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crystalcazzieAt the beginning of last month Paul and I went on a trip to Hastings and Rye. It was just a weekend away, not like our usual holidays, but it was still our first outing since our Wales trip of 2019. I'd been wanting to show him Rye for years cos it's a lovely place and I have such fond memories, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it.
Even though it was only a short trip I'm still going to split up my posts about it cos I have loads of photos!
Friday: Welcome to Rye
Paul picked me up and we set off on our way to Rye. The initial plan was to head straight there, but not long before we arrived we saw a sign for a nearly vineyard. Both of us being fans of visiting places where they make booze we decided this would be an excellent start to our trip:
The vines at Gusbourne Estate.
The weather was very much on our side, which I appreciated.
Following the walk around the vineyard, we then got to experience a tasting session where we could try some of these grapes in wine form.
I do love a wine tasting.
Before we left we each bought a bottle. Paul went for the rosé, I went for the brut reserve. Neither of us joined the £500 a year subscription club...
And after that little diversion we were back on our original course and made it to Rye only a little later than planned.
After checking into the hotel I immediately started dragging Paul around to show him everything that the town has to offer. Such as...
The Landgate. One of my favourite features of Rye.
Adams of Rye. So many memories of going into that shop as a kid. I can still smell it!
This used to be my grandad's hairdressing shop. I had to go in and buy something from it, so I got a little elephant decoration. It can go on the Christmas tree and be known as the 14 High Street elephant!
We then turned around to head up to St Mary's Church:
Positioned very nicely up a small hill looking down over the town.
This stained glass window was donated by E.F. Benson, who had many links to Rye, and is one of the best stained glass windows because it contains this:
Yes, it's...
His dog! So cute.
Elsewhere in the church is a very pretty flip chart of the names of the babies christened in the church:
My name is in there, although you have to go quite a few pages back to find it!
Side note, I'm not sure why the dates here only go up to 2007. I don't know if that means they don't record the names this way any more or if they just don't add the most recent pages until a few years later, although I can't think why not. Maybe people just aren't getting baptised any more.
We then went for a walk around the town and down to the quay.
The Ship Inn. We didn't go in there this day, but we did pop in for a drink on Saturday.
Simply Italian. We had dinner there, and it was very nice.
The anchor.
This took us to the bottom of Mermaid Street, one of the most photographed streets in England.
Mermaid Street Selfie!
And this is the Mermaid Inn, which is apparently Very Haunted. I would have loved to have stayed here, but alas it was booked up.
This view of Mermaid Street from the top is the most common place to photograph I think. I didn't really manage to do it justice, but then it was completely the wrong time of day with the sun shining directly at me.
From the top of Mermaid Street we walked past the church again, from the other side this time:
The stained glass window from the outside. Spot the dog!
And then down to another landmark:
Ypres Tower. I told Paul it was pronounced Wipers but I don't think he believed me.
Cannons in the Gun Garden.
And Ypres Castle Inn. Which, according to my mum, is the pub my dad was in the morning of their wedding. When people saw him in there and asked if he shouldn't be at the church he said he had plenty of time! And he made it, so obviously he was right.
The pub garden, where we had a couple of local-ish beers.
We then decided to find an even older place to have another drink:
Mmm, beer at the oldest pub in Rye.
When we left there we walked down The Mint and I had to take a picture of this place:
It was closed when we went past, otherwise I think I'd have had to have gone in and bought something to show my support!
We then ventured over the railway line to have a look at the windmill:
Another landmark I have so many memories of as a child. And, for some reason, always thought was a lot further away than it actually was!
After all this it was time for dinner, so we returned to Simply Italian where I had pasta with chicken, goat's cheese, red onion, baby spinach & chili followed by a homemade tiramisu. It was all so good I'm wishing I was back there right now!
That should probably have been the end of the night, but because I'm a bad person and had been barely anywhere for two years I suggested we keep going for one last nightcap. We went to the Waterworks Micropub, which was absolutely lovely. The guy there was so enthusiastic about the local beers. Silly me didn't take any pictures, but it was a wonderful way to end the evening!
