London: Museums

We did hit many of the museums, as one ought. London is glutted with museums, and fortunately Caroline pointed us to a couple of very cool ones… Museum of London I picked this one because bits of the ancient London Wall go near it, and because it’s all about London, unlike say the British Museum, which Caroline described as <where to go see all the things Brits stole>. The Tate Modern The Novelty Automation place Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Sir John Soane’s Museum Architect Sir John Soane rebuilt these to house his work, home and massive collection of art, many of…
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Day 13: Lyme Regis

The city of Lyme is on the River Lim and added the Regis suffix after a Royal Charter was granted by King Edward I in 1284. To us, it looked and felt like a bigger city than the previous towns we saw in Devon. People were moving faster, less polite. It’s just across the border in Dorset, but I’m not sure if that’s the explanation, or if it’s just a bigger town. We walked from our hotel down the hill into the village, bought coffee beans from a friendly micro roaster, and searched side streets and alley ways for something interesting. We found a…
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Day 11: Sidmouth to Beer

This day had pretty strenuous walking as creeks cut into plateaus; we climbed up and then down 5 tall hills, 2000 ft. of ascent total. A lot of it was steep, so the trail builders made steps, but they were often mean 14″ steps, or tiny 5″ steps, sometimes they were long enough for two footsteps each, and sometimes they were narrower than our feet. It slowed us down and hurt the knees and ankles. Over the course of the day the sun came out and hid, the wind blew and stopped, the rain sprinkled and stopped; so we had…
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Day 9 – 10: Day of Rest in Sidmouth

Sidmouth is a bigger town than the last, and seems to be where people come to retire. We got coffee and a snack at a cafe filled with locals, and before we left we had met six or more patrons who were thrilled to hear of our journey and home. Two had fond memories of traveling to San Francisco and our presence brought it all back. We were charmed by they way the welcomed us. Even the waiter, an older gentleman named David, came and shook my hand in friendship. Ya know, I love all the nature and architecture, but…
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Day 8 – 9: Budleigh Salterton – Sidmouth

First, let me say that Pebbles B & B in Budleigh Salterton was wonderful and we didn’t want to leave. Our host, Nicki, was fantastic: very friendly and she worked really hard to make sure our stay was pleasant and we had good food to eat. We had a room with an enclosed balcony and a tub, and there’s a large inviting conservatory downstairs to take tea or coffee in of an afternoon. If you go, book two or three days. Immediately upon descending into Budleigh Salterton, it’s clear why the B&B is named that: the beach is entirely pebble.…
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Days 7 & 8: Bath – Exmouth – Budleigh Salterton

On the train from Bath, we saw beautiful green farmland with small herds of sheep, horses, cows, alpacas, and sheep. We transferred in Exeter to a slow moving commuter train loaded with local folk that took us to Exmouth. Many with beers in their hands looked spirited, maybe a little rough, but jovial. And there were a significant number of fit, well groomed men in their young twenties. We didn’t think much about that until we pulled in to the station at the commando training camp where they all got off. We could see lots of man-sized jungle gyms, just…
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Day 4: Old Houses

Yesterday we went to Castle Combe (pronounced “COOM”) and Lacock (pronounced “LAY-cuck”), which are uber picturesque Cotswold villages that have had all the movies filmed at them. Driving between them, we saw old thatch-roofed houses. They’re stuck in a time warp, with rules severely limiting what can be done to them. It’s funny, because going to visit we feel like we’re going back in time to see how it was, but there are paved roads, cars (including a Lotus!), public toilets, electricity, and modern tourists. All we’re really seeing is how people built, as long ago as 1197. And it’s…
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Day 4: Old Houses

Yesterday we went to Castle Combe (pronounced “COOM”) and Lacock (pronounced “LAY-cuck”), which are uber picturesque Cotswold villages that have had all the movies filmed at them. Driving between them, we saw old thatch-roofed houses. They’re stuck in a time warp, with rules severely limiting what can be done to them. It’s funny, because going to visit we feel like we’re going back in time to see how it was, but there are paved roads, cars (including a Lotus!), public toilets, electricity, and modern tourists. All we’re really seeing is how people built, as long ago as 1197. And it’s…
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