Tuesday:
I sit here in the evening, I am writing this, obviously; Julie is beading and Nan is doing puzzles; all to the soundtrack of Stuart Maconie. And we will all probably be in bed by ten. Once again, not very rock and roll.
Mornings are always great on holidays; lazy time when the thought of things to do are not important, and rushing around is far from our foremost thoughts. And so it was today as we read, listened to the radio before having a late breakfast before we headed out at just before ten.
It is not that far to St Austell, but once again the mist had come down, and the drive across Bodmin moor was a slow one and in a convoy of slow moving traffic. However, as we descended towards the coast the cloud lifted some, and the day even held the promise of sunshine later.
The Eden Project is a wonderful experiment of bio-domes set in the hole left behind when a quarry was all quarried out. It has been open for about seven years, and the plants which are inside have matured in that time, and should be impressive. What is really good is that the domes are not visible until you are inside the site, and heading down into the quarry. There are two domes, made of hexagonal interlocking Perspex, or some such material, and forming huge stadium sized spaces underneath. There are two areas, one a dessert arid area, and the other a tropical rainforest one.
What is clear is the sheer size of the domes, and once inside how wonderfully well done they have been filled with plants from around the world. I have to say that it is at times a heavy handed attempt at showing the visitor the way in which humans are raping the planet; but then as the core visitor is children, maybe it’s the best way to show where and how our food comes from, and not everyone gets their food from Tescos or Wal-Mart.
Anyway, that aside, it is very good. The tropical dome was so much like Indonesia last year, and showing the kind of houses the locals live in, it was like being back there. And it is important to know what the result of clearing of the rainforests is, the scarred land and lost species of plants and animals as their habitat is destroyed.
We stopped for a bite to eat in the on site café, and in doing so we had out first Cornish cream tea, with clotted cream, which is always nice to have.
I have to say that even though there were thousands of people in the site, it did not feel crowded at all, and even getting out of the site afterwards was painless.
Our next destination was the fishing port of Padstow. Once upon a time, and not too long ago, it was just another impossibly pretty Cornish fishing port. And then British TV chef set up shop and restaurant there, and it became a mecca for those seeking celebrity endorsed food. So, its already crowded streets and alleyways are now chocker-block with people munching down on branded fish and chips, or other queuing up in one of many Rick Stein themed seafood eateries.
The first problem is to find a place to park; and at this time it is not an easy task for sure. Endless lines of cars go round and round the car parks looking for that fabled empty space. We were somewhat lucky, as Nan had a disabled badge, and there was one empty space which we filled. It was outside the National Seafood School or something equally silly titled restaurant. There were queues right out of the door; something that was repeated at most other seafood places. I had had enough fish and chips to guess that it was not really worth queuing up and paying through the nose for it in a box with Ricks name on it.
Still, the views were free, and it is a working port, and a stream of small inshore boats came in and unloaded their cargo. Most of those around me ignored this and carried on eating.
We decided we had had enough, and after Julie and Nan having an ice cream, and me a Pasty, we headed out for a quiet drive along the north Cornish coast to Newquay. As ever it was a narrow road, and we had to keep diving into the hedgerow to allow cars and busses to pass the other way, and sometimes they even did the same for us. But not that often.
For dinner this evening, we had the good old British favourite, bangers and mash with beans. And what is better it is a quick and easy meal, which requires the minimum of preparation or cheffing.
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