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Published: August 18th 2009
Devon, England
8/7 - 8/10
So we arrived in Devon at about 2am on Friday the 7th. Will’s Mum was still waiting up, with a Pizza ready to go into the oven. She is ABSOLUTELY incredibly sweet; turned her dining room into a little room for us with two little blow up mattresses and matching linens. She also had a pile of maps and phrase books set aside for us. I don’t believe we went to sleep until about 5am from talking and catching up!
Jenny (Will’s Mum) and he have a super cute flat in a town called Honiton, which used to be famous for its lace. The town is so very quaint! So the next morning we took baths, since there is no shower - which I think is wonderful! Then Will took us on a little tour of the country side, and I hopped in the bed of his rental truck so that I could take it all in as much as possible. He brought us to Cotleigh Church, a tiny, old church that his family has been married, christened, choiring, and buried at for generations. Some of the headstones were from the 50’s with 80somethings
buried in them, and some with only 20somethings in them. Then he took us to see some of the houses and farms him and his family have lived on in the area. Everything seems super close there. The country roads were so tiny and lined with these super thick and high hedges- almost like you were driving in a labyrinth!
When we got to the farm that Will grew up on, it was abandoned, and we were able to let ourselves in as all the doors were unlocked. He gave us a tour of the inside, and it was sweet to watch him reminisce and figure out what the previous owners had changed. He hadn’t been there in 7 years or so. It was such an old place that there was a vine growing through the ceiling at one of the staircases! He was super excited to take us down a trail next to the house that followed a stream down to a wonderful pond. We had to cross a part of the stream and I celebrated my wonderful new sandals again, much easier than flip flops to hike in. Will warned us about “Stinging Nettles”, which is this
Cotleigh Church
An important church to Will's family for generationslittle leafy plant that stings you if you brush up next to them! The first one that got me, I honestly thought I was stung by a bee, by the second time I realized that it was just the plant. The stung lasted about half an hour though, so it wasn’t too bad.
The pond was surrounded in incredible purple and pink blue bells, and right next to it the stream was running. We went over to the stream and found some very unique rocks that had holes in them, which we’ve kept to make into necklaces. Eventually, we had to head back to the truck to make it for our next adventure, “nibbles” with Will’s aunt and uncle! YUM! On the way back to the town Phoenix and I rode in the bed of the truck, but this time we stood up and held on to a bar above the cab. I know I know, sounds terribly dangerous…but we went slow on the country road, and it was TOTALLY amazing. The weather has been unusually beautiful, according to everyone, so it was perfect to be zipping around outside. Oh, and the “Clackets” (Cloak-Jackets) that we made with my
Momish, Nichole before we left were just what we needed! It flapped in the wind, like I was a super hero flying through the wonderful country side.
So, “nibbles” is usually just some pretzels and “crisps” (chips), but his uncle went all out, making tons of little pastries and quiche, shrimps, and then for dessert the BEST key lime pie I have ever had, honestly. We also drank some incredibly tasty Chilean white wine, yum! There were super nice and we chatted about our travels and shared pictures.
Soon it was off again for the next adventure, the Sidmouth Folk Festival, on the coast. I swear we have been NON-STOP since we landed. It’s only been a few days but has felt like a few weeks. It was already getting late when we got to the festival and the few-nights-past-full moon was huge and orange, just barely rising over the horizon of the English Channel. The festival was obviously centered around music, so there were some different performers on the street and some packed into the pubs. One of my favorite groups was this age-eclectic group of drummers, dressed in tye-dye. There were young boys thumping huge bass
drums, and middle aged women ripping on cow bells. Was great!
It was a little chilly, so we decided to slip into a pub and grab a pint. The drinking age here is only 18 and you could tell! There were a bunch of youths, which seem to be LOVING the 80’s style: bright colors, spandex, big earrings, baggy shirts hanging off their shoulders, and printed backpacks and tees. It wasn’t our scene much, so we took our pint out to the street and started playing some music. Not long though, because the fireworks started! There were a few of those floating lanterns that you light a candle in and they fly away, which was beautiful. After the fireworks, the crowd took off pretty quick and we hung around and played some more songs. After a bit we decided to head back, we were all cold and tired from our long day (thank goodness, and Nichole, for the Clackets though!)
