Cornwall

Oh Cornwall. We really tried to enjoy Cornwall but it didn't really work. Maybe we'll get a chance for a re-do? Probably not. We spent a whole weekend down in the Southwestern tip of England- very promising with beaches and pasties and a cottage to ourselves. However we all got sick before the trip- and Truman had the worst of it! I have never seen him so sick, lethargic and feverish and uninterested in being outside. The first day was okay but then it was downhill from there. He was happy to sleep in the car so most of the weekend was spent driving to places and then Vinny and I would take turns getting out and looking around. Luckily our accommodation was very cosy- so we came home early most days and were able to just relax and take care of our bubba.

The first day was spent at a place called the Eden Project- big futuristic biomes where they grow vegetation from different climate regions. They had a great play area for Truman- which he loved. And we were able to learn quite a bit about the Mediterranean and Tropical climate regions. Most of which we have now forgotten but maybe some pictures will jog our memories....

Play time!

A sculpture made of electronic waste

Mediterranean Region- The only tidbit I really remember about the Mediterranean is that all of the landscape in the Mediterranean is man-made. So there isn't any land in the Mediterranean that has naturally evolved to what it is today- pretty much all of the vegetation has been put there by humans. 

Rainforest Biome- It was so so hot in here but I guess that's what it takes to create some beautiful trees. This is the largest domesticated Rainforest in the world. They have a very rare coco-de-mer tree whose seeds are the world's largest and highly prized.

This is inside a giant bubble! Quite pretty

The next day we went to Land's End, got a peak of St. Michael's Mount, drove through a peninsula called "The Lizard" and had some traditional Cornish Pasties. We finished the day at a beach near our accommodations in Newquay (pronounced New-key) which was beautiful.

Sad

Sadder

Saddest

So we decided to take Truman into a doctor in hopes that they could provide him with some relief and get him doing better on our final day of the trip. It being a weekend our only option was an E.R. so we took him super early Sunday morning thinking they could get us in quick. If you are ever in the U.K. never ever ever ever EVER go to an emergency room. Unless you are dying. Even then you're probably better off waiting until Monday morning and calling a surgery (that's what they call a doctor's office). SIX hours, 2 nurses, and 2 doctors later we were finally diagnosed with an ear infection. They kept apologizing because they were SO busy- but there were only four other people in the waiting room when we arrived so it really doesn't add up. But hey, it was free?

We hit up Tintagel Castle (birthplace of King Arthur) on the way back. Then happily returned to Stroud.

Forest of Dean!

This place was on our list of must-see places before we came. The Forest of Dean is supposably, jk, supposedly the inspiration for various fictional forests in J.R.R. Tolkien's and J.K. Rowling's books and many more I am sure. It was quite magical and there were times when I could imagine seeing some ents or trolls or rock-giants in there. The first place we went to was called Puzzlewood and they have tons of trails all over but it is enclosed so it would be an awesome place to take older kids and let them wander. They have no signs showing a way out so it was fun to get lost and then make our way back. I thought I would finally show some restraint with the pictures on this post but I have failed so here are a ton of pictures. 

So green!

Little trees growing on trees

Next stop in the forest was Symond's Yat. The plan was to do a one-mile walk up to the top of this overlook which should have taken about an hour but instead we parked and started walking and ended up there in about five minutes. So much for some hiking! We'll save it for the spring I guess.

Nubs

This wasn't in the Forest of Dean but it was a castle on our way back to Stroudy town. Can't even remember the name of the castle! But it was closed so we only got to see the outside and that was probably enough. 

We're hoping to make it back to the Forest of Dean later in the year. They have a train that goes through it and stops off at various little towns and I think that would be a great way to see more of that green thick forest. My heart may be true after all.

Bristol

If you want a little bit of ambience listen to this while you read. This song was stuck in my head all day in Bristol which was very appropriate because this guy is from Bristol! Perfect. Bristol is the nearest big city to us so we spent a Saturday checking it out and we weren't disappointed. We started out in a suburb called Clifton which is a very rich neighborhood on a hill overlooking Bristol. Then we walked over the bridge and then down to Bristol. We didn't really know where we were going so when we were at the bridge we asked some German girls to take our picture and then asked them what direction Bristol was and they said "hey, we are going there just come with us" and then we pretty much ended up spending a good part of the day with them. We would part ways but then we just kept ending up in the same places. And then they gave Vinny their phone number. Haha!

Clifton Bridge

My cutie with a ca-ca (cracker)

View from the bridge

Another church

Sure, I'll just sit here and eat a doughnut while you look around

And this guy will crawl all over the place

Great ceilings

What I really like about Bristol is it sits right on a harbor and pretty much everything you could want to see is right there on the harbor. And water makes things prettier too. So we decided to take a ride on the ferry boats through the harbor which sounded cool and was cool but it literally lasted about 7 minutes. So then we just walked to a museum (M Shed) and walked back to where we started

wa-tah!

This is a replica of the boat John Cabot took to the Americas to discover/explore Newfoundland. 

What's not cool about Bristol is that it was a major hub of the slave trade. Clifton's wealth comes from people who benefited from the slave trade (not now, obviously, but back then) and it showed in some of the things we saw. For example, there's a hill called "Black Boys Hill." Really? They haven't changed that? 

A museum of Bristol- basically a collage of random stuff associated with the town

Happy Tru

A great view

What we somehow didn't get pictures of is the great city centre- lots of people milling about with street performers (a nearby university A Capella group) with fountains and shops/booths and lots of places to sit and look out at the harbor. Good job, Bristol!