Living in the UK has been fantastic and we've visited some amazing, poignant places in the north, but we haven't been to the south much. We'd heard all the rumors and legends about England's Key West, Cornwall, and decided to check it out for ourselves. So, we sorted a self-catering cottage to coincide with Sandy's May half-term break from school and headed south on a Friday after school and work. We stopped to overnight in Oxford with some friends.
All we could say was "wow, nice house."
(Yes, that is a real thatched roof.)
All we could say was "wow, nice house."
(Yes, that is a real thatched roof.)
Sandy even had a surprise birthday cake!
We got up, bid farewell to our friends and made the remainder of the grueling trip to the tip end of England the next day - about another 7 hours of driving in holiday traffic!!! Booooooooo. But, we did find a strange farm selling homemade cider ("scrumpy") way down in Devon. A bit odd and a little sketchy but, what the heck. He had the 3 standard flavors: dry, medium and sweet. They all were pumped from the same underground barrel and tasted the same.
Our cottage was in a little village called Bridge, which was about a mile from the north Cornwall coast beach town of Portreath and about 10 miles from St Ives, the famous artist haven. Penzance was about 30 min to the south of us. It was a really nice, cozy cottage with a big garden, a methodist church, a pub and a retired policeman next door. No wild parties for us!
The garden was fantastic and the girls really had a blast
stretching their legs with a good game of golf after the car ride.
Is that a banana tree in the neighbor's yard?
Yes it is!
A banana tree in England!
This is shaping up to be a great holiday.
After a typical cool, wet Yorkshire spring, we were ready for a bit of sun and warmth. Cornwall didn't disappoint. We hit the beach the next day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There was a bit of wind and we had learned the lesson about wetsuits but apparently not about wind breaks... So, we found a nice sunny spot on the back side of a huge rock and sat down to let the girls play.
It was actually very hot once we were out of the wind. After warming the winter out of our bones and watching the girls run, Sam and I decided to apply ourselves to a more industrious task and collected a few pounds of the mussels growing on our rock. We took these home and had a fantastic dinner. That's right, we picked the mussels off the rocks on the beach and ate them (steamed in white wine, garlic and fresh parsley from their garden -mmm.... fantastic!)
After our fresh, seafood dinner, we celebrated Sandy's 5th birthday
with presents, a cake and some time in the garden to run off the cake.
The next day dawned a bit grey and rainy, so we decided to head out to the Eden Project. It is a sustainable biosphere/biome project built in an old tin mine pit. It sounded a bit weak but, I thought we would give it a try, especially since Sam was sooooo excited about seeing the composting and grey water recycling plan.... does that sound exciting? anyone?
It was actually a fantastic place.
They have a huge indoor tropical rainforest,
a mediterranean climate biome and a lot of
sustainable farming demo plots for the northern climate.
The girls really liked the huge outdoor chalk board and the native Cornish Rock gongs.
We took the long way home and travelled well off the beaten path, through some small, narrow roads and found a cornish winery among the quaint villages. It was actually pretty good.
We had some nice weather the next day so, we set out for the end of England: Land's End. It was a bit touristy but, still a very stunning view along the sea cliffs.
After Land's end, we took off for some surfing and more beach time.
Cold water + pretty good waves = a tired husband.
The girls even had a go on the board. Naturals.
(sorry for my enthusiastic squeals of delight in the background)
We spent the next day exploring Newquay's seaside and aquarium. Small but good. The sharks were a bit intimidating to the girls (Molly was not a fan).
We went from there up to Padstow, home of Rick Stein's seafood empire (think: Emeril Lagasse of the UK, only without the "BAM!"). He's got at least 3 different types of restaraunts in this little port town and serves a fantastic fish and chips.
Thursday was the day for the beach, surfing and hiking.
Molly with a rock for Da and the girls in their nice, "warm" tidal pool...
This is part of the Southwest Coastal Path, the longest Trail in England. Spectacularly dotted with coves, beaches and shipwrecks; it's like walking through a movie. Sandy hiked with Sam for 7 miles back to our cottage. I nearly had the rescue called out for them because it was a loooonnnnggg 7 miles for Sandy... She was really fantastic by all accounts.
Friday was our checkout day so, we drove north to Tintagel to see Camelot!
It is really a neat ruin in an amazing spot.
Look at how beautiful the water is.
We even found Dozmary Pool where Excalibur and the
Lady of the Lake lie waiting for the return of the king!
We drove out of Cornwall with suntans and beads of sweat on our foreheads because it was super hot!
Look at that: 80 degrees!
(hadn't seen above 17oC since we moved to England)
On the drive back north, we passed through the Cotswolds and stopped in Bath overnight to check out the Roman Baths. The Caesars of old are still reclining at their sacred waters!