As we neared the truck we stopped to watch through the open window, into a little lounge that a bunch of older folks were in. They were all singing traditional English and Irish folk songs and sea chants!
It looked so comfy and warm in there, and then someone motioned us to come in - so we did! Definitely the youngest people there, we took a seat and were immersed in the true culture that we were looking for! One of the leaders of the group/gathering came over and asked if we were singers and we decided to give her our name to sing! After a few more chants it was our turn, and we told them that even though we didn’t know any beautiful traditional music, we were traveling from the States and this was an original - so we sang Ariel’s song for them. It got a lot of applause and they said it was “lovely”, one gentleman telling us we were brave at the end of the night. It was such a wonderful experience! Most of the chants were so funny, and the rest were dripping in culture. So neat to see how they would all join in, no one afraid to sing with the song-leader…us too, we joined in with them on anything we could pick up.
Now satisfied that we got the Folk Festival experience we headed back towards the house. Will
took us to grab some Kebabs, which we thought he meant Kabobs at first, but it’s actually more like a gyro with strips of meat in a pita with different sauces. Super yummy! So glad they were open at midnight, we were very hungry. Then we went home and watched Eddie Izzard, a hilarious transvestite British comedian. It was great to have a couple of days of England experience so that we could get some of the humor and references!
The next morning we woke up and headed to Exeter, which is a pretty famous city near by - to do some shopping. Of course there were more mind-blowingly beautiful buildings and cathedrals. The “high street” (what we would call the “strip”) of the city had all sorts of shops and we were able to pick up some of the things we still needed. Phoenix wanted to get some sandals like mine, instead of her flip flops and we still need to water-proof our Clackets. And you know, even with the outrageous exchange rate, things are still MUCH cheaper over here. We got her sandals, pack towels, and water proofing spray for about £70! MY sandals alone cost $95
(which is probably about £70) in Virginia! We also went to Lush, that wonderful organic bath and lotion store and got new face wash, two shampoo/conditioner bars, a bubble bath for Jenny, and (for free) a huge lotion and travel tin…all for a total of £21.
Oh, at one point I went to pull cash out of an HSBC atm and it wouldn’t recognize my pin number! This was the first time I have tried to use this card and where ALL my travel money is kept. So, a little worried I went in to the bank to find out what was up. It was kind of crazy hectic at first because I couldn’t even get in touch with the US customer service line and Martin, the SUPER nice and helpful clerk, had never dealt with an international call. Eventually Martin got special permission for me to head to upstairs to the “Premier Service” where Oliver got me some water and pushed through to the correct people so I could reset my pin number. It was great! Honestly, despite the officer at Border Control, everyone has been incredibly friendly here.
On the way to the Truck we stopped
and did a little Jumpology in front of the Exeter Cathedral, but may have to go back later to really enjoy it. Next, off to Seaton, a wonderfully beautiful beach town laid in a cove with huge rock cliffs on either side. This is where Will’s super sweet Dad lives. But first Will took us to get the best Fish and Chips in the area, which were truly delicious. Oh and “Mushy Peas”, which is just what they sound like - mushed up and seasoned green peas. Didn’t think I’d like them, given my disdainful history of peas but they were actually really good. When we got to Will’s Dad’s house he showed us such a cute video of old family pictures. It was perfect because since we had visited the Cotleigh church and Will’s farm we were able to connect them to the pictures. And then of course we played music for him, which he totally loved. He shared with us some of his favorite songs by The Carpenters too.
The next day, Monday the 10th was our last day before leaving Devon. We spent the daytime running a few errands on the quaint “high street” and sent
out a few post cards. Then unloaded a bunch of things we over-packed. Will and his Mum let us leave a few things behind with them to pick up on our way out since our packs were really too heavy. Now we’re down to even LESS clothes! Then in the evening we water proofed our Clackets and the guitar case to be ready for whatever adventure lay ahead of us.
We started to realize that we’ve had it SO good and easy up until now. Overly accommodating and loving host-friends-mum, an English speaking country, and easy transportation. As of the next day we would be completely on our own. A bit scary, but also SUPER exciting! We’ve been contacting as many couch surfing hosts to prepare and have a few lined up...HERE WE GO!
If I could sum up England in a few words: Funny accents, Pubs and Pints, backwards cars and driving, trashy city, amazing countryside, friendly people
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