My visit to Battle and Rye

First sunny day of the week! Decided to take advantage of the nice weather and headed out to Battle and Rye.

I went to Battle from London Charing Cross station and got there without any problems. The station was so small and abbey-looking. As I was looking at the tourist information they had, the station staff asked if I was going into town. He then gave me easy directions to the center of town. Super friendly and fun guy. About twenty minutes later (yes, the station actually was that far. I didn't get lost. Promise) I made it to the Battle Abbey. I bought my ticket, picked up my audio guide, and was off. The little intro exhibit was really cool. They had a video that talked about how the Battle of 1066 came to be and what happened during the battle that led to William the Conqueror's victory. The had a section that compared the English weapons and shield to the Normans' weapons and shields. Both swords and spears were pretty light but MAN those shields were heavy. Especially the Norman's.

After exiting the exhibit I made my way to the fork in the road. One way was the short version of the tour that just went around the Battle Abbey site. The other was the long walk around the entire battlefield and abbey. I chose the latter. It was actually a very nice walk. There were some little paths that most people just passed by and I got to see some really pretty greenery and even a water lily pond. Plus there were some great shots of the abbey from a distance. I really loved it. Both the history and scenery were amazing.

When I made it back to the abbey site, I explored the ruins. Again, I found some pathways that people didn't see (or thought they weren't allowed to enter) and got to climb up some cool spy/archer towers. Even found the old lavatory aka bathroom. I'm glad it's been freshened up over the years.

I spent some time in the gift shop playing with the toy swords and debating whether I wanted to buy some jam and biscuit cookies. Decided not to. I also looked at all the books they had. There were about five I was seriously tempted to buy. Three of them were history documentaries about Medieval England or The queens before Bloody Mary and Elizabeth I. The other two were novels both taking place during Queen Elizabeth's rule. One was a thriller about a spy working for the queen to find out about the catholic rebels' plans to assassinate the queen to return England back to its former Catholic state. The other was about what happened to Elizabeth after her mother was executed. Hopefully the library has copies.

When I was officially done with my visit in the Battle Abbey, I went across the street to ask directions on how to get to Rye. The lady asked if I was driving or taking the bus and I told her I was walking. Her eyes popped out a bit and she replied, "You sure about that deary (thought of Mr. Gold from "Once upon a time" right there)? That is a very long walk. It'll take you a few hours." Even though she kept saying things similar to that, she eventually did give me directions. After walking around the outside of the abbey and looking at the scarecrows from the scarecrow contest, I decided to take the train to Rye.

I boarded the train and got off at Hastings and took another train to Rye. On the second train, as the conductor was going around for tickets, he checked my Britrail pass and then asked me where I was from. I told him I was from the Northwest part of the states and he said he actually went there once. We then proceeded to having a nice chat about how when he was younger he traveled the midwest/northwest of the states and about my travels. His phone cut our conversation short but it was still a fun talk :)

It was a good thing I took the train to Rye. When I exited out of the train, it was raining (lightly though so it wasn't bad). Since I got there late, everything was pretty much closed but I still went on a walk around the town. The rain started coming down a bit heavier and soon there was hardly anyone walking on the streets. It was a quick self-guided tour but I managed to see The Mermaid Inn, Mermaid Street, St. Mary's Church, the tower, the Lamb House, and the landgate.

When I boarded the train back towards Hasting, I ran into the same conductor as before when he went around for tickets again. We didn't talk, but we exchanged some laughs at seeing each other again so soon. The train ride back was nice and without difficulties. Sadly, the tube ride back home was not so nice.

I got stuck at Picadilly Circus due to the Picadilly line having problems. I waited 40 minutes watching tube trains go by but not taking on passengers. I gave up waiting and took the Bakerloo line to Embankment and then the district line to Fulham boardway (The stop for home). And when I exited the station, it started raining. At first it was light, but it quickly got heavier. I ran about halfway then sped walked the remainder of the way home.

It was interesting how people were all whiny and complaining about the rain while I was all smiling and humming in the rain. I'm pretty sure the locals think I'm officially strange. Oh well.