July 08, 2005
Lisa: UK Trip, Day 5
6/15
On Wednesday morning, we went to Tintagel, which is said to be King Arthur's birthplace. We walked out on a very windy cliff, from which we could see the ruins of a medieval castle. Our tour guide, Postman Pat, led us through a dramatization of the King Arthur legend involving plastic swords. Blake played Uther Pendragon!
Then we walked into town to sample the Cornish pasties. Molly and I tried the cheese and onion, and Blake had one with steak. Yummy!
At the request of our driver (Kenny) and several people on the tour, we stopped for a look-and-taste at a cider farm. Kind of boring for us non-drinkers, but we sat outside at a picnic table and sampled a bunch of different biscuits (cookies) that Pat brought along. We tried Jammie Dodgers, Jaffa Cakes, Hobnobs, and some chocolate chip and hazelnut ones I can't remember the name of.
After the cider farm, we went to Glastonbury. Unfortunately, we only had time to go to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, but it was pretty cool. I guess we'll have to come back another time to see the Chalice Well and climb the Tor!
After Glastonbury we went to Cheddar Gorge, which is supposed to be England's Grand Canyon. After a stomach-churning twisty drive, we got out and took a few pictures. The sides of the canyon are limestone, with green plants growing everywhere. It was about the size of Millcreek canyon! I think whoever named it (and made it a tourist attraction) must have had a sense of humor. Anyway, it's called Cheddar Gorge because it's right next to the town of Cheddar, where the cheese was invented. Also, the oldest human skeleton found in Britain was found there, and is called the Cheddar Man. Mmm, cheddar...
After we got through Cheddar Gorge, we drove to Bath. We checked into the hostel (where Blake, Molly, and I got a private room, which was nice) and ate dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant with a bunch of people from our tour group. After dinner, we walked around Bath and found the places we wanted to see the next morning.
TO SUM UP
On Wednesday, we saw...
Tintagel
Somerset
Sheppy's Cider Farm
Glastonbury
Cheddar Gorge
Bath