Day 4 – Rye + Bodiam Castle

Years ago, Claire told me that Rye wasn't really worth a visit. Boy did we think she was wrong after we climbed the stairs from the parking lot and up into the main part of the town. It had all the cliched elements (in a good way, it seemed at first) that makes places like this a destination for tourists: "charming" cobblestone streets, "quirky" houses, and so on. We loved it for about 20 minutes, and then—as we found ourselves surrounded by more and more tourists, including a loud and sprawling group of Italian high school students—it became just another place with too many people pointing and gawking. 

Yes, I'm fully aware that we too are tourists pointing and gawking. I'm reminded of the Seinfeld opening where Jerry mocks people for complaining about traffic, where he ends by saying something like, "YOU ARE THE TRAFFIC."

Anyway, we walked up and down the streets of Rye and found much to enjoy, including a sausage roll for me and a vegan roll for Betsy (both under $2) from a great little bakery. After about an hour, though, we were ready to move on.

We drove from there down to Camber Sands to get a quick glimpse of the standard seaside camper vans and kitschy shops. Fun to see, no need to stop. 

We stopped at Waitrose for dinner provisions, and this is what our little fridge looks like now:

This was my afternoon snack of Yorkshire puddings and black pudding, which got me through a couple hours of grading papers.

Around 4, we drove down to Bodiam Castle, another National Trust property that was free for us to enter with our membership. Quite the place, and as someone pointed out, exactly what a kid would draw if you asked them to "draw a castle."

From there, we went across the street to the Castle Inn Pub for a half pint. And that was the day....

Yes,