Sunday, August 14, 2005

Do you smell Pasties?

Well that's the fastest 2 weeks I've seen flash past in a long time. Well actually it wasn't really, it was a decent break, jam packed with fun and excitement and interesting things to see, do, eat and drink, with good friends and sometimes just ourselves.

Started off according to plan on the Friday, I'm out of a course early so that we aren't driving around London too late. Of course I haven't taken account of how busy the M6 is nowadays or the misreading of a Motorway signpost and ending up on the M5 and then sometime later discovering the Blackwall Tunnel was closed and we'd have to drive through Central London quite late anyway. Fortunately Reidski, her indoors and the boy have kept us some dinner and some wine and soon I'm pretty well zonked.

Next day we're up and out and have lunch by the river and thence off to meet Father Bell and partner in the Cork and Bottle which is a pretty fine place to quietly get pished on really good wine and spend what seems like a brief hour reminiscing fine bands and concerts and the like and it turns out to be several hours later and several sheets to the wind when we try to get back to Reidki's expected home the back of 8 and it's more like 11 and we really, really did get caught up in a Police roadblock thing honest we didn't make it up.

Next day its off to the camping shop to get a kettle and other bits and bobs then its more drink.......popular theme this......and a game of Cranium and Balderdash and sleep.

Following day we head off for Cornwall with too many maps and routes we think we are lost except we make it thewife bless her is no Bartholomew Diaz, Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco Da Gama in fact she isn't even Portuguese and therefore can't navigate for fudge so to speak. It's fraught but we make it out of London and the rest is a doddle.

We arrive in Cornwall as the weather gets bright and the view as we near Tintagel is beautiful. Tintagel is a very small village with some VAST claim to Arthurian legend and you don't get to miss this one bit. thewife has an interest in things Arthurian but mention the Grail and she goes practically apeshit as it is apparently some concocted French nonsense and nowt to do with pagan Celtic warriors apparently. Anyways, her interest come to think of it may well have led to her being keen on this particular site given its proximity to Tintagel Castle, alleged birthplace of said Arthur.

Given its size you can't but help wonder where all the tourists come from. This place is mobbed with them daily and its economy must depend on this, there are about 4 pubs as many tearooms and restaurants and a host of places selling Cornish Pasties - the best are to be found here, Fudge and Arthurian shit. Lots of Arthurian shit. Anyway the pubs do particularly good local beers and food and the one thing that I was impressed with was the prices were very reasonable. Maybe if you don't rip people off, they'll come back, we certainly will.

All for £ 3.00 entry fee - Amazing really - well no, actually it was a fusty old room uninspiring paintings and a Masonic Hall actually. The sad gits quoted really badly need a life!

There were 2 further outstanding aspects to Tintagel - The Camelot Castle Hotel a huge 1920s built pseudo medieval castle which is so over the top the bar is actually called Excali-bar. It really really has to be seen to be believed. Also the thoroughly un-missable King Arthur's Great Halls. Apparently this is the best place that Rachel Thomas of Australia has ever been to! Mmmmmh guess they don't have departure lounges in Australian airports then.

Tintagel was a good base too for visiting quaint fishing villages, Port Isaac, Polperro, Padstow, also known as Steinville given Rick seems to own most of the place. Also near enough to the must see Eden Project, Lands End an area of outstanding natural beauty that somehow contrives to blight itself hideously with the most tacky assortment of attached shit in order to rake in as much cash from the tourist as possible, such a shame.

At night we camped, read books, played cards and scrabble and drank wine and generally had a great relaxing time as it should be on holiday.

A brief stop over on the way back up at friends of thewife's from school, of course I knew them too but hung around in different circles, who now live in Barry near Cardiff. Great fun again and an opportunity to see how cool Cardiff is becoming and how impressive the castle is. The Assembly building is less than impressive though, I bet it never went times over budget and was completed a year late though.

Then home. From this trip I will remember never again to use the M6.

So holiday over, back to the quiz tonight (actually we did come second in a pub quiz in Tintagel) and back to work tomorrow. Sigh.
posted by timesnewroman at 3:23 PM  

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