An American in Sussex: Lewes & Week 2

Fall has arrived in Brighton with a vengeance, blowing away the sunshine and sweeping in the dark clouds and nippy days. Last week the weather was unusually warm, while this week was more normal for South England. I admit, I'm loving the colder temperatures. I get to wear my jackets and tights- all of the things that we have such a short window for in Phoenix!

I started classes on Tuesday. I'm taking two history classes as well as German and French. All of my classes seem interesting so far- I'm especially in love with my German class. My professor seems very cool and relaxed, and the class doesn't feel intimidating at all. Sussex has a tradition of referring to professors by their first names, not by Dr or Professor. It's taken a little getting used to, since that's not the case at home! I only have 8 actual hours of class a week, but a fair bit of reading in the meantime. For now, I'm enjoying the luxury of being able to walk to all of my classes within 5 minutes from my flat. No hour car rides out to Polytechnic this semester!

I spend part of yesterday in the town of Lewes, which is about 6 minutes on the train from Falmer. I went with 3 other girls who are studying abroad from the US as well. Lewes is awesome. It has tons of unique little shops, antique bookstores, and the castle was absolutely so cool. You can climb to the very top of the castle. I think we commented how pretty/beautiful it was every two minutes! :) The gardeners do an amazing job at the castle. It is COVERED in flowers and greenery. You can spy on the entire town and their backyards from the top of the castle. The town of Lewes is over 1000 years old, and the castle was built by William de Warenne, the brother in law of William the Conqueror. Apparently, de Warenne can count himself as the second richest person in England in the last THOUSAND years. His fortune would be valued at 74 billion pounds today. Pretty crazy! One of the plaques also noted that he was known as a "distinguished lecher".

The castle had a lot of the little spiral staircases that seem impossible to both climb up and down. We dressed up in some of the costumes they had available in the learning center as well. We also walked down to the Ann of Cleves house, which was part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII. Thomas Paine (American Revolutionary!) also lived and wrote for a time in Lewes.

So far, one my favourite visits in England. I actually went back today to do a little book shopping and in the process found one of the coolest shops I've ever been in (Dee, you would love this!!).