A couple of years ago at about this time of the year, the bloke and I visited Rye in southern England. Rye is a town popular with tourists and has many gift shops, souvenir shops, pubs, hotels, and tea rooms. The town has a rich history. It is located on the coast and The Mermaid Inn and The Olde Bell Inn were both used by smugglers. Many of the buildings date to the middle ages, and The Mermaid Inn dates to the mid-1100s. I enjoyed wandering around this town and getting photographs. It is a picturesque town with some beautiful buildings, but I regret that we could not spend a little longer here. I would have loved to have had a drink in one of the old pubs.
Much of the town is built on the hill. At the bottom of the hill is the dock area.
The Old Bell pub
Bell at The Old Bell
Beautiful carved detail on side of building
Many of the names of houses or streets refer to the sea or trading/smugglers. Trader's Passage is one place, and Watch Bell lane and Mermaid Street are others. Many buildings have their build date inscribed. "The House with the Seat" was another name for one of the houses here.
Trader's Passage and Oak Corner
The Mermaid Inn
The Mermaid Inn
Thomas House
We found ourselves at St. Mary's Church, which is one of the oldest buildings in the town. We had a peek inside before a wedding was due to take place.
We also had a visit to the castle, known as Ypres Tower.
At the end of our visit, it was time for a cup of tea and cake. We stopped off at Apothecary coffee shop on the way back to the car. It's a charming little shop on the corner of the High Street, and it's the perfect place to watch people. They have a large selection of cakes. I also loved the interior, which is made with old books, old card catalog cabinets and other chemistry or biology-related trinkets.
All cakes were presented in wonderful cake domes. It was a hard decision for me to decide which flavour of cake to have as they all looked delicious.
At the end, I had a bite to eat for lunch and this was followed by chocolate cake and tea, which was tasty.
Have you ever been to Rye? I recommend visiting it.
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