I love spring; it’s absolutely the most
rejuvenating time of the year. My time in Brixham with the Preston family
surpassed my hopes and expectations. I would have been content to maybe wonder
around a bit, and spend the rest of the time preparing for home. But Dave and
Elise went beyond that and every day was something both new and rewarding. I
was exhausted by the end of each day, so you can be sure I slept uninterrupted
time and time again.
Elise was right there waiting for me the moment I got of the
3 car train from the Newton Abbot connection. I got to meet her mother-in law,
Sandra, who’s quite lovely, and often has many interesting things to talk
about. I really appreciated this opportunity to get to know the newest
additions to the Skura family. Everyone
is so busy with their individual lives- and I mainly speak for myself, if I
have learned anything from traveling so much, it’s the importance of family and
friends. Family is great because there is this unbreakable bond that time
cannot touch. Friends are good too, because they can be as strong as family
bonds, but that is optional and hopefully friends choose to mutually
acknowledge that although distance and time might prevent a more tangible
friendship, but the small world affect will at some point bring them back
together at some time in the future.
We ordered Chinese food, which was quite delightful since I
have not had it in quite a decent while. I’ve made it a point to try something
new while I’m traveling. Because so far I have tried very little that I didn’t
like. We went out several times, so I got to try fish and chips with salt and
vinegar, sticky toffee pudding, a pasty, a traditional cake, a curry, ale,
rosary wine, honey and icecream, and a proper English breakfast. The
proportions were too generous, and now I’m at a desperate need to exercise all
day long for about a month.
Elise toured me around Friday while everyone else was at
work. We walked down to the Battery Gardens, Fishcombe cove, and Breakwater.
Brixham was a fortification for Britain during the World Wars. I love being by
the sea. I don’t care where nor what time of the year. It literally washes away
any tension, and brings remarkable peace to anyone who will listen to it. The
coastline in Brixham… well a pictures worth a thousand words.
I got to meet Phillip, Dave’s twin brother. He came down to
the local restaurant with us Friday night for dinner and a drink. We all got to
know each other, talk, and have fun with the table assets.
Saturday we met up with Sarah, Dave’s friend from Scotland.
She’s a tiny brilliant thing. She was awesome at carrying the conversations. It
was hard to want to say too much, because whatever the topic I wanted to hear
what she had to say. Phil took us to a nearby town called Exeter. The shopping
area was impressive. Some Roman ruins and a quick stop in a French café made it
worth it. We were supposed to go for a boat ride up the harbor, but the weather
was unaccommodating. Dave cooked for us
this time- pasta and veggies topped with cheese and bread crumbs? Beyond
delicious. 
Sunday: We met for an early lunch at the local restaurant again.
This time Rob, Phil’s friend, came with us as well. We all wanted a nap
afterwards; the meal was so filling, though the sun was finally coming out, so
we couldn’t waste the opportunity! The group of us minus Phil and Rob went for a walk past Brixham cove. We stopped
in at a charity military museum on the way. We got to play with the guns.
It was decided Monday that we would go to the Paignton Zoo.
The second largest in England actually, because it had once been the zoo in
London, but all the animals were moved to a more remote location, Paignton
during one of the world wars so as to prevent it from being bombed. –That was
thoughtful of them. The weather was interesting. The day started out
brilliantly, but it decided to rain just as we were getting off the bus. It
really hit heavy as we were going through the “wetlands” in the zoo. Animals
are soo adorable. My favorites; monkey’s for their humane personalities, large
birds for their prehistoric resemblance, parakeets for their simply adorable
show-offish personalities. And the Red Panda- what an adorable face. We saw a
stuffed animal in the gift shop, and the faces were exactly the same, adorable
and fluffy.(Sep. Section to be included)
At the end of most evenings the family gathered in the
living room for a show of the night. I felt pretty nicely exposed to some
English television. One show in particular was Swedish/Danish, The Bridge. It
was not in English, but it was accompanied by subtitles, and I absolutely envy
the female cop character for her down to earth logic. Like Bones, only a more
severe case.
After the Zoo, however, I spent the last night back down at
our restaurant, where we just relaxed a few hours in a warm social environment.
There is something wrong with though that I must fix. This whole time and I
have not discussed pirates once. The problem with this is that, of all the
places I went, there was no where we went where we did not see at least one
pirate. Apparently Brixham wins awards for having the most people dressed up as
pirates on a daily basis. Haha. 
The fun is not over though, even Tuesday my last day, with a
train taking me back to London at 3, we
fit in one more excursion. Battlehead perhaps? We went up to the shortest
lighthouse in the world perhaps, yet highest point in England. There were two
main points we went to today. And when we got to the second one we just sat and
relaxed for a decent while. What a beautiful day and way to help bring my 4 and
a half months of traveling to an end. I’m anxious to be home. Goodbye Preston’s
and Sarah, it was great to see you again, Elise, get to know you better, Dave, and meet you all Sandra, Phil
and Sarah. Thank you for being such wonderful hosts and people. I’ll look
forward to seeing you again. 
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| Guard House (1802) where they watched over the fort drawbridge |
Experimenting with Zoom.
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