The Cornwall Collection

Address: Lanhydrock House via Coach Bus

Greetings from Lanhydrock House, a place that I would more be inclined to dub a "castle," however, after Warwick this would be a house by comparison. We left for a weekend in Cornwall and this magnificent house was one of our scheduled stops. Besides the interesting history of the house, the grounds surrounding it are enough to take your breath away. Don't worry, I took lots of pictures! We explored all the rooms that were open to the public; each was furnished with authentic antiques and items from the past, right down to the toys in the nursery. After exploring our fill, we went outside and sneaked a peak inside the church (yes the family had their own parish) and wandered on the myriads of footpaths that snaked up and around the gardens. It was a very beautiful rest stop, I can't imagine what it would be like to live there!
Sincerely,
Amanda

Address: Newquay

We've arrived at our destination, which I gotta say is not too shabby. For two nights we will be living in a sweet surf lodge, which actually has a rule that you can't stay there unless you're under the age of 35. The lodge is sort of like a hostel, but it's really nice, almost like living in a club. There are tiny tv's that dot the walls in the hallways so you can watch British music channels while you wait for your friends to get ready, and black lights line the stairwells...just in case you feel like having a late night rave. We've announced our presence with several sporadic dance parties, and each night we've traipsed around town, checking out places to eat. The beach is beautiful, but very cold and extremely windy at night. I've never stood in such wind. For the most part, we've just been enjoying the fact that we're near the water.

Catch ya later!
English Surf Diva

Ps. We've made friends with a couple who run a cute ocean cafe. Each morning we've bought breakfast there and joke around with them. We needed to ask them to explain some of the Cornish menu options--like gammon (ham) and tea cakes (still not quite sure)--but they always did their best to help us out.

Address: Land's End

Hello again from Cornwall!
Contrary to what you may believe, the name "Land's End" refers not only to a clothing like that makes practical and comfy ensembles, but actually to a place where (quite literally) the land ends. England drops off to steep cliffs which fall into gorgeous, blue water. If you squint your eyes and stare really hard, you can see New York, but that's only if you know it's there ;). I'm running out of words to describe landscapes here. We've been blessed with such lovely weather that it seems as though everything sparkles and hues just come alive. This time of year is the perfect time to see everything, the days are becoming chilly, but the crispness of the air makes everything look even more spectacular!

Wishing I could cliff-jump here,
Amanda

Address: St. Ives

I really wish sometimes that certain places could just be transplanted to the States so that I could visit them everyday; though I suppose that would detract the novelty of seeing sights such as these for the first time. St. Ives is a lovely seaside town, full of quaint shops which captured our attention. Sadly, we only had two hours to wander around, which wasn't nearly enough time. However, we did squeeze in a stop for Cornish Cream Tea (tea with scones, clotted cream, and jam) and Clotted Cream Ice Cream (the creamiest ice cream you'll ever eat). I wasn't really prepared to like English food so much (the country isn't exactly known for its eatery), but I'm really going to miss some of these delicious treats (like scones...you haven't lived til you try fresh English scones).

Spoiled,
Amanda

Ps. Now I have a sudden urge to go out and buy more scones and tea.

Address: Eden Project

Dear Faithful Readers,
Sadly we are now leaving Cornwall just in time to start classes (yes, finally) on Monday. On our return trip however, we managed to squeeze in a stop at the Eden Project which is a self-sustainable exhibit dedicated to raising awareness about environment conservation. The giant "bubbles" are home to real life biomes where you can experience a completely new environment just by walking through a door. Sadly, I do not have many pictures of the rainforest biome because: #1. my camera lens fogged over immediately, and #2. it was so stiflingly hot in there that I couldn't stand to walk around for very long. The Mediterranean biome was much more tolerable and was full of beautiful flowers.
We ordered lunches which consisted of fresh bread, hummous, pepper, and greens sandwiches and fresh bananas (yes, fresh! they were actually grown on-site). The freshness reason is enough to make me wish I could just erect a giant bubble in my backyard so that I too could grow fresh produce all year round!

Temporarily Vegan and ready to be rid of this bus,
Amanda

Ps. My first class is on Tuesday and while I'm nervous, I'm mostly excited to start. It feels as though this has all been one long, fabulous vacation up to this point.