Venturing South

Over two consecutive weekends I visited my friend Jude who is working in Lewes over the summer. I had never been to East Sussex before and I was very impressed by the sights I encountered.

First of all Lewes. It's a beautiful town with picturesque houses and graceful gardens. You can find the ruins of an old monastery with an extremely well developed toilet system so that no monk had to queue for the latrines (Yes, that's the detail I picked up on...). There are many independent cafés with organic and original food. The one we went to didn't even serve coke. A respectable town should always have a castle, which Lewes does have. Unfortunately we didn't have the time to visit it, but the view over the valley was also worth the steep walk up the hill.

We did a quick trip to Brighton, which is only 15 minutes from Lewes if you take the train. We arrived there a few hours after the world-famous gay pride parade ended. The atmosphere had gone from festive to rather drunk and merry, which was interesting... We walked up the Pier, tried a few arcade games, watched the scary-looking rides from the safe ground to finally sit down on the free deck chairs on the Pier. Before I had to embark on my long journey back to Essex, we also took the chance to wander Brighton's artsy streets. It is definitely a place I want to go back to so that I can explore more of it!

Brighton

The next Saturday was part of the heritage open days, which take place every year in September and that way we had the opportunity to visit Bodiam Castle for free. Built in the 14th century this edifice is 'what a castle should look like'(Jude) and that is the exact same observation I made. If I had to draw a castle I would draw something very similar. The castle is located in a beautiful valley and anachronistically a steam train suddenly choochooed past us, as we were having both lunch and a hysterical fight against the local wasp community.

Bodiam Castle

Our next brief stopover was Rye, which is an adorable little town, with cute tea houses, gorgeous shops and small cobbled passages. After visiting the local craft fair, we had to get a move on as the sun was setting.

The Grand Finale of the day was the view onto the Seven Sisters. These legendary cliffs are a beautiful background for pictures and we definitely took advantage of that with a mildly embarrassing photo shoot. However, I have to say that we were extremely lucky with the weather and a dim sunsetting light illuminated the landscape. Jude knew of a great shortcut towards the view, through a remote residential area of Seaford, which shortened the usually 25 minute walk from the town to about 5 until we saw the Seven Sisters. The view is worth a detour (and was definitely worth me being really late for my train and nearly missing it!).

Seven Sisters

For anyone who wants to see a beautiful part of England I would definitely recommend East Sussex, as you can just drive around and see gorgeous scenery, cute cottages and impressive country houses before you even get to the many sights that are just waiting to be visited by you!

Essex Tales

In the past two weeks I've been exploring one of the most talked about counties in the UK. Beyond the general stereotype of the 'Essex girl' with which I had been confronted with when I first came to the UK, I decided to also watch the infamous TOWIE (The Only Way is Essex) as part of my 'research into the local culture'. In all fairness I got quite bored with it and it didn't teach me much... So rather I felt it to be my duty to write about my experience here, in case you also relied on these stereotypes.

Romford Market Place

 It's market day in Romford, there is a soft and constant drizzle and a man is sheltered under a roof, playing a gloomy melody on his trumpet, occasionally water splashes from the tarpaulin that covers the market stands. Romford being a historic Markettown, shopping is obviously the local sport. I surrendered and am quite thrilled to explore the various malls, which are definitely confusing for the foreign visitor. As I get out of the shopping centre, I hold on tight to my shopping bags, keeping my head down as it seems the rain just got heavier. I can't help but notice the footwear of the locals. Half of people, though mostly women, are wearing flipflops or Birkenstock. Some less crazy ones are wearing sandals... and here I am, wondering why anyone would look out of the window, see the grey sky and think that flipflops would be a good idea. But really, what I should admire is the people's immune systems. If my Mum saw me wear open shoes in such weather, she would run after me with a frying pan threatening me into changing into sensible trainers or boots, because I would otherwise catch pneumonia... and I'm rather inclined to believe her.

But I am being slightly unfair here, because I have actually really enjoyed my stay in Romford. I was lucky enough to find a home in Collier Row, a bit outside the city centre and rather near the countryside. The weather has been really nice ( it even went beyond 30°C -God bless swimming pools), much nicer than the climate I know from Birmingham. And also, green spaces are only a short walk away, the number of parks is just incredible. With my bike I explored the surroundings and quickly found myself in the middle of fields, literally surrounded only by fields. Here is a picture that in my opinion represents Essex well: two horses in the middle of field and in the distance you can see the London skyline. 

It's the countryside, half an hour away from the big smoke. And although I like London and its seemingly uncountable opportunities for entertainment, food; drink, culture and intellectual exchange, I realised when I was coming back from a day out there last week, that I really appreciated the peace and quiet in Essex. - Maybe I'm just getting old?

Havering-atte-Bower