Family time in Devon

Hello! This past weekend was the one I had been most excited about- it was the weekend I went to visit my family in Devon! As most of you know, my dad was born and grew up in the UK. He met my mom here (although she is from Texas) and they moved to the states after my older sister Esther was born. My dad was born in Devon near Dartmoor and lived there for several years before moving up to Lancashire in the north of England. My dad has one brother who still lives in England. I've met him a few times before, both when I went to the UK when I was younger and also in the US, as he has been over to the states several times. Since the last time I'd seen him (it had been quite a while), a lot had changed! My uncle is now married with two kids (ages 5 and 7, the younger a girl and the elder a boy)! Although our families stay in touch, I'd never actually met my aunt or two cousins. 

Esther and I at Dartmoor in 1999.

Ever since I decided to study abroad in England, though, I knew that would change! Although I've already traveled to so many amazing places and done so many cool things (and more yet to come!) this has my favorite part of my time abroad. After arranging a good weekend to visit with my uncle, I booked my tickets to Devon a few weeks ago and had been eagerly counting down the days. The week finally came for my visit, and I carefully packed my backpack for my trip. I left on Friday after class, and after some train issues, I finally made it to Exeter. My uncle met me at the station and we drove back to the house. I was a little nervous about meeting my aunt and cousins. What if things were awkward? I hoped they would like me!

A map showing Exeter and London

Everything went just fine though. Although things were a little awkward the first twenty minutes or so, I felt like a member of the family. The kids showed me how to make “loom-bands” (the newest craze in the UK, apparently!) and gave me two loom-band bracelets they had already made for me. My aunt prepared a traditional fish and chips dinner for us which was delicious! After dinner I helped my cousins get ready for bed and read them their bedtime stories, something I did every night I was there. After they were tucked into bed, I visited with my aunt and uncle a bit before heading off to bed myself- it had been a busy day!

The next day after breakfast and watching some cartoon with the kids (Scooby Doo!), we all piled into the car to go to Exeter for the children’s weekly swim lesson. I sat in a cafe nearby the pool which had a large window so I could wave to the kids during their lessons. While they swam I had a nice time drinking a cappuccino and writing some postcards. After the lessons we all met in the cafe/lounge area for lunch and a few short games of table football (foosball).

After we were all finished we set off for the big excursion of the day- Dartmoor! Although I’d been to Dartmoor on my first trip to England, I hardly remembered it, so I really wanted to go again. Dartmoor is hilly with unique rock formations called tors, which are hills topped with outcrops of bedrock. The weather on Dartmoor wasn’t rainy but it was very overcast, windy, and a bit foggy. This made it seem very mysterious, which seemed fitting since Dartmoor is the setting for arguably the most famous Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Hound of the Baskervilles. We climbed Hound Tor and explored the remains of a medieval village which were nearby. There are also wild Dartmoor ponies on the land, but unfortunately we didn’t see any. After our Dartmoor adventure we stopped for some tea and cake at a little cafe. On our way home we drove through Exeter where my aunt and I jumped out for a quick  look at Exeter Cathedral, which was originally build in Norman times and then later rebuilt. The Cathedral that stands today was finished in the 15th century. One of my favorite parts of being in England is all the history. There are so many old buildings and everywhere has a long, interesting history. It's crazy to think that there are still homes standing in England which are older than the United States! After getting a nice look around the cathedral we headed back for the night.

Hound Tor

Exeter Cathedral

There were quotes outside Exeter Cathedral- we studied this poem in one of my classes last semester!

The next day, Sunday, the weather was sunny and lovely so we headed to Exmouth, the town on the southern coast of Devon where the River Exe flows into the English Channel. We strolled along the beach, visited the Exmouth RNLI Center, which stands for Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The RNLI is a charity that provides a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service around the UK and Ireland. After a picnic lunch on the beach in Exmouth, we drove to A La Ronde, a National Trust property nearby. A La Ronde is an 18th century home which is super quirky and definitely one of a kind. The history of the house makes it even more odd. From the National Trust website: “This unique sixteen-sided house was described by Lucinda Lambton as having 'a magical strangeness that one might dream of only as a child'. It was built for two spinster cousins, Jane and Mary Parminter, on their return from a grand tour of Europe in the late 18th century. It contains many objects and mementoes of their travels.The extraordinary interior decoration includes a feather frieze, gathered from native game birds and chickens, laboriously stuck down with isinglass.There is also a fragile shell-encrusted gallery, said to contain nearly 25,000 shells…” Despite its weirdness, it was a very interesting house and we had a lovely visit! There was a real apple tree in the front of the home and I got to collect a few fresh apples for the first time ever! After exploring the house and grounds, we ended the day with a snack in the house cafe. I had a proper Devon Cream Tea. When in Rome! That evening we had a lovely roast chicken prepared by my aunt and then got an early night since the children had school early the next morning.

At Exmouth- picture by one of my cousins

I've never worn jeans and boots at the beach before!

View from A La Ronde of the Exe Estuary 

A La Ronde

A proper Devon Cream Tea- cream first, then jam

Apple tree at A La Ronde

The next morning I said goodbye to my aunt and cousins and my uncle drove me to the Exeter bus station to catch my bus back to London. The weekend went by entirely too fast, and I was very sad to leave! It’s amazing how you can spend a relatively small time with people, but still love them so much! I hope I get to go back to Devon again before my semester abroad is over.

Next week: Paris!