Here's what's been happening.
The occasional webcam
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Well, here we are. One month closer to coming home. And although the last month was pretty quiet, I can sense time will soon be moving very quickly. We've got some trips planned, some to plan, visitors coming, packing to do, etc… We'll be home before you know it. Well, at least before we know it.
Here's what's been happening. |
The occasional webcam |
After hearing so much about how beautiful Devon and Cornwall are (known here as the West Country), we finally made it down for a weekend with the gang - Sharon, Steve, Alex, Tim, Autumn and Trevor. Sharon's a native (from Exeter) and Trevor's folks have lived down there for a number of years (in Bideford) so we had some good tour guides. (Apparently, natives don't go home on holidays or in the summer because there are way too many 'grockles', or tourists.) The plan was to use the Tull's (Trevor's folks) as home base - 4 stayed there and 4 of us stayed at a nearby hotel. Their place is about 3 hours from Oxford. With lots on the list to see we headed down on Thursday night to get a full day in on Friday. Take a look at the map at right to get a sense of where Devon and Cornwall are.
Although the hotel included breakfast, it was nothing compared to what we saw when we arrived at the Tull's Friday morning to pick up the rest of the crew. There was a proper English fry-up going on there that ours just couldn't compare to. And they had the nerve to still be eating it when we got there! All was forgiven when we were invited to join them Saturday morning. No small feat cooking a good breakfast for 10 people - eggs, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, toast….the works! But I digress.
First on our agenda was Diggerland, an adventure park where you can "ride in, and drive, different types of construction machinery including Dump Trucks, Mini Diggers and Giant Diggers". Trevor was given some vouchers for his birthday and we were all pretty excited about it. So we drove east for about an hour only to find out that they were closed! The staff was there cleaning up and getting ready for their busy season so we did get to go in and take a few pictures of what we missed. Looked like it could have been a lot of fun. Sigh. (Check out www.diggerland.com for more info.)
Dejected, we headed back, turning north along the way up to Lynmouth and Lynton, two seaside villages on the north Devon coast. It was a beautiful ride through some pretty windy roads and steep hills.
The villages of Lynton and Lynmouth are located in the Exmoor National Park and are set amongst some of the most beautiful scenery in the British Isles. Both villages have been popular holiday locations for over one hundred and fifty years. The area, embraced as it is by the Exmoor hills, was christened "Little Switzerland " and the "Alps of England" by the Victorians. The Lynmouth harbour was once used for by coastal schooners bringing in coal from Wales, though nowadays you are more likely to see a visiting yacht moored up.Lynmouth is linked to Lynton above by our intriguing water-powered cliff railway dating from 1890. Two lift cars are connected via a continuous cable . Water discarded from the lower car, causes the heavier top car to decend, the 500 feet to the Lower Station . An ingenious system ensures the brakes are always applied.
Once there we took a walk through the town and did a little window-shopping along the way. Lynmouth, the village at the bottom of the cliff, seemed less built up and commercial than Lynton, but both were pretty quiet. The views were amazing. Felt a little like being on the cape, but a lot older and a lot less crowded.
We did take the railway up to Lynton but then walked back down. Pretty steep, and a little tough on the knees, but good exercise and beautiful to boot. By the time we got back down, ready now to do the real shopping, most of the stores had closed. Rats. Apparently there are lots of walking / hiking trails around but we didn't have time during the weekend for anything more than the main sites. Maybe next time.
On our way home then we stopped in another picturesque seaside village called Appledore, once known for fishing and shipbuilding. Pretty deserted when we were there, but full of cute little streets and houses.
| Devon - click for bigger picture | ||||
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) Diggerland entrance |
) Diggerland - Spin Ride |
) Kiddie Digger |
) The group on the tram |
) Lynmouth-at the entrance to the sea |
) Low tide in Lynmouth |
) Railway up to Lynton |
) Looking down to Lynmouth |
) View from Lynton |
) Alex and Tim on the trail |
) Yorkshire Pud - yum! |
) Classic firestation in Appledore |
) Appledore sunset |
) Trevor,Steve,Autumn, Tim,Alex,Sharon,Toby |
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Dinner that night was at the Tull's - no lack of food there! And after dinner we sat around the table (10 of us) playing penny ante card games called Chase the Ace and Newmarket. I know it sounds like a funny thing for a group of 30-40 years olds to do on a Friday night while on holiday, but it was really a hoot. We had a great time. (I came away even but Tom was up a few pence for the night!)
