There are, I'm aware, worse criteria on which to base a 'which B&B?' decision, and the place happened to be charming despite a distinct lack of cookies (we forgave them after seeing the bow-tied bag of chocolate eggs on the dressing table in our room). Our bedroom was beautifully decorated, and the breakfast room delightfully chintzy and complete with a grandfather clock - a family heirloom, we were told.
The choice of destination, however, could've benefited from a re-think! Eastbourne is known to be one of 'God's waiting rooms', but I still anticipated there being more sights to see, and more entertainment on offer. The reality was hotel-with-restaurant next to hotel-with-restaurant lining the seafront - stalwarts of a gone era when expectations of holidaying in the UK were clearly much lower.
On a number of occasions during our stay, the boyfriend and I would question, 'What do young people do here?' We got an answer at nightfall, as teenagers - still a rarity relative to the older population - could be seen stalking the streets, bottles in hand. And who could blame them for this somewhat chavvy behaviour? There was the arcade on the pier, where we played air hockey like 14-year-olds on a first date, next to a couple of 14-year-olds probably on their first date, and allegedly a Curzon cinema, but otherwise nothing of interest for them. As the teens staggered about outside, older people on their hols were comfortably seated in hotel bars, enjoying their post-dinner entertainment - invariably a crooner singing Frank Sinatra/ Elvis/ etc. It's also worth mentioning that the initially packed Italian restaurant where we had dinner seemed to rapidly empty out after 8.30pm, as elderly folk and families with kids headed for bed.
I don't want to leave you with the impression that we didn't have fun in Eastbourne; these observations were a source of amusement, and didn't detract from the magical experience of walking along the beach at night, the tranquil lapping of the waters only disturbed by out footsteps upsetting the vast jigsaw of pebbles beneath us and the odd chatter of aforementioned teens (including some German tourists, bizarrely). Besides the main reason for our trip was to get away from our busy London lives for a couple of days, to somewhere comparatively unpopulated and close to the sea. In this respect, Eastbourne was no disappointed. We hiked in shoes with absolutely no grip (silly Londoners) up and down the coastline, daring some pretty steep ascents to take in the scenery.
Being England on an Easter bank holiday, we were lucky the weather held out as long as it did. As the looming clouds began to spit, we headed back to the B&B, having accomplished what was probably only a fraction of the walk to Beachy Head, but more than sufficient for us humble hikers.
We had planned to visit Lewes the next day and travel back to London from there - a smart move in retrospect, given the lack of distractions in Eastbourne. Unfortunately, the unforgiving cold weather and our tiredness (OK, my tiredness for the most part!) prevented us from exploring the town and its surroundings to their full extent. And there wasn't a whole lot to keep us occupied in Lewes, either! We'd seen the castle - the main attraction - in about half an hour; last year's trip to the epic Arundel Castle skewed our judgment of how time-consuming the castle visit would be, leaving us with several hours before our train home.
Anne of Cleeves' House provided some respite from the cold and did contain interesting historical artifacts from Lewes' considerable past. Still, we ended up sampling the culinary/ caffeinated offerings of three of the high street cafés to keep busy! If Lewes wasn't so painfully middle class and therefore home to coffee shops in abundance (relative to its size, that is), we really would've struggled to fill the time! After tea, cake, soup, salt beef sandwiches, teacakes and pretentious soft drinks (elderflower cordial and French pink lemonade), it was finally time for the train home. And, annoyingly, time for the sun to finally make an appearance.
