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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Oh The Places We'll Go

I honestly wasn’t expecting today to be as incredible as it has been. We were told that we had a long coach ride ahead of us and so I was steeling myself for potential boredom with a good book and good company. We ended up doing so much more than driving today, however, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Our coach left early this morning: 6:45 AM. We were on our way by seven and we all found various methods of amusing ourselves. Sleeping appeared to be the preferred activity for everyone for at least a part of the journey. I read my book and stared out the window, Caitlin and Kenna watched Lord of the Rings, and Lizzie slept and chatted. I love these girls.

We stopped at a town called Polperro and I am completely in love with it. It’s an old fishing village and the quietness of it is welcome after the busy streets of London. I guess I’m not a huge city girl. As we were walking the narrow cobblestone streets the smell of the ocean wafted toward us. We also passed some incredible-smelling restaurants. It smelled like cooked fish and I wanted to taste it so badly (which is weird because normally I’m not a fan of fish). We didn’t, though, for lack of time and promise of future opportunity.

We met a seagull who we named Christopher; Lizzie shared her apple core with him and he loved it. His beak got stuck in the apple several times, but he managed to swallow it in two bites. We caught it on Caitlin’s camera for us to enjoy.

We wandered to the rocky beach and I (miraculously) completely overcame my fear of heights in that area. I found myself climbing higher on the rocks and farther out into the ocean. It was so relaxing to hear the waves beating against the rocks, and the color of the ocean was a perfect turquoise. I was in heaven.

We found ourselves wandering down seaside trails and we discovered a delightful grassy knoll overlooking the sea. We sat there and took pictures to try to capture a piece of the beauty (we failed, by the way. No camera is sufficient to capture it). We did see an enormous jellyfish (probably a foot in diameter) in the ocean and we named him Theodore. After a time we decided to head back towards town and look at things before getting back on the coach.

We found this adorable little second-hand shop with the nicest shopkeeper. She had teacups and saucers and I found myself looking at a very British set. She noticed and told me that that was very British and that the cup and saucer were only three pounds. I actually need a teacup and saucer so I decided to get it. I have no idea how I’ll get it home in one piece, but I think they’re delightful.

We continued on our way and found several adorable shops, all with the kindest shopkeepers. I think that all the nicest people in England are located outside of London, with the exception of the pasta shop man. We came across an ice cream stand and I bought the most incredible strawberry ice cream I have ever had in my life, and from there we found a fudge shop with another incredibly kind woman running the store.

After a couple of hours in Portello (not enough time, I tell you) we boarded the coach again and continued on our way. We are now in Newquay (pronounced new-key) which is basically a British version of California coast towns (though it’s obvious this one came first). The beach is a five-minute walk from our hotel, and my room overlooks the beach. It is perfection.






Strawberry Fields. I think it was a restaurant or something.



Meet Christoper

He is interested in the apple core. . .

. . .Which he now attacks with a vengeance.

Ah! It is so pretty here! Can I go back, please?


Kenna

A cute little tugboat that reminds me of some of my favorite childhood books.


Lizzie and Kenna

Stairs leading up to a lookout point.

Lizzie and Caitlin


We wanted to get out to the rocks at the edge of the harbor and this was the beginning of that journey.


The view from higher up.

I adore all the colors.

At the top of the rocks at the edge (there were hills that climbed higher behind me).

See that pointy bit? Yeah. That was our goal. It was surprisingly attainable.

A very happy Kenna

Caitlin and Lizzie

Sarah (but you almost can't see her because of her green coat).

Lizzie and Caitlin

Somewhat terrifying stairs, but I managed to clamber over them without a panic attack so that's an improvement.


On the rocks pointed out above.

We made it!


Caitlin and me

We could have sat there for hours. It was so peaceful being by the ocean.


Mary

So much color!

We did get up eventually, though, because we knew we had another very long coach ride ahead of us and we needed to walk and stretch out as much as possible.


Me and Lizzie

Sarah

Kenna. After she realized I was there she looked back and saw my camera out and pointed at her. She then asked, "Did you take my picture?" I nodded and she said, "I was kind of hoping you would."


Sarah sitting peacefully

These flowers were all over the hillside and I loved them so much!

Another sneaky stalkerish pic. I'm getting pretty good at those.

This picture happened because a couple of girls in the program came to where we were and I grinned at them. They asked if I wanted my picture taken and Kenna piped in, "YES! She never has any pictures of herself because she's always taking them." 

Caitlin

This was at the beach by our hotel in Newquay. I love that beach so much. It was perfection.








I’m sure I’ll have more adventures to document tomorrow, but for tonight it’s time for bed.

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