Rye: It's more than bread!

Judy. One of the reasons we chose to stay in Littlehampton was its proximity to areas we want to visit, so a couple of days in, we took the train (well, three) to visit our friends Harvey and Colin in the medieval city of Rye. 

There’s always a concern when you see people you’ve not seen in awhile, that you won’t enjoy each other as much as you think you will. That was definitely NOT the case with Harvey and Colin. We were met at the station with big hugs, and transported to their home at the edge of town, and sent to explore the small, vibrant, two-level garden behind the house while they prepared lunch. 

I could live in the little summerhouse

They use every inch of space!

Then we were off for a tour of this ancient and fascinating city. We’d heard about the town’s charm from several friends, and Harvey and Colin were great tour guides. 

Ancient city gates

Old fort/castle, now a museum

The Citadel is the most expensive part of town

After breakfast the next day, they decided we needed to explore more of Sussex and Kent, so we headed north, stopping at St. Clement’s for a view of a 12th century church in a field of sheep. Right out of the picture book, for sure! 

St. Clement

Hythe was our destination, a beautiful city at the end of the Military Canal that starts in Rye. Like Rye, it’s built on a hill, with stunning views of the countryside. 

View of the Channel from St. Leonard's church

I love how these flowers grow out of the stones!

Then it was on to Folkestone, for a walk above the Channel and a tasty lunch before heading back to Rye for a superb Pakistani dinner at Mango. 

This once grand hotel is now an apartment building

Looking across the Channel in Folkestone

On our third day, the train back to Littlehampton didn’t leave till the afternoon, so we headed to Hastings for a morning walk. Historians can’t decide whether the Battle of Hastings took place there or at a town called Battle or somewhere in between, but we loved visiting the town we learned about in the old television series “Foyle’s War.” 

Net houses in Hastings

Streets of Hastings

This old church looks over Hastings

But the pièce de resistance was certainly a visit to the Winchelsea Fete—a scene right out of “Father Brown” or “The Vicar of Dibley.” We truly felt we’d gotten a taste of the English countryside! 

Ted's looking for Fr. Brown

Welcome to the Fete!

In the evenings and as we drove, we debated all kinds of subjects—I’m not sure when my brain’s been so stretched—a marvelous exercise. Yep, we do enjoy each other, and we’re looking forward to more time together in Malaga in a couple of months!

A fearsome foursome

Why Littlehampton?

 Judy.  Boy, I wish I had a dollar for every time we were asked that question! And why in the world stay for three weeks? I suppose it's a good question. Brighton is only about an hour away, and ALWAYS has something going on--which is precisely why we chose this small, somewhat tired little town. That, and the fact that we can catch the train (a block from our Airbnb, which is also a block from the River Walk) to go most anywhere. It's also MUCH cheaper than London! Frankly, we've not only not heard American accents, but the only "foreign" accents have come from folks who moved here.

Having a sense of humor as you refurbish a home helps!

The weather has not been terrific here--being on the English Channel, it's always windy, and it's rained almost every day.

Tide's out along the River Arun

Still, we manage to get walks in, head to the pub for music and libations, and grab an afternoon coffee or tea. And--you know me--I'm thrilled with the six charity shops on High Street, several of which had teapots, which were oddly missing in a British Airbnb! Nice to snag one for three pounds.

But we knew we'd picked a great place when, on our second day, we braved the wind and drizzle to wander to the beach for the Littlehampton Sandcastle Contest.  We half expected elaborate, almost professional sculptures; instead we got families supporting their kids as they joyfully created castles, forts, turtles, mermaids, and just sculptures.  

There were lots of contestants

Not sure I trusted the judges!

All of the contestants lifted my heart!

London again

Judy. I think the day we left Georgia, it must have been in the 90’s F, and we were ready for some cooler weather. We hopped on British Air business class (this is our big splurge when we travel east), fixed our lie-flat beds, made a champagne toast, and fell asleep, waking in time for a cup of coffee before landing. 

Much to our surprise (after last visit) passport control was a technical breeze, and in a few minutes we were in the BA arrivals lounge, showering and grabbing some lunch before hopping the Heathrow Express. 

When we arrived in the city—BAM! It was pouring rain and cold. Nope. No Underground to the hotel. Bring on the taxi. Poured rain the whole way, then stopped as we pulled up to the hotel. The rest of the visit was cloudy and cool.

When we first talked about spending extra time in London on this trip, we decided to stay five days. That way we could see a couple of shows if we wanted. And we could hit up the Victoria and Albert, and other museums we missed the last couple of times we breezed through on our way to other destinations. What were we thinking??? There’s so much we DIDN’T see, but in those few days, we packed in some great visits.

We booked a lovely hotel in Southwark, an area we liked a lot, and which is where Shakespeare’s Globe is located—a must-see this visit. When I reserved the tickets in January, the only show available during our stay was A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. Yeah, I was a bit bummed, because I’ve seen it so many times, but it took about thirty seconds for the show to win us over. The director made some fabulous casting choices (Hermia was played by a little person, which not only gave a talented actress a chance to play a romantic role, but intensified all of the comments about her size); there were fun steam-punk costumes, and a Puck with a serious attitude. We were delighted. 

Jig at the end of the show

We spent some time wandering the neighborhood, which has gentrified since our last visit, but is still quirky, and surprisingly devoid of American accents. Located a tiny pub under London Bridge for a quiet port,

ate rich Indian food, walked the Riverfront, and found a fabulous wine bar, Tap and Bottle, which had hundreds of wines available. We tried some we’ve never had before—who knew there was orange wine—and after sharing several glasses,

Georgian & Hungarian wines

were able to make our way back to the hotel, which, by the way, had a movie/theatre theme. Our room was on the Wizard of Oz floor. 

