Many things about England impress me. The people really care about those who are at risk, or unprotected. Exeter is home to a large school and college for the deaf. On High Street, you can find an entire row of charity boutiques. Oxfam is a favorite organization and they actually have three separate shops, right next to each other. One houses books (how I miss bookstores in the U.S.), one houses music - including a large vinyl collection - and the third has clothes and household items. Around the corner is The Heart Association, then The Kidney Foundation, and finally The Hospice Foundation. There was an imitation crown brooch that I should have bought for £4, but didn't. It was a nice walk down to the River Exe, where there are some crazy old intersections, and the old Roman road, complete with observation/toll tower.
Because the intersections were just added onto over the centuries, they are a complete mess. Fortunately, they built Pedestrian Subways underneath the whole thing. Most of the graffiti is incredibly artistic, but a lot of it didn't look any different from ours back in the U.S.
The river slows down, takes a bend, and becomes a quiet quay. Several centuries ago, they built a market awning, several shops and pubs on this bend. Some of the shops are nothing more than little doors covering old caves in the side of the hill. Very cute and quaint.
There's a great pub restaurant called The Prospect where we had lunch with all of the business people in town, it seemed. Many went inside to watch World Cup soccer, which was our plan later in the day. Audrey's friends Caralina (from Portugal) and Chiara (from Germany) came over for dinner, and we went to The Black Horse to watch the game. Nothing better than a British pub crowd watching a soccer match!
OK, maybe going to some live music at the Firehouse with a band who changes popular songs to "funk" music is better? Nope. Hysterical.
Around the corner from The Firehouse Pub is Gandy Street. J.K. Rowling went to uni at Exeter, and reportedly spent a lot of time in this pub. The old street was the inspiration for Diagon Alley, which I get. Now, the bar was renamed and looks like a bad imitation of a Disney attraction during Halloween. Of course I went. I mean, this is all about pilgrimages, right?
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