Even though it was only a short trip I'm still going to split up my posts about it cos I have loads of photos!
Friday: Welcome to Rye
Paul picked me up and we set off on our way to Rye. The initial plan was to head straight there, but not long before we arrived we saw a sign for a nearly vineyard. Both of us being fans of visiting places where they make booze we decided this would be an excellent start to our trip:
The vines at Gusbourne Estate.
The weather was very much on our side, which I appreciated.
Following the walk around the vineyard, we then got to experience a tasting session where we could try some of these grapes in wine form.
I do love a wine tasting.
Before we left we each bought a bottle. Paul went for the rosé, I went for the brut reserve. Neither of us joined the £500 a year subscription club...
And after that little diversion we were back on our original course and made it to Rye only a little later than planned.
After checking into the hotel I immediately started dragging Paul around to show him everything that the town has to offer. Such as...
The Landgate. One of my favourite features of Rye.
Adams of Rye. So many memories of going into that shop as a kid. I can still smell it!
This used to be my grandad's hairdressing shop. I had to go in and buy something from it, so I got a little elephant decoration. It can go on the Christmas tree and be known as the 14 High Street elephant!
We then turned around to head up to St Mary's Church:
Positioned very nicely up a small hill looking down over the town.
This stained glass window was donated by E.F. Benson, who had many links to Rye, and is one of the best stained glass windows because it contains this:
Yes, it's...
His dog! So cute.
Elsewhere in the church is a very pretty flip chart of the names of the babies christened in the church:
My name is in there, although you have to go quite a few pages back to find it!
Side note, I'm not sure why the dates here only go up to 2007. I don't know if that means they don't record the names this way any more or if they just don't add the most recent pages until a few years later, although I can't think why not. Maybe people just aren't getting baptised any more.
We then went for a walk around the town and down to the quay.
The Ship Inn. We didn't go in there this day, but we did pop in for a drink on Saturday.
Simply Italian. We had dinner there, and it was very nice.
The anchor.
This took us to the bottom of Mermaid Street, one of the most photographed streets in England.
Mermaid Street Selfie!
And this is the Mermaid Inn, which is apparently Very Haunted. I would have loved to have stayed here, but alas it was booked up.
This view of Mermaid Street from the top is the most common place to photograph I think. I didn't really manage to do it justice, but then it was completely the wrong time of day with the sun shining directly at me.
From the top of Mermaid Street we walked past the church again, from the other side this time:
The stained glass window from the outside. Spot the dog!
And then down to another landmark:
Ypres Tower. I told Paul it was pronounced Wipers but I don't think he believed me.
Cannons in the Gun Garden.
And Ypres Castle Inn. Which, according to my mum, is the pub my dad was in the morning of their wedding. When people saw him in there and asked if he shouldn't be at the church he said he had plenty of time! And he made it, so obviously he was right.
The pub garden, where we had a couple of local-ish beers.
We then decided to find an even older place to have another drink:
Mmm, beer at the oldest pub in Rye.
When we left there we walked down The Mint and I had to take a picture of this place:
It was closed when we went past, otherwise I think I'd have had to have gone in and bought something to show my support!
We then ventured over the railway line to have a look at the windmill:
Another landmark I have so many memories of as a child. And, for some reason, always thought was a lot further away than it actually was!
After all this it was time for dinner, so we returned to Simply Italian where I had pasta with chicken, goat's cheese, red onion, baby spinach & chili followed by a homemade tiramisu. It was all so good I'm wishing I was back there right now!
That should probably have been the end of the night, but because I'm a bad person and had been barely anywhere for two years I suggested we keep going for one last nightcap. We went to the Waterworks Micropub, which was absolutely lovely. The guy there was so enthusiastic about the local beers. Silly me didn't take any pictures, but it was a wonderful way to end the evening!
