Busy day today. Went on our first road trip, bought our first Cinque Ports postcards and a pay-as-you-go cell phone for in-country use and postcard stamps, and had our first cream tea.
Today we drove to Hastings and then on to the town of Battle, site of The Battle of Hastings, fought in October 1066 between the English and the Normans. Battle Abbey dominates the town and is where we spent most of our day. However, before we recount the story of our afternoon, it seems only fair to tell you about the getting to Hastings and all. In other words, the "road" part of the "road trip."
Well, driving on the left side of the road is becoming more 'normal' (which is strange enough) so getting around Rye is much less stress-inducing. And driving on country roads isn't too stressful in and of itself. Apparently the Universe decided I was ready for a bit more of a challenge. So... road signs.
The triangular sign with an elderly couple silhouetted on it? "Frail crossing." The sign that looks especially like a candy cane? "You are about to make a turn so sharp that you are going to meet yourself again." And in England, even the traffic signs are polite -- when the speed limit is reduced, a sign asks "Please drive safely" and then upon resuming the former speed, another sign says "Thank you for driving safely." The buses are polite too... we saw a bus heading back to the garage that said "Sorry, I'm out of service."
We made it to Hastings without incident, and found it to be a largish place with lots of cars and people and buildings. Descriptors: congested, busy, a bit down at the heels, gritty... castle ruins in the middle... AND you can see the sea from the town center. We went to Phones4You, where we bought a little pay-as-you-go phone for use in England... on the same day the IPhone 5 came out. We found a Royal Mail office where we got postcard stamps and sent a couple pieces of mail out; by the way, "just up the street" means at least four blocks. We found a gift shop that had lots of postcards, and bought some (have to have something to use the postcard stamps on, right?). Then we found our way back to the car, and also found a building with a placard saying children's author Lewis Carroll used to visit residents there.
Five miles on past Hastings is the town of Battle, dominated by Battle Abbey. The abbey was built to atone for all the deaths that occurred in that place in October 1066. Before we went into the abbey, we stopped at The Pilgrim's Rest, a pub in the shadow of the abbey walls, where we had lunch. Catch went with a traditional Ploughman's Lunch. Dorie had a pureed carrot-tomato soup that she said tasted like her daughter Anne had made it, washed down with hard cider made from 17 different kinds of Irish apples. Mom went with Welsh rarebit. And I had The Warlord. Okay, it was really just a tuna melt with REALLY good cheese on ciabatta bread, but you gotta love the name!
After lunch, we went to the Abbey. There we each bought the audio tour; it's a recorded tour coordinated with different places and placards throughout the grounds. The tour actually begins with a short film in the visitors center that sets the historical context in which William of Normandy led an army to Hastings, where he ultimately defeated the English army of King Harold and gained the throne himself, marking the beginning of what became modern England.
Then we hit the paths around the abbey for the actual tour. The narration was exceptionally well done, informative and engaging while also being very moving. The story of the Battle of Hastings was laid out for us, and evoked powerful emotions as we stood on the same hill the English army occupied on that day so long ago, a Norman army 10,000 men strong arrayed in the valley below them. Using graphic descriptions, very effective sound effects, and frequent references to the landscape and buildings surrounding us, the tour called clearly to the mind the violence of the battle and the resultant carnage. Despite the present peacefulness of the valley, filled now with harvested hay, tall trees, heather and roses, and birdsong, we could envision the 7,000 men who died there during the 14-hour battle. None of spoke much as we made our way past the battlefield then around the abbey ruins and the crypt, back to the Gatehouse where the giftshop was conveniently located. We all got some souvenirs and then we were ready for a snack. We stopped at The Taste of Battle and had cream tea and then headed back to Rye.
Once we got back to Rye and got the car tucked back in to the garage, we got ourselves tucked back in to the cottage. Made some Skype calls, played some Skip-Bo, and listened to a 35-minute audio tour of Rye we found online. Tomorrow's mission: find some of the places on that tour, including Rye Castle, and then check out the beach at Camber Sands.
