Revisiting Exeter

After a hectic and much-too-long week, I took a trip down memory lane back to Exeter. It is the city that I spent three years of my life in, growing up and becoming much of the Roo that I am today (in fact it is where I was given the name). Haven't had visited Exeter since my graduation back in 2012, when Bex and her fiancé, Pie invited me and Richard to join them for the weekend, I just couldn’t say no.

With train tickets to Exeter on the rise, me and Richard were economical and decided to get the coach up to Devon, early on Saturday morning. Very early. We were still a little bleary eyed when we both left the flat and upon reaching Victoria, I had my wake up call from a Starbucks 3 shot latte. That just about set me up for the long journey into the South West. Armoured with snacks, Richard and magazines for company, the journey wasn’t too bad until we hit traffic, a which point my fidgety, restless persona came out in full and I was ready to walk to Exeter. Reaching the city an hour later than we should have, we met Bex in town, the first thing on our to-do list being lunch. We picked a table outside Exeter Cathedral and had soups and salads for lunch, before going up to Pennsylvania Court (uni accommodation, post uni), dropping our bags off and walking up to campus.

It being the summer holidays, campus was almost completely deserted. Bex, Richard and I walked around most of campus, going up the hills, down them and back up again, pointing out to Richard the buildings where most of our three years were spent (Amory Building) and our escape places (the café in Devonshire House). It was nice to walk around and reminisce; having spent 3 very significant years of my life in Exeter, I had more (mostly fond) memories of my time there, than I realised.

After a bit of a rest back at the room, we all got ready and out for dinner and drinks. When at university, mine and Bex’s go-to place for going out was Timepiece. Although we had no plans to go out dancing, we decided to have our first drink there. We were the first ones there, as the place had opened and had a nice, relaxing drink before heading out for dinner. As soon as we decided to come to Exeter, it was decided that Saturday’s dinner would be had at the Old Firehouse. The Old Firehouse is a 19th Century listed building, with small staircases, leading to several different floors, with a great, lively atmosphere and less than comfortable wooden-bench seating. Having bought our drinks at the bar, we made several trips up and down flights of stairs, in an attempt to find a table. The mini-trek was definitely worth it, however as not many places can offer incredible, 14-inch pizzas for less than £10! We shared 2 pizzas between the four of us (with Cajun chicken and pepperoni) which we were even better than I remembered and in spite of being beyond stuffed, were unable to leave a slice uneaten.

With our bellies full, we decided that there is always room for a cocktail or two, for which we went to the Monkey Suit which had its reggae night. We enjoyed some lovely cocktails (my first one was the Jam Jar which, not all that surprisingly came in a jar but tasted like strawberry iced tea - yum!) and music, people-watching as they danced in what they seemed to think was reggae-appropriate manner. Bex and Pie left after a drink, whilst myself and Richard decided to stay for another and enjoy the nice, relaxing atmosphere. When I was no longer able to keep my eyes fully open, we decided to head back to our room and call it a night.

Having had almost but not quite enough sleep on Sunday, we had a truly student-appropriate breakfast (or two) at Whetherspoons. We chose to go to the Imperial which was the first place that I went to as a student with my new flatmates, on my first day in Exeter. Whilst the food is typical and not-at-all-exciting, the Imperial does have an Orangery (apparently that's a thing. Translation: huge conservatory) which is always nice to sit in. After too much food for breakfast, we headed to the Quay for a mooch around the independent shops and having walked some of the breakfast off, we had more food; Cream Tea at Jolly Rogers, who may just have the best scones and jam in the county (disclaimer: this hasn't been extensively tested). After our cream teas, Bex and Pie started their drive back to Worcester, whilst me and Richard walked back up into town. We mooched around some shops and grabbed dinner at Wagamama, before boarding the coach for our journey back to London. 

It was a wonderful weekend, spent with wonderful people, in a city that will always have a special place in my heart. 

Good night lovies!

Muah

Roo xx