Day 9 Exeter

We travelled out of London and to the south west through Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset to Devon and the main city of Exeter. it took one hour to do 14 miles as we got snarled in the London traffic, but it was no hardship as we watched Londoners go about their morning rituals. On the way down we passed Stonhenge as traffic slowed to a standstill as people took in the site. Our lunch stop was in Yeoville and the Mermaid. We had a huge carvery lunch with all the trimmings and a pint of thatchers cider. All the retired people of the town come down for the carvery lunch and we were happy to join the throng. Exeter was a bit of an unknown quantity but it turned out to be a winning choice. Johnny booked a small room at one of the grand central hotels. I waited outside while he checked in and began to wonder if the young women hanging about and smoking nervously might be hookers. It turned out the hotel was hosting a massive hairdressing convention and competition. The girls I saw were either competitors or models. Checking in was a bit of a heartstopper as Johnny's wallet was briefly misplac We had a shower then a twilight walk out for dinner. the streets looked much quieter and we were surprised at how full the restaurants were. We hadn't booked as had expected a Monday night to be slow but got turned away at our first choice. Exeter is a little like Melbourne for its proliferation and choice of eateries so this was no problem. We went down the road to Bella Italia and had a great 2 course meal with wine. there was a very engaging waiter that we got talking to and throughout the night we tried so many guesses as to his country of origin but he would only give us the most subtle and spare of clues. As we were leaving, after 20 or so attempts, he put us out of our misery and told us it was Latvian. GREAT place for beer he says. The hairdressers' shmoozing and networking was still going strong as we arrived back to the hotel at about 9. A lot of the character of Exeter comes from the huge number of twenty-something students that are studying in the town. the streets and eateries are full of them and the shops cater to the edgy tastes of young people. one place, Bill's is somewhere we think Britt and Will would love. it was very brunswick St and they make all their own take away jams and chutneys. Off for another day of touring and travelling. Catch you later, Lily