The Battle of Bexhill (and Exeter)
three dogs versus two humans...
Jordan and I spent nine days on the outskirts of Bexhill, what is already a pretty small town, so we didn’t do too much in terms of going out. I ended up using the extra time indoors to catch up on my substack and my job, neither of which got much attention while we were staying in Bournemouth.
While in Bexhill, we were looking after three dogs: Holly the Springer Spaniel, Archie the Dachshund, and Daisy Blue the Spaniel and Dachshund mix, although I think she has some Italian Greyhound in her. Holly, being the oldest in the bunch was very chilled out, only really getting excited right before the walk and when it was food time. Archie, in typical Dachshund fashion was incredibly stubborn, moaned and groaned about everything, but was very sweet and loved a cuddle. Daisy is a little puppy, we are thinking she is closer to one year old than she is to two, and she definitely acted like it. She was either sleeping or feral running around. Daisy and Archie enjoyed spending the nights deeply burrowed in our covers, which was very cute.
We only ventured farther than the grocery store twice during our eight days in Bexhill. Whether that means we were lazy, or we were busy with work is up for debate.
The first time we ventured out of our bubble was to go see Bodiam Castle, a whopping hour and forty minute bus ride away. It was well worth the bus ride (even if I did get a little overheated and car sick) the views of the castle and the moat were outstanding. We quite enjoyed seeing the old ruins of the castle and learning the history of who has owned the castle and what has been going on around the castle since it was built in the late 1300s.
Jordan and I actually fell into a little bit of luck at the castle. Usually tickets are 11 pounds each, but we happened to go on the free day, so we had no entry fee to pay!
Our second time adventuring out of the house, we visited the Town of Battle to see the Battle Abbey. The town is called battle because it is the sight of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 where the Normans and the English fought for control of England (spoiler: the Normans of France won).
This part of history doesn’t make much sense to me because wouldn’t this mean that England is actually France? Now it’s starting to make a lot of sense why there is always a rivalry between France and England. Either way, Jordan and I really enjoyed Battle, the history of the old Abbey and Monastery. I wish we had enough time to walk around the town as well, but alas, the only other bus we could take was two hours after we got there. On our ride back on the bus, some guy struck up conversation with us because he was on the same bus out to Battle. Turns out he lives in Australia and offered us a job at his son’s farm if we ever make our way out to Aus!
When we got home, we found that the dogs had some of their own fun while we were gone. They had torn and shredded the book I was borrowing from Jordan, Into Thin Air. This was not the first time they had shredded something of ours either. On our second day, Archie got into the pocket of my suitcase where I keep my underwear and had shredded five pairs. Two days later, they tore apart a piece of firewood. Then the book.
Very destructive dogs.
After a long eight days of taking care of loud, destructive, energetic, yet very sweet dogs, we traveled to Exeter to see my cousins. What was supposed to be an easy four hour train ride quickly turned into a stressful seven-hour ordeal when our first train was cancelled and the second one delayed. When we finally arrived in Exeter, we dropped off our bags at the airbnb and met my cousin Andy and his girlfriend Robyn down by the Quay (pronounced “key”). That night we went to a popular student bar for pizza, which was very good, and then headed to a dessert café where we spent time chatting before heading home.
The next day, Jordan and I had quite a late start but were still determined to see as much as we could. First, we had to eat! We went to a nice restaurant and Jordan got a bottomless pancake stack and I got a chicken tikka masala salad. We then went on a tour of Exeter’s underground passages that used to store water pipes which brought fresh water into the city. The guided tour was fascinating, and we enjoyed the experience of walking beneath Exeter's streets At the end of the tour, we opted to walk through the lowest parts of the tunnel, which was crawling height.
Before heading back to our airbnb, we decided to scope out the bus stop for the bus that we would be taking very late the following night (1am to be exact) so there was no confusion or stress at 1am to prevent us from having a good bus ride.
On our way back, we stumbled upon a charity bookshop. Despite our limited luggage space, we couldn’t resist stocking up for our upcoming stay at a Scottish castle where we'd have little Wi-Fi. I picked up a copy of The Hobbit (and almost a lord of the rings set) and a book about South Africa. Jordan managed to find an Adventures of Tintin book, which he is very excited about, he also got a Spanish phrase book and a poetry book.
There was a bridge we’d crossed many times to get either to our airbnb or into town that had always caught Jordan and my attention for having a beautiful riverside walkway. We decided there was no better time to explore it, so we wandered along the river and were amazed by the beauty. We envied the locals who got to walk their dogs or go for a run along this river everyday, experiencing it so often that it was no longer a novelty. While walking we saw, parks, skate parks, and other walkways all connected to this central riverside walk. The beauty of the walkway reminded me how much walking is a part of the culture here and how the infrastructure reflects that.
On our second and final day in Exeter, we went back to the same restaurant for brunch because it was so good the first time around, then headed out with the plan of exploring some of the museums in Exeter. First, we went to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, then we went to a museum that Jordan was very excited about, the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. Which told the story of cinema from the very beginning, with paper shadow puppets, all the way up to modern cinema. We also learned a bit about Bill Douglas’s life, which sparked Jordan’s desire to watch all of his films.
The Bill Douglas Museum was part of the special archives at Exeter University’s library, so after we were done, we spent about an hour just walking about campus, trying to see if we would spot my other cousin that just started at Uni in Exeter.
After we had walked more than the entire campus, we found a stand selling Cornish pasties and paninis for dinner, which fueled us as we tried to kill time until our reservation at a board game bar at 8pm. After we had taken our time eating, and taken another lap of the city it was still only 6pm, so we decided to quickly book some movie tickets to go see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. We both enjoyed the movie, but the experience was slightly tainted because the movie screen was so dark that we were straining to see the entire film.
After the movie, it was finally time to head to the board game bar. On the way, we realized we had left my water bottle at the cinema, so I saved our spot at the bar while Jordan rushed back to rescue it. Crisis averted, we settled in and played a few games (I won!) before Andy and Robyn joined us. We had a fantastic time playing games and chatting together.
After several rounds, we headed back to my cousin’s apartment to collect our bags. With about 30 minutes to spare before our bus, Jordan and I pulled out our favorite card game, Dutch Blitz (seriously, the best game ever—you have to try it!), and played a few rounds before finally saying our goodbyes.
It was so good to see my cousins so happy here in Exeter and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to see them, and grateful that they made time to see us. We had such a fun time in Exeter, Jordan and I decided it is one of the favorite cities we have seen yet!
We caught our bus at a bright and early 1am and headed off to our next location.
xx Abby