while (correction: Grandpa drove. I slept). Then we arrived at a little farm...I have the feeling it is a pretty large attraction for city-dwellers to bring their kids for "rural" experience:

It felt a bit contrived but it was neat to walk around. 

A mid-dinner snack at the cafe at the farm. Yes we like food!

For dinner, Liz recommended this hotel:

 We think their was a wedding going on downstairs (the chef had his hands full!), but the upstairs was beautiful and private, the food was delicious, and the meal was affordable:

Also, the bathroom was adorable!

I'm probably weird, but I think bathroom decor shows so much about the character of a building :)

And then we went to see "fireworks" in an early celebration of "Guy Fawkes Night". It's basically a celebration of the arrest of Guy Fawkes, a man who was plotting to destroy parliament with gunpowder. (Kind of a strange thing to celebrate with fireworks--something not happening--but I guess that's what you do in Great Britain, when you don't really have any sort of independence day to celebrate!) Andy from the Rosehill B&B was marching in one of the parades, but we didn't see him. 

This was the parade...a bunch of sticks with fire on them. They place the "firestick" in garbage bins to make a loud gunshot noise as they march. It was definitely an interesting parade to watch...much different than our parades!

We left for Rosehill around 8:30, well before the festivities ended, achy from walking around all day. But it was a Saturday well spend!

Weekend Outing (Part One: Friday)

I met these two on Friday morning (the 21st) at Victoria station for our trip to Brighton. It was quite the adventure....

We arrived in Brighton and took a taxi to Europcar, the car rental place. As the man behind the counter processed the information, a woman (bottom middle) started a conversation with us:

Lady: "How was Connecticut? When you left I mean." 

(We make small talk)

Several minutes later:

Lady:  "Yeah, I lived there for seven years." 

Grandma: "Oh, whereabouts?"

Lady: "Vernon."

(We exclaim in surprise. Man asks us questions about the car. There is a pause.)

Grandma: "So where in Vernon?"

Lady: "Oh, you know. Like the Rockville area."

What?? What are the chances of that?!

Meanwhile, Grandpa received a tutorial from the guy on how to drive a left-aligned car. I asked Gram if he knew what he was doing, and she said, "We've only driven on the left once. And it was on a moped." I had a feeling it was going to be an interesting drive. 

We still don't know what these zigzag lines on the road mean...

We really didn't have any way to find directions, the only exception being the sporadic moments when I was able to connect to the wifi. So we made a few a lot of wrong turns. Grandpa made several guesses as to which way including, "Lotta cars up here must be something up here," and when deciding what to eat, "You can't be picky when there's nothing here." But of all people to be thrown into poorly-labelled areas and a new way of driving, it's him. I felt (mostly!) safe :)

We settled on this "American" diner. It was just us, the owner/cook/waiter and one local customer (who seemed to practically live there). We were a little skeptical at first because he seemed really disorganized, but the burgers ended up being delicious. 

We didn't know exactly where the Bed and Breakfast, and drove around in circles looking for it. When we spotted a group of people congregating outside a local pub, we decided to ask for directions. Grandma and I went up to ask them:

Grandma: "Excuse me, are you from here?"

(the group nods)

Grandma: "Do you know where the Rosehill B&B is?"

Lady: Oh, that's me!

Grandma: "Are you Liz?"

Lady: "I sure am!"

The owner of the B&B just happened to stop by the local pub to drop off a book for her friend, and was just about to leave when we bumped into her. Needless to say, she knew how to direct us there!

"See," I said to Grandma, "That was God taking care of us." 

And isn't this the cutest little English cottage??

My bedroom [top left], their's [bottom right], our shared bathroom (with an electric shower!), and the back entrance. 

After settling in (and picking our breakfast out from the menu), we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town.

And then we went back to the same pub for a traditional English supper. The owner, a good friend of Liz's, served us and told us to try his curry ("real curry. Chopped up. Not the spice you buy from a store.") and recommended his liver pie. It was dee-lish-ous:

And it wouldn't be a real meal with Grandpa if we didn't have dessert:

"Banoffee" (Banana and Toffee) Cake :)

Cheers!

Leah