I needed a break! Although it might sound awfully biased, I deserved a break after a solid 2 month long stretch of work, focused on a mini project as part of my Ph.D., which resulted in a complete study and a 36 page journal paper which I submitted next week. Indeed, my co-supervisor suggested that I take a week off from work; I did not follow the tempting advice fully but took a 2.5 day break: a weekend trip to the south coast at Eastbourne and the Seven Sisters.It might seem a very bad idea to go by the sea in late November and indeed it was a very risky business but the Friday turned out to be a sunny day and come Friday afternoon, we headed on a Southern train to Eastbourne to a sea-facing B+B which I booked a few days before. Although it was a room with a sea view, by 7.30pm it was pitch dark and saw none of the English Channel but were nonetheless welcomed into a largish room with a double and a single bed, complete with flat screen and DVD player and with a largish bathroom, including a bath. Compared with our own "home" at Ealing, this seemed too luxurious! After a quick trip to the first pub round the corner, a pint or 2 whilst amused by a karaoke show, we slept after watching Casino Royale and got up unusually early on the Saturday morning.
By 8.15am, we were at the breakfast room, where an unending fiesta of saturated fats deceitfully disguised under the very appealing form of sausages, bacon, (sunny-side-up) egg, hash browns, bacon and baked beans (and coffee and toast and cake) awaited us. Oh, the joys of cooked English breakfast! The exaggerated intake of calories surely proved to be a much-needed supply of fuel for a long day ahead...
We walked up to the town centre along the pebbly coast and took a bus to a tiny place called East Dean and then down to the Seven Sisters Country Park. At the end of the River Chuckmere to be precise. There commenced our famous Satuday walk, up and down all of the 7 gleaming white chalk hills - the Seven Sisters - down to Burling Gap and the "beach", up to the Belle Tout Lighthouse and then alongside the cliffs towering above the Beachy Head lighthouse: a total of some 14 km (as the crow flies) in 4.5 hours and with a maximum gradient of some 22% towards the end. Thank you, Google Earth, for the statistics.
By 3pm, we were totally famished, not to mention the feet started to complain and our arrival at the Beachy Head Pub was more than welcome. There a massive lunch awaited: a whale of a fish-and-chips and a pint of cider in a cosy and warm ambient. Perfect. A not-so-short walk to the main road took us to the first bus stop and we were back in the town centre by 6.30pm. One long and hot bath undid all the aches and pains in the feet and it was then time for Richard Gere and Julia Roberts (yes, Pretty woman) to conclude the night. Together with nachos, cookies and what not.
Next: easy like Sunday morning. Another full English breakfast worthy of royalty and then a laid back trip around the town, starting off by a stroll along the coast up to the pier and then a visit to 1 or 2 parks and back to the centre for yet another pub lunch, which proved to take longer than usual. After lunch, we headed to the outskirts of town to a marina development until sunset (that is 4pm) and then back to the guest house for our belongings and the station.
3 hours later, we were back in Ealing, mentally refreshed, physically drained but feeling very lucky that the weather was totally brilliant (in fact even warm at times) and visiting one of the widest expanses of cliff, green and sea in Britain (together with intermittent massive consumption of food) makes me say that the Seven Sisters are a set of family members I am really glad to have made an acquaintance with!
