Once more unto the breach! We arrived in England on
Thursday morning, quickly shrugged off the jetlag (a shower and spa treatment
at Heathrow sure helped) and headed out once again in search of adventure.
Our first stop was just a waypoint. The Swindon Marriott
was about as expected, though the onsite tennis court was a nice perk. We even
managed to find a nice looking restaurant for dinner - the Old Bank - which had
a nice little patio where we could soak up the glorious rays. Our lucky weather
streak from London continued with nary a rain cloud in sight. Unfortunately, the
restaurant was overwhelmed with patrons and it took us almost an hour to get
our Pimm's, and the food we almost wish we didn't receive at all. Definitely an
early morning departure from this town!
Next stop was Bath. We won't denigrate this beautiful town
by including it in this post. It certainly deserves one of its own.
After Bath, our next stop was Exeter, which was also
meant as a waystop on the path to Cornwall. After our Swindon experience,
expectations were fairly low for this town, which included our cheapest hotel
stay at the Mercure. What a wonderful surprise! After a drive into town through
an industrial estate, we gathered out low expectations for a walk around town
shortly after arriving. We really just wandered, having not bothered to put any
effort into reading about the town.
After a short walk, we were blown away. We came across a
beautiful cathedral, set in the midst of a pretty little square surrounded by
restaurants and cafes. This was much more than we expected to find, and we
chastised ourselves for thinking so little of Exeter. Yet there was more
surprise to come. We stopped for dinner at Herbie's Vegetarian Restaurant. Its
appearance was about what our initial expectations would have been - "down
to earth" would be a polite description. But surprise number two came as
we tucked into some excellent food - the Homity Pie was delicious! That made
three excellent vegetarian restaurants in the space of 1 week.
Very pleased with this surprisingly impressive town, we
decided to wander about after dinner to see what else Exeter had in store. This
is when we encountered the best surprise - the Princesshay Mall. Built at the
edge of the old Roman town wall, this mall was stunning. Built as a covered
outdoor mall, it was an excellent combination of stores, restaurants, offices
and living space. I rarely describe shopping malls as beautiful, but this
certainly qualified.
Very satisfied with Exeter, we reluctantly left the next
morning, wishing we had booked an extra day here, but eager to get to Bude,
which had been described as the most beautiful beach-side town in Cornwall.
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