When Friends Come to Town

This past week my best friend from home came to visit me in Plymouth. What a good opportunity to do some more travelling. First off, I met her at the airport in London. We were only able to spend a day and a half in London. It was what we'd describe as a "whirlwin tour."


On day one, we arrived at the hostel and then went off exploring. We were able to see Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Globe.


Then the next day, we got a good start to the day. We started off at Tate Modern then took the boat ride to Tate Britain. From there we walked to the Houses of Parliment, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, through St. James Park, Buckingham Palace (where the flag was flying meaning we were in the same town as the Queen of England!), through Green Park, through Hyde Park, to the Science Museum, and then to the Natural History Museum. It was a great day! We actually feel like we got a lot accomplished in our short time in London.


Once back in Plymouth we explored it a bit and decided to take a day trip to the Eden Project in St Austell. It was fantastic. There were three biomes (one of which was outdoors for the local flora and fauna). The other two were Rainforest and Mediterranean. We went into the Rainforest Biome first, and it was astonishing. It was literally like walking into a rainforest. The air was so warm and humid it was like drinking air rather than breathing it. We had to shed layers. There were a few waterfalls and there were water droplets that kept falling on us. I really really enjoyed the whole experience.


Then, we made our way to the Mediterranean Biome. It was a bit cooler than I expected, but that could have been because we had just come from the Rainforest. The Mediterranean was not as large as the Rainforest Biome, but it still had plenty to see. It had some of the plants of California growing in it as well as those from the Mediterranean itself. It also was home to a lot of the bulbs and seed plants that the Eden Project uses to send plants to people. There were daffodils and tulips and an arrangement of other plants. The day at the Eden Project was a good day too.


So, travelling was good. We fit in all forms of transportation for my friend: flying, the London Underground (aka the Tube), a boat, trains, a taxi, a bus, and walking. We had a good time catching up and making more memories of our time in England over her Spring Break.

(sounds like Tour-key)

Tourquay. Beautiful. Right on the bay. A coastal walk. Sunshine and warmness. Good travelling companions and an all around good day. We did lots of walking (as we usually do) and we thouroughly enjoyed our day out of Plymouth. However, after ten minutes of being there and taking a few pictures my camera battery died. So I got to request pictures from my friend all day.

We walked the Coastal path. It was a bit muddy in bits but on the whole very nice. The water was a spectacular shade of blue and the sky only had a few clouds. Brilliant. At one point, we left the path and did a bit of exploring. We had seen a path leading from the real path and we decided to go exploring. The exploring led my friend and I down a little climb to a rock ledge with a view of this rock arch. We then had to climb up. But we made it and it was worth it. Once we got back in town we stopped for lunch. Worst. lunch. ever! We stopped at a fish & chips place. It was terrible. And not the "Oh, I know it's so bad for me, but it tastes good anyways." NO. I mean flat out terrible. The seagulls however seemed to enjoy it immensely . . . or the single chip we dropped. We chucked it away quickly so as to not get attacked by a hoard of seagulls.

After lunch, if you can call it that, we split up. Two went off one direction and my friend and I went another. We headed off to Kent's Cavern. It was mainly geared towards children and families, but it was a good site anyway. We got to see stalagmites and stalagtites at work. It was interesting and it was unlike anything I've seen before. Not overly fantastic, just different and kind of neat.

On the way back to the train station we stopped in a grocery store and bought real food. More of it and cheaper than the fish and chips. Then at the end of the day we got to see the sun set over the bay. And then we had to run to meet the others to catch the train. A good trip I think!

Dartmoor . . . The Trees of England (and the ponies)

When thinking of England, green comes to mind. Green and London. But the green is the bigger part of the visual image. Being in the middle of a city, there really isn't an extensive amount of green. However, Dartmoor National Park is green . . . very green. The free walk was on Saturday. The walk itself: beautiful and very muddy.


Dartmoor is home to green moss, little ferns, old trees, and little ponies. There is a river that runs through it. We stopped on the side of this river for lunch. It is easy in that place to see why an artist or writer would be inspired by the plain nature of it all. It is a very photogenic place even without the best of cameras. It was a good day out. It gave us all the opportunity to stretch our legs and get some fresh air, as well as viewing the beauty of the English landscape. It was peaceful even in the size of group we were in.


Dartmoor ponies are wild ponies that roam the extent of the park. They are like people in a sense, some of them are friendly and some are not. The friendly ones came up to us and let us pet them. The others stood in the same place and kept a weary eye on us. If we came too close they simply walked away. Others were curious and would come up to us and sniff us, but still not let us pet them.