Blogs from Tintagel, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, Europe

King Arthur you have much to answer for. From ‘Excalibur’ plastic swords and plywood crossbows the streets here are alive with tacky tourist souvenirs that scream a crossover between English legend and Chinese cheapness. Despite our expectations our meals here were very good. Thankfully we steered clear of the King Arthur’s Arms and found a pub that had good beer and good food. Thinking that vegetables would be a foreign word here we were pleasantly surprised despite the fact I ordered a 3 meat dish. I had a good carrot (aren’t all carrots at least good), some good roast potatoes (aren’t all roast potatoes at least good) and some red and green cabbage. Cauliflower gratin was meant to accompany the meal but… The pork, beef and lamb roast were tender, succulent and quite delicious and the ... read more

Today is a very special day for a number of reasons. Firstly I have reached another milestone. Another birthday. Another year older. Something I am trying quite hard to forget. Secondly it is our wedding anniversary - part of the reason for this trip. Thirdly it was St Davids Day the patron saint of my home country. So what were we going to do today to celebrate all of these things. I had brought my cards down with me together with a celebratory bottle of wine. The cards from our wedding anniversary too were in the bag. St David was being celebrated by the many daffodils opening along the hedgerows and in the gardens of Cornwall. The weather yet again was inclement. The rain poured and if it did not pour it drizzled. Mizzled is a ... read more

After meeting up with Dave and Merry Jo D MJ Binkley in D.C. earlier this year, they both inspired me to write blogs on my own homeland. So I have decided to write this blog on Cornwall as it's one of my favourite parts of the United Kingdom, and one of my closest friends lives down there, who I have known practically my whole life, so I try to visit Cornwall at least once a year. The reason I don't visit too often is because the drive to Cornwall from my home is about four hours. But the four hour drive is definitely worth it! Cornwall is a county that is mainly surrounded by sea as its the foot part of the United Kingdom. Cornwall was part of the territory of the tribe known as Dummonii. ... read more

St.Nectan's glen & waterfall Well, what a beautiful place! St Nectan's waterfall is truly one of Cornwall’s hidden gems! It’s in Trethevy and you have to park up and take about a 20 minute walk through an ancient woodland to the waterfall. We waked along the bank of the river Trevillet admiring all the beautiful flowers and ivy clad trees. Since spring seems to have come upon us now, daffodils are out and the lesser celandine is glowing. The Glen has been appointed a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to rare specimens of plants. The sound of the waterfall can be heard as you walk towards it, even though there were a few other roads we could have taken, we seemed to instinctively know which direction to walk. There is a small fee to ... read more

Tuesday 29.12.2009 Day 75 Ancient circles and King Arthur’s Tintagel Castle We got up and had a fantastic cooked English bfast and then went off to explore the ancient sites. We tried to find a 3500 BC burial mound called Tregeseal Chambered Cairnand even though we punched a book on Ancient sites in the area we could not find it. There was small stone on the side of the road saying to report people vandalising or leaving sacrificed at the site to report them. No sign to say what the site was. We when to look for it but there was a fork in the road and we took one way and it was not down there so we when the other way and there where posts with arrows on it that we followed but still ... read more