Another Day in Exeter

Today was my last full day in Devon before heading down to Cornwall tomorrow. In England, counties are the roughly the size of what states are in the U. S. The day started off with a tiny bit of yoga, only 10 minutes upon waking and sitting up in bed. Hey, it's 10 minutes more than I've done in a year so it freakin'counts. After that I went to sit out in Karen's beautiful garden with one of her sweet kitties, Whisper, the 3-legged sweet little angel from Jesus and God as my precious friend Catelyn would say. I've been wanting to read more. Ok, let's be honest, I've been wanting to read period. Embarrassing to admit but I don't make time to read anymore so I want to implement a rule to read for at least 20 min per day. My plan was to sip my coffee and read a bit from a book my dear friend/sister Rhonda passed on to me when I was in LA last month, Warrior Goddess in Training. That was short lived due to a wonderful surprise of two of my friends from Cornwall stopping in for a visit. They were driving up to head to a regional airport as they started a vacation in Spain. It was so nice to feel the element of surprise given recent events. My coming to visit from America was meant to be a huge and wonderful surprise experience for everyone including myself with the exception of four key people. It was a need-to-know basis and we were the only ones who actually needed to know. Well due to one eavesdropper dropping the dime like an informant in an episode of Law & Order SVU, the entire tiny community knows. If you can't tell, let me be clear that I'm really pissed. So this made Amy and Jack's visit all the more enjoyable. Amy and I got really close last year and we were so happy to see each other. Yep, I just posted that picture of me looking like I just rolled out of bed 20 minutes before. Because I had.

After they went on their way I caught the train the two stops into Exeter. It's a very old and a pretty city that dates all the way back to Roman times. It is as far to the Southwest as they got in England. So when I say it's an old city, I do mean old. Many buildings date back to Medieval times and long before. So it's an interesting mix of ancient with modern. This includes castles dating as far back as 1068, the architectural beauty of the Victorian era to brand new construction. An example of Gothic Revival architecture would be the magnificent Royal Albert Museum located appropriately on Queen St. It was erected in 1868 and is a perfect example of the glorious style known as Victorian architecture named after Her Majesty Queen Victoria. I had planned to once again spend the afternoon there as I had when I was here last summer but time did not permit due to my time with my friends. 

Next, it was on to Superdrug and my favorite shop, Primark. It's a retail store that is very inexpensive and decent value for the money. I picked up a nice pair of jeans for just £9 along with cute fuzzy slippers and a pair of shoes for 3£. I love it. Maybe I'll do a post on the cool things I got from both stores. 

After Primark and Superdrug I decided t end the day spending time relaxing at Northernhay Gardens. It is conveniently located just next to the train station. It is the oldest open public space in all of England dating back to 1612! But this areas history goes all the way back to the Romans when the occupied the area. The drive is guarded by a wrought iron gate with two beautiful displays of the Exeter coat of arms that read Simper Fidelis. Though it immediately made my American self think of the Marines, it actually a suggestion from Queen Elizabeth I back in 1588 due to the loyal citizens of Exeter ponying up from the coffers to help defeat the Spanish armada. (Told ya this place is old!)

A beautiful tree-lined drive leads to the Exeter War Memorial, a tribute to the county's servicemen and women for their bravery and sacrifice. The figure at the top is a representation of Victory. 

The park is another spot I visited last year, so this time I was surprised to see an archway I had noticed before in the wall that the Romans were using as a city wall to guard the castle just near it. It opened to more pathways and rolling hills of ivy, butterfly bushes, shady trees and flower gardens filled with lilies, echanacia, to name a few.

I found a nice little spot to sit down and relax. I used my jacket as a pillow and laid back and unwound in the peaceful arms of nature in a perfectly temperate day. Then I broke out my Lenormand cards and did a quick little daily read that clearly showed an event of the day: house +child +clover. I was lucky and had a quick, little visit at the house. A small opportunity that was unexpected good fortune. 

All in all, it was a really nice day and way to say goodbye for now to Devon County.  Next stop, Cornwall. I can't wait! 

deck featured: the Sepiafoto Lenormand by the very talented Kiki