I am writing this blog overlooking the ocean sitting in the window seat of our warm and comfortable room.
The dreaded long flight turned out to be not too bad and we arrived in England to be informed by Hertz that we were in luck and had been upgraded from a medium size car to a luxury car for only a little more! Spent the next 30 minutes trying to work out in our sleep deprived befuddled mind how much a ‘little more’ actually was (take away this, add that, don’t forget to add the bond and the tank of fuel, calculate the savings of a diesel and convert everything).
Came to the conclusion as we hurtled down the motorway towards Hasting in our brand new, never been driven, luxury Volvo with all the bells and whistles including heated leather seats, that it was actually quite a bit more but decided philosophically (and also a little late to change) that as our home away from home for the next 8 weeks it wasn’t too bad.
The Zanzibar Hotel turned out to be everything it boasted and Max made us very welcome. We had a bite to eat, tried out the steam shower and sauna in a hit and miss way (tricky seeing with glasses in a steam room) and fell into bed.
Today we have gone for a long walk along the promenade, explored the old town part of Hastings with it’s cobbled streets and narrow alleyways and had a pint in Ye Old Pump Station.
We drove to Eastbourne and partook of a sumptuous afternoon tea at the magnificent The Grand Hotel.
Tomorrow it is a visit to the site of the Battle of Hastings. Having discovered over afternoon tea that our knowledge of the battle is a little sketchy we intend to study it in detail over wine and cheese so to be prepared for the next part of our adventures.