Cornwall Coast

A picture of the Cornwall coast through a wall from Tintagel Castle.

On Saturday we drove down to St. Michael's Mount. It is a castle that is on its own Island and the family that owns it still lives there on the backside of the island and castle. Little did we know that the castle is not open to the public on SATURDAY! We still made the most of our time. The walkway that leads over to the castle is only usable at low tide. We decided to walk over anyway (lots of people were) and we were warned that the tide was coming in and there are no ferry's on Saturday's either. So, you know, we figured we had time. We get over there and they blow a whistle to head back, tide is coming in fast. We started back, and the water was starting to cover the path of stones. The seaweed was slick and it was slow going. Only eight minutes had past since we started across with a dry path, and the path was covered in water. It gets like 8-10 feet deep, so you cannot just wade across. You will see on the photo site the difference in the path! It was cool. We then played on the beach, (cool day) and decided to drive over to "Land's End" the farthest most western tip of England. It had started to rain by this time, so we took some pictures, shopped a little and then headed back to the castle. Overall, we had a great weekend and got to see alot of the countryside. Lots of patchwork fields and hills. The kind we see on the postcards. Another great weekend, Signing off, An American Mom in England

Tintagel Castle

I couldn't post every picture, so you will have to go to the album site to see them. This staircase is just one of the few that had to be traversed to see Tintagel Castle, the believed birthplace of "King Arthur". We also were able to go down stairs to a beach and then into "Merlin's Cave". Lots of history and stair climbing as the castle sets on a cliff above the ocean. We spent half a day there exploring. Met two old ladies from Colorado on vacation there with their church. One used to live in Chicago, so she knows who Caterpillar is. We had a great time visiting with them and talking about where they had been already.

Dan and the kids did this staircase, I did not. I had already traversed down to Merlin's cave, and opposite this staircase, is another winding up staircase that leads to the main castle. I saved my strength for that one.

Cornwall Coast

Camelot Castle Hotel. This is where we stayed for the two nights in Cornwall. It is right on the coast up on the cliffs. Beautiful views of the ocean and surrounding areas. The Album page will have more pictures of the Hotel on it. The Hotel opened in 1887 and of course, is old. Wood floors in the rooms and they added bathrooms at a later date. Caleb had trouble adjusting because the rooms were so large and "old". It was great. It was built inside and out to look like a castle and it does. Ted, John and Irina own the castle. Ted is an artist and his art is displayed everywhere in the castle. He is quite popular here in England with some paintings selling for somewhere in the 1,000,000 pound range. John is an heir to a billionaire jewlry business and Irina is his daughter. We, Dan and I, saw Ted, but did not get to meet him. Luke and Ben are a different story. We arrived on Friday night around 9:00 p.m.. By 10:00 p.m. Dan and I were ready for bed and Luke and Ben wanted to walk into to town. We said no, but they could walk around the castle (no cliffs) and see if they were serving food in the bar. The next morning we find out that they did go in the bar at 10:00 p.m. and ask if they could get something to eat, and the bartender (polish) answers NO FOOD. So they go to the front to go outside and who is coming in, but Ted, himself. He asks the boys if they are having a good time, and they say yes, but does he no where they can get something to eat. (At this time they do not know who they are talking to) Ted, says, "why here of course". And Ben and Luke inform him, that no, "NO FOOD" is being served. Ted goes to the office and they see him heatedly discussing something with a man, and the next thing they know, Ted is showing them a table in the bar and handing them the menu and telling them to pick anything. They can get anything to eat. At some point he introduced himself. The next morning when they told Dan and I, we were like, What! I asked Ben if he left a tip, and of course the answer was NO. Oh well. So, the hotel was really nice and very accomodating to our needs.

Cornwall Trip

So, like it is one of the top 10 wonders of the world to see. They are right! It is mind boggling to actually be there and see it for yourself! Stonehenge. It was really neat to be there and see all the thousands of people who came to see it also. The traffic going south on Friday was nasty, it took 8 hours of driving instead of the 51/2 it was supposed to take. I guess everyone was headed off for a holiday and half of them were headed to Stonehenge. What most of us don't know, is that this awesome display can be seen from the carriage way as you pass it! Instead of a hill, Stonehenge is sitting up there for all to see. It was cool.

POND BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN !

Life in England Update

So, for those of you just tuning in, Somehow I have deleted my blog site. Pressed the one, little, wrong button. If it was a notebook, I could just turn back the page! After sitting for an hour, and deleting my last blog update, I shall begin again and maybe this time it will be shorter. Yes, all the other writings, updates, pictures, are all gone for those of you just joining us. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I am not happy!!!! So, here I go again.

Last Saturday was the Burghley Proms. About 6,000 people go to these. It is a huge concert on the grounds of the Burghley House. This is the house where they filmed some of "Pride and Prejudice". They have jousting tournaments, cannon fire, fireworks, opera singing and a fine orchestra up front. We all brought something to share and the Cat families (17 of them) shared dinner together. We visiting and just enjoyed the night. The kids were entertained with old time carnival rides and games. We are glad we went since next year we will be home for the month of July. It was a good time.

Belle missed two days of her last 4 days of school this week. She had a sore throat and cough. It is the first illness that anyone one of us has had since arriving here. We started on the Pond this week. Ben decided that it would be a "project" for him. We decided to remove the grass/sod that has grown all around the pond, covering the beautiful flagstones that they layed when they put the pond in. I will include a before and after photo so you can see it.
Caleb had a Disco with Kylee this week and a lady on a horse stopped by to give me an estimate for some painting I need done. We also fit in two movies at the theaters. One was Shreck III and the other, Hairspray. I highly recommend Hairspray. You can't help but fall in love with Tracy Turnblad, and she just makes you want to get up and dance with her! I hope all young people can learn from this film that it is about what is inside, not the picture on the outside. Great film.

Luuuuuuuuuuuke, Ben's friend is arriving on Thursday. Ben will go down on the train and then take the tube across England to pick up Luuuuuuuuuke at the airport. I can't help but say "Luuuuuuuuuke" "I am your father". Ben hates this and we have been warned that we cannot say Lukes name like this to him. Ha, Ha, Ha. We can't wait until Luke is here! We will be off to Cornwall for the weekend. We are staying at a Hotel that has three ghosts. I just found this out this week when I stumbled upon some information about haunted hotels. I couldn't believe it! We are not telling the kids about it. Are you kidding, I am going to have enough trouble sleeping! One of the ghosts is a nurse whom people wake up to while she is trying to give them a bath in bed! Another ghost throws pictures off the walls and the other ghost walks between the hotel and Tintagel Castle in the early morning. This is between you and me and Dan of course.

Before I go, some things that I know about England:

- Hiya, Are you all right then? (means, how ya doing?)
- Words with "z" are spelled with "s". Like, realized is realised.
- When your child is invited for "Tea" that means dinner also.
- Whenever you are invited to "a gathering" alcohol is always involved. I found this out when I was handed a pretty drink with fruit in it, at Belles school bar-b-q, called a Pimms. This is a drink with Gin, sprite and fruit in it. It was good, but imagine my surprise when I found out I had downed a glass! Dan even drank mine, and didn't realize what it was until I told him. Luckily we weren't driving! Just joking. Just a little Gin.
- When Belle tells me she feels "poorly" this mean she doesn't feel well.
- I love the village life. Everyone knows everyone else. Like our neighborhood but bigger.
- Never, ever eat "blood pudding". Filtered blood of animals through bread, meat, whatever, and you eat it. Globs.

So I will leave you with those thoughts, and what my week was like. Until next time!

An American Mom in England