And No One Died (the Finale)

Monday, Sept. 22

We sat down to breakfast and the proprietors, Peter and Julie, were the perfect hosts!  Peter’s breakfasts are award worthy… and his specialty, the porridge brulee, was nothing short of amazing.  I would almost travel all the way back to England for that one thing!  It’s made with jumbo oats – which I must find on my next visit.

As we prepared for our trek to King Arthur’s castle, I suddenly came across the lost car keys! They were hidden in the fold of a compartment in my new daypack.  How had I missed that!?!  We were able to contact Enterprise and have them remove the $500 payment from our bill. (Yay)  They still said they needed to charge us 700 pounds for the courier (they would remit the difference of the courier’s invoice from this total).  We were trapped! But that’s a learning lesson I will never forget.

We began our day with a walk into the village and then down to the coastline to see King Arthur’s castle.  It really wasn’t more the remnants of a castle, but the views from atop the hill were awe inspiring!

After a long look up top, it was finally time to descend down to Merlin’s cave.  Merlin’s cave is a tidal thing.  You have to wait for low tide to be able to walk inside.  It’s a lovely cave, but Merlin wasn’t much of a decorator.

After a good look round King Arthur country, we decided to try Anne’s advice and head to St. Nectan’s Glen.  This turned out to be one of the most awesome things we did all our trip long.  This place is located on the way to Boscastle on the north side of Tintagel… only a couple of miles or so up the road from our B&B.

You park at the car park and then walk through an ancient forest for about a mile.

We were hungry, so stopped for a bit of food and drink before seeing the pièce de résistance, St. Nectan’s Waterfall.

People built fairy stacks from local rock.  I’m not sure of their significance.  But, they also place ribbons to make wishes or in memory of someone who has passed.

The mystical vibe of the place is indescribable.  You just have to go and visit for yourself!

We made our way back out of the glen and rode back to our B&B. Our day ended in the King Arthur’s Arms pub (as every evening in Tintagel did).  It’s a friendly place with decent food.

Tuesday, Sept. 23

We had another breakfast that couldn’t be beat, and since we didn’t know anything better to do, we went with what we had on the schedule – which was to go to Port Isaac.  As some of you know, Port Isaac is the real life “Portwenn” from the Doc Martin series.

I’ve been a fan of the series, and April had watched it as well.  So, we entered the hilly seaside fishing village of Port Isaac looking forward to seeing some of the film sites.  

We did see Doc Martin’s surgery.

Path to Doc Martin’s Cottage

Doc Martin’s Surgery

Mrs. Tishell’s Chemist Shop

I loved the natural vibe of the village, and its hills really gave us a workout!  We ended up having a bite at a café near Doc Martin’s place, then headed back to the car park from town.  Very long walk… lots of exercise!

That afternoon, we had some spare time, so we decided to make our way to Boscastle.

We had heard there was a Witch Museum there (there is – and it’s pretty comprehensive).  However, the town of Boscastle was so very quaint and beautiful!  It would definitely be a good place to land if you wanted to see Cornwall.

Boscastle

We made our way back to Tintagel where we were finally able to do some laundry (the one little laundramat was always full of people!).  It was a long wait, but worth it as afterward, we had our final meal at the King Arthur’s Arms.

King Arthur’s Arms (Note April with her J2O)

I loved Tintagel, and if (lord willing) I am able to travel back to England beyond 2014, I will put it on my list of places to stop by.  And the Avalon B&Bwill be my place of residence!

Wednesday, Sept. 24

We took off from Tintagel.  Peter had packed us some sandwiches, crisps, and bottled water.  I can’t thank them enough for all they did for us!

Our plan was to drive far past our B&B for the evening (Cathedral View in Salisbury) to go visit Stonehenge and the Avebury Stone Circles.  Things have changed VERY much since the 1980s (the last time I saw Stonehenge).  Before, you would drive down this lonely country road, and there Stonehenge was.  You walked up, took pictures, and that was that.  This year, they had us purchase tickets in advance for certain time slots.  You show up and there’s a car park. You walk up to a VERY crowded visitor center/gift shop/ticket stand.  It actually looked like you didn’t have to pay in advance, though the website said differently.

