A trip and a Birthday in Cornwall

This year, I asked the Vs if they wanted a trip on their birthday or a party for their friends; given that last year, we had just moved to London a few days before their b'dy and so we didn't know anyone we could call for a party. I was really thrilled and relieved to find them choose the trip without any hesitation. I'm sure that will change soon, but till then, best to make the most of it! 

So for our trip cum birthday celebration, I chose a week driving through the stunning countryside in Cornwall. And to stay, I booked the Olde House, a very interesting place which had self catering cottages as well as an indoor swimming pool, a sauna, a jacuzzi, an indoor and out door play area for children and some sheep, goats, alpacas, rabbits, geese that the kids could feed.  This turned out to be the wisest decision I made on this trip, because even though the price was quite steep (Diamond jubilee weekend), it offered enough and more to keep the kids occupied during the days of bad weather (out of a 6 day stay, we had 4 days of bad weather!)

But for this post, I didn't want to do a summary of the trip. Instead, I thought, why not do a behind-the-scenes kind of a post where while you see the pictures of the breath-taking Cornish landscape, you also get to know a little bit of the drama that happens on our trips...

Stonehenge

Our first stop was Stonehenge, which is right on the way, when you drive to Cornwall.

I insisted we make a stopover here and buy tickets and get inside to see it up close. 

While I went on raving about the mystery that surrounds this prehistoric monument, I was brought crashing down to Planet Earth with Vj's "These are stones! Don't tell me we paid so much just to see 10 stones standing in the middle of a field"! 

And then the Mother added her two bit with a "These aren't even carved! In our India, they'd have at least made some pretty carvings on the stone before they put them there"!!!!

Oh lord in the Heaven's above! Carvings on the Stonehenge??!!!

Maybe it's time I seriously considered travelling alone!

The beaches of Cornwall

So, if you thought a trip to a beach in England would be all about lying on the sand, soaking in the sun, splashing in the sea, barely having any clothes on, think again!!! It was thankfully a dry day (cloudy but not wet) when we landed on the first beautiful beach in Cornwall. . . . . . . . . only to discover the wind was so chilly, you couldn't take off your jackets and the water was freezing cold; you'd have to be a coldblooded sea creature to venture into the sea. All plans of spending days lazing on the beach were promptly discarded for warmer destinations!

Here is another stunningly beautiful beach, with little rock pools. 

Notice there are hardly people around? 

The day we landed here, there was a gale blowing! My boys stepped out of the car and stepped right back in screaming "Wind blow me away". A few surfers told us it was much better down at the beach which was protected by cliffs from all sides. But again, almost sub zero (okay, not technically sub-zero, but felt like it) temperatures made it almost impossible to linger for more than half an hr! 

At this point, I must stop and applaud the British for being, unarguably the most optimistic people on the planet. What else would you call a bunch of people waiting on a beach, huddled up inside tents, with their jackets and sweatshirts on, waiting for the cold to pass and the sun to come out! Or, for that matter, why else would they insist on calling a series of never ending, grey, rainy days as summer? 

St. Michael's Mount, Penzance

Our trip to St. Michael's Mount was almost as memorable as the stunning views we saw there. St. Michael's is a castle on a hill that can be reached from mainland either by boat or by walking down a causeway that gets flooded at high tide. By the time we reached, it was lunch time and we went into this beautiful heritage restaurant with great food. Everything seemed perfect till V2 decided he didn't like what he was eating. A "you must finish what's on your plate" brought on a crying fit and before we knew it he had vomited all over the table. So while the Dad (as always) ran off with V2 claiming he would clean him up, I was left to clean up the mess in the restaurant. Which I did.

And then since I am immune to vomit now, I decided to finish my meal and walk up the hill (in my vomit stained clothes no less) with V1 while V2 and hubby went back to the mainland to change. After a half hr of climbing up steep steps cut out of a rock, while holding one child in one hand and clicking pictures with my DSLR with the other, we reached the top. The view from there, let me tell you, was worth every second of that climb! But before I could go relax and soak it all in, V1 suddenly decided giants live in castles and we needed to leave before we got eaten up. So we did a real quick, cursory tour of the inside of the castle, shot a few more quick photographs and left even before my breathing went back to normal!

By the time, we came down, the causeway was flooded and so we took the boat back which thrilled V1 immensely. In the meanwhile I had to pretend to be thrilled and not show just how scared I was with all the wobbling and bobbing the tiny boat kept doing! And then we reached the jetty to find V2 and Vj waiting there; the former all mad about having missed the boat ride. So had to take a deep breath, say my prayers and do it all over again! 

Eden Project

We almost didn't make it to the Eden Project. But it rained almost every day and Eden Project was one of the few places that one could visit even during bad weather. And so we went! 

And were pleasantly surprised to find just how amazing it was...

With waterfalls and flowers that smelt like rotting corpses...

And a garden dedicated to Bacchus..

But the best part was a story session that my sons loved - the story of The Ghost with One Black Eye.

The story teller at the EDEN Project

Tintagel

Finally my much awaited trip to Tintagel, the legendary castle of King Athur!

If you didn't realise just how crazy I was, especially when I was left alone with my camera, this should remove all doubts!

Tintagel was supposed to be my high point of the trip. Except it seemed to go all awry from the word "go". 

We reached Tintagel at 5.30p.m, by which time admissions were closed and there was no way I could climb down and then up the cliff to reach the ruins on the island. A kind local pointed out a narrow dusty track that led to an old church on a cliff and asked us to drive there so I could see the ruins of the castle from the cliff. Begged/ blackmailed Vj into doing that. 

And then, while everyone sat and waited in the car, I walked alone for more than a mile in the gale on a narrow cliff path to see the castle!! The wind was so strong, I couldn't walk or see clearly or even hold my camera to shoot a picture! This is how everything actually looked... dark, forbidding and frightening! And I realised, inspite of all that, I was so thrilled to be , I was actually laughing out loud while walking on that cliff path!

Fortune does favour those who seek it, and so the sun came out and I had my first glimpse of the legendary castle!

Sadly all the picture taking and soaking in the history/ mystery of Tintagel was cut short by the arrival of the poor Mother, who worried (unlike the hubby) that I would get blown off, had left the car and followed me there! The whole journey back had to hear a discussion of how insane and stupid I was to have walked along a cliff to see some ruins!!! Still methinks some causes call for one to be insane once in a while! My only regret; I wish I could have seen Merlin's Cave as well!

Finally leaving you with a picture of the beautiful flowers that we saw everywhere, on hillsides, on pavements,  in forests and meadows... If you ever drive through Cornwall, especially in summer, they make for an absolutely unforgettable sight and memory! 

For more pictures of the trip, visit this link.