Saturday morning (after an excellent breakfast!) we headed out to Tintagel Castle, the highlight of the trip. According to legend, it is the place where King Arthur was born. Or at least conceived. There isn't much of the castle left, but the location is spectacular - on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. Actually, they can't do it justice because they don't capture the feeling you get standing there. It's awesome. There's a cave there that is said to be Merlin's cave just across from the castle sight. The castle is almost on an island - there is just a narrow bit connecting the sight to the mainland.
It also happens to be the place where Trevor proposed to Autumn last year. (Very romantic Trevor - nicely done!) Luckily we'll still be here for the wedding - July 3rd.
Tintagel Castle is a little walk from town, down a big hill and up a lot of very steep stairs. Then you can rest and take in the view. If you want to go to the adjacent sight, it's back down the steep steps and up another big bunch of steep steps. Then it's back up the big hill you came down in order to get back to town. We ate a lot that weekend, but we certainly got our exercise!
| Tintagel Castle (Cornwall) - click for bigger picture | |||||
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) Approach to Tintagel (gotta go down before you can go up!) |
) Steve,Trevor,Sharon,Autumn |
) Tom and Toby |
) Picture postcard view! |
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) Panorama view - note the two Trevors! |
) Toby at the top |
) Tom at the top |
) Trevor reenacting his proposal to Autumn (can you see them?) |
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) The gang again! |
) Steep climb! |
) Looking back to Tintagel |
) The Old Post Office in Tintagel (15th century) |
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) Tom taking a break |
) The gang one more time |
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On the way home we stopped in nearby Boscastle for an afternoon cream tea and real Cornish pasties (pastries with meat, steak in our case, potatoes and peas or other veg). (Tintagel is in Cornwall, not Devon.) Boscastle is the only natural harbour for 20 miles along the North Cornwall Coast. A hundred years the village was a thriving port, but the coming of the railways, whilst ending the isolation of North Cornwall, soon saw its decline as a trading port. We didn't really have too much time to walk around but the pasty was delicious!
Another thing native to the area is clotted cream, also called Devonshire cream. It is a thick cream made by slowly heating rich, unpasteurized milk to about 82 degrees Centigrade and holding it that temperature for about an hour. A very thick, yellow layer of clots or coagulated clumps of cream forms on the top. It has a minimum fat content of 55 percent. It is a traditional accompaniment to the English 'cream tea,' served with jam and scones. You should see the Brits pile it on their scones. Man, they love this stuff. We think it'll kill ya. (Not that it's not good, mind you. But it will kill you.) We don't really have it back home since unpasteurized milk is so hard to get in the States. Probably a good thing for our national health.
To work off all the cream, we went to a "carvery disco" that night. Basically a dinner / dance with an all you can eat buffet (with hand carved beef and turkey) in a lovely old hotel followed by Nigel the DJ and disco lights. Once we got over being rushed through dinner it was actually quite a fun night. Turns out there were only three tables there that night for the dancing. Us, another table of about 8 who sat quietly and finally left, and a table of 4 including an older couple (who were great dancers!) and a younger couple, one with a sprained ankle. We basically had the place to ourselves and worked hard to get Nigel to play more 80's rock - the stuff we wanted to dance to. Tom and I were the first ones up (as always) and once we got the other three guys up on the dance floor we couldn't control them. Boys are funny that way, aren't they?