We were hungry, so we ate the goodies Peter had packed for us and headed to the visitor center.  We went inside, and there is a lot of info about the history of Stonehenge, artifacts found, Stonehenge through the millennia, etc.  Then, outside to a bus transit that takes you out to the actual stones.  Of course, all the stones are roped off, but you can get close enough to get some great pictures.

Stonehenge

We spent about an hour looking around the big rocks.  And then shopped a bit in the gift shop.  Afterward, we were too tired to go to the stone circles, so we decided to head for Salisbury and our B&B.

Now, this may not have been my best idea, but I didn’t realize how BIG Salisbury was.  Our B&B was located on a busy city street (and I do mean busy!).  It was a decent enough place, but we had been spoiled by the Avalon.  The folks who ran Cathedral View gave us what we had asked for (a comfortable, clean room).  And the views of the cathedral were very nice.  It was also within walking distance of Salisbury Cathedral and some of the town shops.

We decided that we’d head over to the Cathedral.  What a stunning cathedral it is, too! Every bit as imposing as Durham Cathedral was.

Salisbury Cathedral

It was here that I got to see another copy of the Magna Carta (there are several copies).  We had a lovely meal at the café and then decided to join the choir at Evensong.  How beautiful, melodious, and amazing!

From inside the cafe looking upward

Evensong

Thursday, Sept. 25

The following day, we had reserved a full day tour of Glastonbury.  So, after breakfast, we popped in the car and headed out.  I wish we’d have stayed in Glastonbury rather than Salisbury, but then the drive to Heathrow on our last day would’ve been too long.  As it was, I didn’t get nearly enough time to see what I wanted to see (Glastonbury Tor, etc.). 

We met up with Tor (our Norse tour guide).  He was an old hippie with a hippie style to his tour leading.  When he didn’t know an answer, he’d venture guesses.  Most of what he said was a tangled web of wicca, Avalon, Joseph of Arimathea, ley lines, vortices, and other mystical stuff.

It didn’t feel like the tour I was hoping for.  This was one time Trip Advisor kinda failed me.  Tor was a great guy, but if I had it to do over again, I’d tour Glastonbury on my own.  I did get to see the Chalice Well.

Chalice Well

We also saw one of the proposed graves of King Arthur…

King Arthur’s Tomb

 and Glastonbury Tor.

Glastonbury Tour

We went back to the car park only to find that a notice had been placed on our car! We had thought we’d left enough money for the day, but it turns out, it wasn’t.  It seems the only bad parts of our trip happened around the car!  Lesson #26945.

Still, we had a decent day and headed back (through much traffic) to our B&B.

Friday, Sept. 26

Our last day in England.  Packing Annie got us all situated in the morning, but not after a brief keystone cops routine.  I had forgotten that the last B&B only took cash.  So, while the girls ran to get cash, I brought the car around and parallel parked in front of our lodging.  This was no mean feat for being at rush hour, and all the other “opposite side” stuff that went into it.  Still, we made our way in good time.  Our destination was Heathrow airport.

Now, I have always said I wouldn’t drive through London, but Heathrow is so far on the West side of the city… how bad could it be?  Really?

Oh my gawd.  Picture the awful Birmingham tangle of cars, but everyone going 70 mph… then you about have it.  There were exits all over the place, but none that looked like the right one.  I finally ended up in the taxi queue looking for an Enterprise car rental shuttle to give me directions (the taxi drivers were not amused!).  Luckily, the driver was able to lead us to the safety of Enterprise.  Quite honestly, we were whisked away so quickly that we didn’t even have time to say goodbye to Sharmon (who was traveling on another airline).

We finally made it to the airport and were able to relax until our departure.  United flew us to Houston where April caught another leg to Kansas City.  I got into my car and drove to mom’s to stay overnight and then home to my little house and puppy dogs.  How strange it felt – surreal, in fact – that this morning I had driven on the wrong side of everything through London traffic, and today I was driving on the right side of everything in a totally different world than I’d just left.  It’s like going through the looking glass, in a way.

My trips are always learning experiences.  I learned a lot and made a lot of memories.  I met new people, did things I never thought I’d ever do in my life, visited mystical places, enjoyed the company of travel friends, drank pear cidre, opened my heart and let England rush in as it always does.  Like a comfortable old blanket is how I think of it.

There were the downsides too… the missed exits, crazy vertical roads, lost keys, parking violations, and London traffic.  However, as I’ve said so many times before…

At least no one died!