Sorry it has been so long since I’ve posted but, we were just having too much fun on our last tour to stop and write, so this one is going to be a LONG one but I will try to keep it short and interesting. We arrived last Sunday in sunny, yes I said sunny (I know it’s normally foggy London town, but we got lucky) London town. After taking 3 different tubes and then getting lost on the streets, we finally got to our hotel by the end of the day. I was really hoping to spend some time in the sun but we just had a wasted travel day (sad face) and some rest.
Monday kicked off our five day Haggis Cornwall Explorer tour, brilliant tour (our guide kept using the term and I only felt it important to repeat), I highly recommend the tour and our guide and driver, Greta and Tony. First stop was beautiful and mysterious Stonehenge, still glorious today, even though you can’t walk up and touch the stones. After Stonehenge it was off to Salisbury to see the Salisbury Cathedral, a piece of the Magna Carta which is inside the Cathedral also known as the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Thomas Becket Church. According to legend the Cathedral site where it is because an archer went up to the highest point in town and shot an arrow, where the arrow laid was to be the site of the Cathedral but it hit a deer who ran and ran and finally fell a bit away in the new Salisbury. I thought this was the most interesting part of the area, Salisbury was beautiful but the cathedral lacked the beautiful stained glass (only had a bit) and a better version of the Magna Carta is in London (the one in Salisbury was only a small piece of one of four copies, where London has a full copy). Next it was off to Cheddar (yes this is where the cheese originated) for the night. We drove through the stunning Cheddar Gorge and saw the native Cheddar goats, little grey sheep like things. Cheddar was a lovely little town. The whole Haggis group at dinner at a local pub with some of the most amazing food I’ve eaten.
Tuesday we drove from Cheddar to the surf town of Newquay, on the way we stopped in Devon at the Canonteign Falls, the highest waterfall in Britain, the walk was brilliant but the waterfalls disappointing. Guess they didn’t have theaming, or the art of making fake rocks and trees and stuff, back in early 1900’s when the Third Lady of Exmouth made her husband install the waterfall, they didn’t even hide that it was fake. We tried clotted cream and scones here, I thought it was delicious, but others begged to differ. Next stop was Bovey Tracey for lunch then it was off to Dartmore and Haytor on Dartmore for a walk in the misty rain. Made for a mysterious moor and helped your imagination picture Sherlock Holmes walking in the mist trying to solve the Hound of the Baskervilles mystery. After a spooky drive out of the moor we stopped at a postbridge that still stands in useable condition and then into Cornwall and Newquay for the night where I got no sleep due to 2 people snoring in my room (ugh), I decided I should have stayed out with most of the group at the bar because I really didn’t get sleep until about 3 am when they all came home.
Wednesday was a walking day. We started by going to Minack Theatre, a small but exquisite theatre carved out of a cliff overlooking the ocean created by the imagination of Rowena Cade. It was phenomenal, the views were stunning, the stone work amazing, the only thing we needed was a play to be on, although I might get distracted with the views instead of watching the play, which they still put on today. Next was an hour long walk from Land’s End, the most southwesterly point in Britain, to Sennen Cove, then a quick ride over to Pendeen Lighthouse for a picnic lunch with views of the tin mines and ocean. Cornwall used to be a tin mining area until the price of tin fell and all the miners moved, so they have hundreds of old tin mines dotting the countryside. We took a walk to see a tin mine up close and on our way passed through Mên-An-Tol a mysterious rock formation with a center stone where you can pass through and if you do you are to be cured of your disease, the rock does have high levels of radiation, so I guess you would call it the first cancer treatment machine. The next set of mysterious rocks were Lanyon Quoit or a small henge that looked like a large table, our guides told us if we held hands and circled the stones three times then kissed the rock we would become more beautiful, and it worked, or at least we felt better looking, but maybe we just decided our guides were crazy but participated anyways. We hit a rain storm while viewing St. Michaels Mount and beach and headed back to Newquay for a surf, unfortunately it was late in the day and high tide was coming in. It was nice to get in the water but as for surfing it was pretty impossible, we had those large ship-like foam boards and about 20 minutes in the waves started lapping off the wall and back at us. Everyone had a blast but it was more like being in a washing machine on ship then surfing.
Thursday we saw the birthplace of King Arthur, he really was only a fairy tale but if he was real he would have been born at Tintagel Castle. Here we also tried Cornish pasties, delicious large pastries filled with meat and potatoes, ummmm. Then it was off to Glastonbury and the burial place of King Arthur, again he was a myth so there is no tomb, but we had a great walk up the Glastonbury Tor and a few reenacted a sword fight, since it was a steep walk a few people went into town and checked out the Abby. After our two days of walking/hiking (Tintagel Castle was like walking on a stair master) it was off to Bath and the Therma Baths and Spa for some R and R, brilliant! For 39P we got to use the roof deck pool, the four steam rooms and waterfall, and the lower pool, as well as have an amazing dinner and glass of wine. Everyone who participated in this was thoroughly content and rested, and just in time too for it was our last night and we were having a pirate party at the hostel bar. Arrrrrrrrrghhh Mateeeey! We might have had a bit too much fun, but I won’t give details.
Friday it was up and early with the birds to be the first to check out the old Roman Baths and Bath Abby. The Baths were stunning and they have excavated more of the site to include the old steam rooms and changing areas. We had some time to walk through town so we strolled down the River Avon which had great view of the Putney Bridge. They have a pained lion exhibit in town right now, which made our stroll through town interesting trying to spot our favorite lion; mine was the Michael Jackson lion, complete with studded white glove in a music shop. Next was Lacock Village a quaint old village that has been the setting for a few movies like Harry Potter. Our last stop before heading back to London was the Avebury standing stones, the largest standing stone circle, but also the most ruined. The remaining rocks were huge and impressive however. It was a bit sad departing at the end of the tour because everyone was amazing and got along so well, but we were off to different travels and I had to meet an American friend for dinner across town. We had a fun night catching up and checking out a traditional British pub.
Whew! That was a long one. Well I am off to explore London for a few days then it’s off to Wales with Haggis again, I will try for a mid week post but no promises. Cheers for now.
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