On our last day in Devon we went to Clovelly:
Set into a steep hillside, Clovelly is one of the most famous villages in the world. The single cobbled high street winds its way down the hillside through traditional whitewashed cottages festooned with fuchsias and geraniums. The high street drops 122m (400ft) in 0.8km (half a mile) through the 16th century cottages to a small harbour. This ancient fishing village is mentioned in the Doomsday book (c.1100 A.D.) and it is probable that a settlement existed before that, in Saxon times. ……but it was a 16th century lawyer, George Cary, who really established the village as a viable community. George Cary, built the stone harbour quay - establishing Clovelly a the only safe harbour between Boscastle in Cornwall and Appledore. The small harbour was sheltered up to 60 fishing boats, but due to the decline of the herring fishery this has now dwindled to a handful of small boats.Apparently, it is a private estate which allows them to charge a £4 entrance fee.
It really is conceptually cool and very scenic. Although from a practical standpoint it makes no sense. Way too steep! There is only pedestrian access to the village although there are generally donkeys around to help carry stuff (and tourists) up and down as well as a land rover that will take you up from the harbour via back roads. As you can see in one of the pictures, residents all have "sledges" (sleds) to help them carry things. There were a couple of small museums, and art gallery and a little post office / convenient store type place there but not much else (other than restaurants). It was a nice walk down to the harbour but a much slower walk back up. There was a cool pottery shop at the top though, and the donkeys were there too. Just not working that day, I guess.
) Clovelly - from the top |
) Clovelly - from the bottom |
) Autumn,Trevor,Tom |
) Clovelly - note the sleds to carry cargo from above (no cars) |
Totally exhausted from all our adventures (and all our climbing) we went back to the Tull's for some sandwiches before heading back home again. The Tull's were great hosts (and cooks) and really made us feel welcome. Despite all that we did, it was a very relaxed weekend with some pretty good weather for the time of year. No rain until the ride home. And even that turned out to be pretty cool since we actually got to drive through a rainbow on the drive back! Both cars noticed it and commented on it when we stopped for coffee along the way. Wish we'd had the camera…
Other goings-on
Well, that was the best part of the last month, but here are some other little happenings for you.
We went to another pub quiz with the group - this one at a very American-like pub. Huge menus (physical size of menu) and huge plates of mediocre food for little money. Not very inspiring, and we didn't do very well on the quiz either. None-the-less, a good excuse to have some fun.
We went to the American store on the Navy base again - this time scoring some Captain Crunch for Tom. Actually, I went without Tom (just a ladies trip this time) and I have to say that while I thought it would be less exciting the 2nd time and that I would be 'cooler' about it…..I was wrong. It was great. You wouldn't believe how exciting it is to see a package of Hostess Cupcakes, or some Oodles of Noodles or Keebler cookies. It's sad, actually. And I admit it. Still, we got our pickles and macaroni & cheese. And a People magazine. And some Wheat Thins. OK. I'll stop.
Tom's bowling continues to dazzle the local population (not really, says Tom). He went bowling with some colleagues (that's what they call co-workers here) and kicked some butt! Wish I had been there to see it. Although Akzo is planning another bowling night so maybe I'll get to see a repeat performance. And maybe next time I'll remember which fingers your supposed to use when bowling and my game will improve!
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As we mentioned last month, we did get to spend another day with Tom's sister's family before they headed home. Everyone was much happier having gotten over their jet lag, especially the girls. They were great - very sweet and we had a fun day out.
I got an email from my 5-year-old cousin Daniel telling me about a school project where they had to write to people far away and asking if he could write to me. Sure, says I, would love to get a letter him. Turns out it was a homework assignment asking me to write (briefly) about my city, state or country and to include "interesting facts, exciting nearby attractions, historical / geographical landmarks and a description of your weather / climate" and to send some pictures and to take a picture with the paper snowman they sent so they could see who he visited! Brief?! It was not easy, let me tell you. First of all, to limit what I could say about this place I love? To briefly tell about historical landmarks in England??? To make it understandable for a kindergarten class? It was torture, but I hope we did him proud. We put in some of the pictures we've taken and Tom even made a map showing where we are in relation to Virginia (where Daniel lives). Did you know that the population of London is about the same as the population of Virginia? Now you do.
TheatreLooking Ahead
We leave for Venice on Thursday. April sees a few visitors including Aunt Doris and our friend Celeste (happy birthday TODAY!).Bits & Bobs
And there you have it for this report.
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