Travel Journal: Day trip to Rottingdean 2018

A few weekends ago my brother (Mike) and I decided to take a day trip to the town of Rottingdean in Brighton. We started our adventure at The Grange. Inside was a quaint museum featuring art, pieces about actresses, actors and films (Audrey Hepburn & Chitty Chitty Bang Bang included) and a full room dedicated to Rudyard Kipling. Although not a full days task, I do recommend popping in should you be nearby!

 

Naturally, we needed a coffee and cake stop after that and stumbled upon a stunning cafe called The Windmill filled with pastries, cakes and a window seat table – I swear my obsession with window seats keep growing. I had a divine apple danish and a cappuccino while Mike consumed beer cake (rather apt for a boy who’s tried hundreds and hundreds of different beers!) and a cuppa. I’m all about independent coffee shops so, despite possibly the cutest Costa Coffee down the road, The Windmill definitely stole my heart.

 

Being only a few miles down the coast we couldn’t resist soaking up some of the sea air during a leisurely stroll and we got to see lots of dogs which was, of course, a highlight! Tiring ourselves out – my little legs can’t carry me far – we decided it was time for lunch and headed back to the pub which had caught our eyes as we entered the town. The Plough Inn was a lovely little break with baguettes and Mike found another new beer to try. It felt like the perfect setting for a Friday Night Quiz or a Sunday roast.

 

 

At this point, there was no denying I was getting rather sleepy so we set off to see the last two places on our agenda – The Church and Kipling Garden. The Church was just beautiful and so peaceful while the architecture interested me. The Church attached to my primary school had incredible carvings and I remember drawing them in art class one day. And the gardens were quaint and proper, how a ‘Secret Garden’ should feel with its nooks and arches and hidden gates. It’s a shame it isn’t Summer when everything will be in full bloom but it was still wonderful and I can’t wait to return with my housemates for a picnic come revision day later in the year.

 

 

Now, I may have said they were the last two places on our agenda but once we got into the car to head home we saw the famous windmill not far away and just had to go or the sake of saying we’d been. To be perfectly honest it was like all windmills but who am I to ignore history when it’s right in front of me?