Hotel lobby

      

Elevator on our floor

We hit up King’s Cross Station to get a photo of kids at Platform 9 3/4 (the line to take your photo was over an hour, so we just snapped a shot of people we didn’t

I guess they didn't mind waiting

know), and wandered the Camden Market and Camden Town, which have changed dramatically in 40 years (big surprise), and found some goodies for Christmas. 

Only sunny day--walk to Camden Market

 No visit to London is complete without seeing our dear friend Georgy, whom we met in 1994, when he came to Georgia from Moscow with a group student exchange in the theatre program. He’s one of the coolest people I know, and met us at the Sir John Soanes’s House in his upcycled Chanel jacket (he’s a fashion/costume designer). The museum was originally a showroom for articles that Sir John, an eighteenth century architect, displayed for his clients. It’s absolutely fascinating, and the docents were chatty and knowledgeable.

 

Georgy even has a cocktail named for him!

Afterwards we wandered the city with Georgy as guide, stopping at his favorite bar for a drink. Much to our surprise, I got a WhatsApp message from Michelle, our Airbnb host in Nelson, NZ, who was in London for one night. She spent several months volunteering with a nonprofit in Uganda, and has since been traveling around Europe. London was only a brief stop on her way to Portugal, but we decided we needed to catch up, so off we went for a great night of conversation and hearing about her experiences. Boy I love these meet-ups! 

Seeing Michelle midway between our continents!

On Sunday we attended the Choral Eucharist at the Southwark Cathedral, and stayed for coffee where we met some very friendly parishioners. 

Even Shakespeare worshipped here

High altar at the Cathedral

Southwark Cathedral and The Shard

   

Tried to give this guy some suggestions

Sunday roast at The George

The George

Of course we had to have a Sunday Roast, so headed to The George for traditional roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables. AND a delicious Australian wine—Battle of Bosworth Shiraz—which had been recommended by Anna at Te Whara Ra, the vintner we met in New Zealand! Full circle, for sure! 

The roast was fine. The wine, delicious!

I took one more walk, across the Millennium Bridge, then crashed—early train to Littlehampton on Monday. It was a full, fun, and exhausting visit. Ready for some quiet time.

One last walk

Cooking with Caedmon

Judy. As we’ve mentioned before, we try to give our grandsons experiences, not things, as gifts. Since Caedmon’s favorite television show is The Great British Baking Show, we offered to have The Great Athens Baking Camp at our house for four days. Caed was to pick four items to bake, and we’d give it a go. 

We decided to go from easiest to most difficult, and I was to find recipes. Caed chose key lime pie and crème chantilly, Cornish pasties, apple cake, and caramel cake. I vetted recipes that I had or could find, we made a grocery list, and went shopping on Sunday afternoon. 

Mom photobombs while Ethan and Caed get ready to cook

Monday morning Caed and his friend Ethan arrived for the first lesson.  Sarah and Stefan, our daughter-in-love and son had made aprons for the occasion, and the boys set to work. They pretty much took over the kitchen while I watched. The pies (so I hear) were delicious. 

Day One

Caed's Pie 

Ethan sifts sugar for the crème chantilly

For the next three days it was just Caed, Ted, and me. Almost always Caed took the lead and we just oversaw. We had fun, we learned a lot, and saw how to improve. It was one of the best times we’ve ever had. 

Day two

Pastry dough for Cornish pasties

A vegetarian version

Surprise! They look great!

Day Three

Making apple cake

Beautiful! And delicious

Grandpa introduces him to his great-grandmother's applesauce recipe

Day Four

Made applesauce with leftover apples

Caramel cake-and baking camp done!

A special day

Ted. It has been more than a month since our last post. After our ship docked in Honolulu we flew to Seattle to spend several days with long time friends Terry & Sue, then it was back to Athens, Georgia. 

Our lives have been full since our return but I guess there was nothing especially blog worthy. We have spent a lot of time with family, completed some annual medical checkups and begun reconnecting with friends. I have even tried playing pickle ball. 

Yesterday was kinda nice, though. It was a sunny Sunday morning and there was no traffic as we drove up into the North Georgia mountains for a day hike on the Appalachian Trail. While meandering along a windy country road, I told Judy that my one wish was to see my favorite North American bird. Just about that time, a huge tom turkey flew right across the road in front of us, at windshield level. Wow - it’s a majestic bird standing in a field but that moment was breathtaking. 

Internet photo - I'm not that quick!

Having quickly met my one goal for the day, things just got better.

Heading southbound from Dick’s Creek Gap, one has a steady uphill march to the crest of Powell Mountain. Were we in shape? No way. Did we love huffing and puffing along - you bet. There was virtually nobody on the trail and the birds were singing their hearts out. We scared up a couple of snakes who seemed shocked to see any hikers that morning. 

I got to see my favorite mountain shrub in bloom, a native azalea, as well as other beautiful plants. 

Internet photo

The last of this year's mountain laurel blooms

The first of this year's rhodedendron blooms

The good news about a long climb up is that you get a steady downhill stroll back to the truck. 

We then drove to the lovely mountain village of Clayton for lunch with my old business partner, Scott and his wife, Anita. Our partnership lasted 22 years (a rare thing) and we are still good friends. It was fun to catch up and see their mountain home that Scott is totally remodeling by himself. On the drive back I got texts and calls from my Dad, my sisters, kids and grandkids. 

I'll close with a day late Happy Father's Day wish to all the other Dad's in the world.