The Strange World of Axel Fendersson

I have now returned from my wanderings around the South coast. A good time was had by all. A few highlights:

Went down to Exeter Thursday afternoon, met up with Big Dave (who has just finished his degree there) and went for a drink at the union bar. I was impressed by the presence of three real ales on tap, but thoroughly unimpressed that they had run out of all three of them. I consoled myself with the fact that it was happy hour, and so Strongbow was only £1 a pint.

At least two of Dave’s friends may never speak to him again. After the conversation took a few strange turns, they left us somewhat frightened and disturbed. I shan’t say why; some things I do not discuss while sober.

The following day, walking into the centre of Exeter, we were a little surprised by the following empty shop:

Wondering if perhaps the West Country was really as backward as it is sometimes made out to be, we asked Dave, who explained that the name probably came from the name of the road:

Still not certain that this proved that Exeter was not a hotbed of racism, we were nonetheless delighted to find a third sign worthy of photographing in the same street:

Next up, Dave and Alex were due to participate in a Lord of the Rings CCG tournament. For some reason which I cannot fully remember (the scheme was concocted in the pub last week), Phil and I decided to dress up in mining gear (it’s probably worth mentioning that Phil is a mining engineering student), and claim to be Alex’s (whom we referred to solely as ‘The Champ’ for the duration of the tournament) support crew.

I’m still not sure what the people there made of this, but they mostly seemed to take it in their stride. Alas, the ‘The Champ’ turned out to be more of a chump, as he lost every game. Meanwhile, Dave soundly beat all four of his opponents to win the tournament. Then we moved on to Southampton, where Alex is a student.

The following afternoon, we spent a wonderful few hours in a pub called ‘The Hobbit’:

The Hobbit is a very fine pub indeed. The beer is excellent, and, from 12 noon until 9 pm, costs only £2 per pint. The atmosphere is pleasant and relaxed. A marvellous establisment all round. However, I did find the vending machine in the toilet rather odd:

Firstly, yes, it is a vending machine selling vibrators, a chocolate flavoured ‘performance enhancer’ and a substance that supposedly increases your sexual attractiveness. But more importantly, isn’t that the BSD mascot?

All in all, a very successful trip all round. However, thanks to lack of sleep (sleeping on the floor isn’t easy at the best of times, but it’s even harder when Phil is practicing for the world snoring championships on the floor next to you) I have come down with a bad cough. Grr.