We also stopped through Avebury to climb on the ancient stones.
We had lunch on the hill where St. George killed the Dragon! The design on the hill behind us is a chalk horse. It's been here for a few thousand years, just like all the standing stones. The chalky area we are sitting on is supposedly the spot where the dragon's blood spilled on the earth and nothing will grow there to this day!
We straggled out of the Cotswolds and finished off the drive north with big smiles, fantastic memories and tired eyes.
~xoxo~
Our cottage was in a little village called Bridge, which was about a mile from the north Cornwall coast beach town of Portreath and about 10 miles from St Ives, the famous artist haven. Penzance was about 30 min to the south of us. It was a really nice, cozy cottage with a big garden, a methodist church, a pub and a retired policeman next door. No wild parties for us!
The garden was fantastic and the girls really had a blast
stretching their legs with a good game of golf after the car ride.
Is that a banana tree in the neighbor's yard?
Yes it is!
A banana tree in England!
This is shaping up to be a great holiday.
After a typical cool, wet Yorkshire spring, we were ready for a bit of sun and warmth. Cornwall didn't disappoint. We hit the beach the next day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There was a bit of wind and we had learned the lesson about wetsuits but apparently not about wind breaks... So, we found a nice sunny spot on the back side of a huge rock and sat down to let the girls play.
It was actually very hot once we were out of the wind. After warming the winter out of our bones and watching the girls run, Sam and I decided to apply ourselves to a more industrious task and collected a few pounds of the mussels growing on our rock. We took these home and had a fantastic dinner. That's right, we picked the mussels off the rocks on the beach and ate them (steamed in white wine, garlic and fresh parsley from their garden -mmm.... fantastic!)
After our fresh, seafood dinner, we celebrated Sandy's 5th birthday
with presents, a cake and some time in the garden to run off the cake.
The next day dawned a bit grey and rainy, so we decided to head out to the Eden Project. It is a sustainable biosphere/biome project built in an old tin mine pit. It sounded a bit weak but, I thought we would give it a try, especially since Sam was sooooo excited about seeing the composting and grey water recycling plan.... does that sound exciting? anyone?
It was actually a fantastic place.
They have a huge indoor tropical rainforest,
a mediterranean climate biome and a lot of
sustainable farming demo plots for the northern climate.
The girls really liked the huge outdoor chalk board and the native Cornish Rock gongs.
We took the long way home and travelled well off the beaten path, through some small, narrow roads and found a cornish winery among the quaint villages. It was actually pretty good.
We had some nice weather the next day so, we set out for the end of England: Land's End. It was a bit touristy but, still a very stunning view along the sea cliffs.
After Land's end, we took off for some surfing and more beach time.
Cold water + pretty good waves = a tired husband.
The girls even had a go on the board. Naturals.
(sorry for my enthusiastic squeals of delight in the background)
We spent the next day exploring Newquay's seaside and aquarium. Small but good. The sharks were a bit intimidating to the girls (Molly was not a fan).
We went from there up to Padstow, home of Rick Stein's seafood empire (think: Emeril Lagasse of the UK, only without the "BAM!"). He's got at least 3 different types of restaraunts in this little port town and serves a fantastic fish and chips.
Thursday was the day for the beach, surfing and hiking.
Molly with a rock for Da and the girls in their nice, "warm" tidal pool...
This is part of the Southwest Coastal Path, the longest Trail in England. Spectacularly dotted with coves, beaches and shipwrecks; it's like walking through a movie. Sandy hiked with Sam for 7 miles back to our cottage. I nearly had the rescue called out for them because it was a loooonnnnggg 7 miles for Sandy... She was really fantastic by all accounts.
Friday was our checkout day so, we drove north to Tintagel to see Camelot!
It is really a neat ruin in an amazing spot.
Look at how beautiful the water is.
We even found Dozmary Pool where Excalibur and the
Lady of the Lake lie waiting for the return of the king!
We drove out of Cornwall with suntans and beads of sweat on our foreheads because it was super hot!
Look at that: 80 degrees!
(hadn't seen above 17oC since we moved to England)
On the drive back north, we passed through the Cotswolds and stopped in Bath overnight to check out the Roman Baths. The Caesars of old are still reclining at their sacred waters!
We also stopped through Avebury to climb on the ancient stones.
We had lunch on the hill where St. George killed the Dragon! The design on the hill behind us is a chalk horse. It's been here for a few thousand years, just like all the standing stones. The chalky area we are sitting on is supposedly the spot where the dragon's blood spilled on the earth and nothing will grow there to this day!
We straggled out of the Cotswolds and finished off the drive north with big smiles, fantastic memories and tired eyes.
~xoxo~
