Being peak summer holiday season, I booked for a one night weekend stay instead of two. Devon and Cornwall have officially declared drought. Adapt and progress is the mantra of recession in England.
Excitedly, I finished last minute packing like putting my toothbrush into the bag. I caught the local bus to Heathrow airport bus station and Flixbus coach to Exeter. In all the confusion, I noticed my local bus arriving late on the bus board. Hence, walked up to the other bus stop. Well in time but the panic was most unnecessary 😊
The coach driver ( Flix) stopped at Reading. I got off and explored a lovely fabric shop with a loads of fabric materials to sew into fancy or daily wear dresses. It reminded me to get some stuff from India and do my own embroidery. It cost me my black baseball cap which I had left behind on my seat.
some exquisite chocolate cakes. The lady at the counter said it was not halal. I realised I was covered in scarf over my head, mouth and nose with only my eyes visible. Continuing with my Middle Eastern habit, must have looked like a practising muslim.
I bought the ticket at the Exeter Cathedral reception and rushed to join the ‘Reformation guided tour. The knowledgeable guide pointed to sculptures and pictures which were originally Catholic and white washed to convert the church to Anglican.
The altar, a huge block of stone was also cut to pieces with great difficulty as it was a solid and even thicker than granite slab of Indian kitchens. The altar represented the body of christ. Holy bread was broken over it to mean the body of Christ
Red guided walking tour organised by Exeter city council was free. I met others at Cathedral Greens by the status of Richard Hooker, an influential English theologian who proposed a moderate view on extremes of Protestantism and catholicism.
A HOT and SUNNY day. With a 22 people group of chirpy Spanish tourists who hoped to catch the cool, cloudy English weather in Exeter, were visibly shocked to experience the same weather here as in Spain. So much for travel.
The guide explained Blitz and buildings were razed to the ground. Instead of making better and more beautiful buildings as done by Germany, Exeter council rebuilt them less tastefully.
Some houses touched the city wall and Cathedral ( to save on an extra wall). These were finally demolished. The area around the cathedral was a cemetery which was cleared to create green space (yellow because of the dry grasses)
Beer street was the street where water bearers used to bring fresh water from river Exe. Gandy street was a tannery. In olden days, they used to use urine to treat wool and thousands of bales of wool left the Exe quay daily. Later, industrialisation of
the northern England resulted in much of the wool trade moving north. Power from water mills was no match from the power of coal.
A street called parliament street was so narrow that only a file of people could walk. The Spanish tourists had a fun time clicking photos while the rest of us stocked up our Vitamin D
With so many trendy nail spas all over Exeter, I looked at my nails. I was tempted but I knew that household chores and typing, did not permit us this luxury.
While the city wall may have originally built by the Romans, over the centuries, Norman, Anglo Saxons etc have rebuilt it, presenting a mosaic of rocks. Raspberry ripple is the local rock with a ripple like featuring in grey stone was locally quarried.
I got a pleasant room on top floor in the Inn at the South Gate. After freshening up, walked down to the Quay.
Two raw, cleaned fillets of Gurnard cost 8 GBP from a fishmonger. On the restaurant menu, a fillet grilled with a slice of lemon cost 20 GBP. Tried a locally brewed beer called Pilsner Rockfishand and hated it. East, West or Central, I am definitely not a fan of beer.
The following morning, I walked upstream. Passed an old mill, some bridges etc. It was getting hot again. Returned to
I never seen such a vast collection of star fish fossils.
