25 March  Saturday  Eden Project  Tintagel

Weekend breakfast is at 8 AM—not 7, so it alters the schedule.  Grant even joins us for coffee in his joggling shorts (?) This is going to be a great day with stops at Eden Project, Tintagel and a concert at St. Neots.  We have our concert attire and music in bags.  Eden Project is total environmental wonderland and Tintagel is the supposed site of the castle King Arthur’s mother’s and Uther Pendragon (Welsh: Ythyr Ben Dragwn), with the help of Merlin, conceived Arthur.  Right now it looks like the weather will be cooperating.  We are up and out and traveling to the Eden Project on A390. I had seen the signs for the turn off both of the previous days.  The coach heads north east, up and out on A390, to the outskirts of St. Austell (oh look, it's the wrong St. Mary's) where we turn north onto A391.

We meander up past Carluddon Tip (a cinder cone-sized slag heap) and take the roundabout right at The Enterprise Space for Advanced Manufacturing (ESAM).  We pass by an open clay pit mine that has new townhouses built on it.  Eden Project is also built in the pit of an old clay mine.  We also pass IMERYS’s Trebal Refiner (very industrial) hidden by trees.  As we crest the hill, the large Rainforest Biome Domes become visible.  It is very impressive.  From the road along the old mine, we can see the Mediterranean Biome Dome—not as big as the rain-forest biome.  We turn into the bus park and unload.  The weather is good—lots of blue.  The group meanders down the switchback paths, with incredible vegetation and mounds of blooming heather, and at the bottom is a plastic domed walkway that curves up to the handicap parking.  We arrive at the entry, reception, store and cafe building.  Everything is so futuristic.  I love it.  It reminds me of the first time my family went to Tomorrow-land at Disneyland in the late 60’s.  It was my favorite park of the park.

 

We are early, and most of the personnel are still making their way down to their different stations, so we wait.  The building hangs over the edge of the old pit and the view from the huge windows is amazing.  Off to the right is Hangloose Adventures Eden—a zip line all the way to Invisible World building.  We are let through the gate and we descend the zig-zag gardens paths  down the side of the pit.  We are

instructed to go to Invisible World, first—until the Biomes open.  I am with Rick (tenor), his girlfriend,

Lynn (alto), Debra (piano, 2^nd Soprano), her sister, Diane (alto)--the 'Snyder family' and Jason. We walk into the bottom level into a large chamber and are confronted by a two plus story, dark blue ceramic smoke ring machine.  It blows multiple rings from its many orifices.  Crazy.  Most building is of the full of microbe and biodiversity exhibits.

Finally, the Biomes are open and we move on.  There is an immediate rise in temperature.  The vest will not be needed in here.  The path ascend up through the huge plants and towering palm trees.  There is the sound of falling water and even birds.  There is even of rushing stream and multiple waterfalls. The humidity and heat increase the higher we get.

The whole space is astonishing.  Families and loose kids running freely fill the paths.  At the top there is an incredible viewing platform that nearly touches the top bubbles of the dome.  Debra and Jason are the only ones willing to go up.  The rest of us take a swinging rope bridge exit down.  We descend and so does the temperature—sauna to pleasant quickly. We have ended up with Ginny (soprano) who has already been through the Med. Biome, but she is willing to go through it again with me.  It is smaller, beautiful and every bit as impressive.  The ‘outdoor’ patio café with it’s white stone deck low walls would be a great place for food and wine.

Neither of us are willing to walk back up the zig-zag paths to the entrance, but I see that there is a tall lift/elevator that goes up to a walkway that connects with the upper building over at the Invisible World building.  The zip line also ends here.  Inside I get a great pair of Eco-friendly rain forest socks for Marianne.  We finally find the elevator and ascend to the upper gift shop.  Inside we meet Linda (soprano/retired 4^th Grade Teacher) who I taught with at Eastwood School.  She is very interested in the plants—which are incredible, but not practical for us travelers.  Suddenly, we hear a strange rumble—heavy rain on the handicap walkway's plastic bubble-cover .  The skies have opened up and are draining.  We get all the way up to the handicap parking lot.  My rain coat is in the coach.  We have to run to the other parking lot—getting soaked.  I hang my vest up to dry.  Grant waits for stragglers.

Once reassembled we head out to A391 and north through Bugle and Bilberry, over A30 and north on A389.  It passes the turn off for Port Isaac (Doc Martin and Fisherman’s Friends) which would be too

narrow for the coach. We head about 10 miles north, through Trebarwith, Treknow and Tregatta before arriving a Tintagel.  It’s lunch time, so we descend on the village looking for food.  My vest has dried and I have my raincoat and wool walking hat.  The old post office is an ancient house that has seen better days.  the slate roof is sagging in places.  

I end up with Pete and Faye at the Cornishman Inn—a Free House  and a B & B.   There are a handful of small rooms and a larger eating area w/bar in the back.  The young waitress takes our order--I get the Fish and Chips w/Mushy Peas and a Doom Bar.  On the way out we find a small room with an old fireplace and a plaque that reads: 

  All they zit in front this vire

                             pray move yourzelf this my desire 

                                 That tother voke aswellazyou   

                               May zee the fire and veel it too

We meet up with members of the group, passing the Wootons Inn and the Cornish Bakery (ice cream too) and descend Castle Road to the trails that go up to the legendary castle.  I end up with Jason and group and climb to the top to see incredible views of the wild ocean.  The wind and rain are particularly fierce here and more as we go up.  We explore the castle ruins and cross the castle suspension bridge—very high up.  I think I see Merlin’s cave, but it is farther to the north below us.  Jason scampers up to the very top of the rock bluffs and cliffs to the Gallos Statue—a modern, see-through, representation of 

Arthur on bare waves of exposed rock.  Very impressive up here with the rain and wind whipping around us.  The coastal view to the north and south are breath-taking, especially with the crashing surf below.  I look across the ravine and see the Camelot Castle Hotel--covered in scaffolding.  There are more castle, barracks, medieval walled garden (Earl Richard may have built here to commemorate the famous love story of Tristan and Iseult), and abbey ruins up here.

We descend stairs that have vertical wedges of slate for treads.  Most of them are very slippery.  We are soaked.  If the climb up was a challenge, Castle Road back up to town is a heart-stopper.  I end up with Kevin (baritone) and MaryRuth (secret tenor) and we huff and puff, etc. back to the street.  Apparently Donna (alto/piano) and Tonnie (soprano) got a ride with a Land-rover that specializes in bringing tourists up from the bottom.  We momentarily make a wrong  turn and end up in parking lot that does not connect with the parking lot where the coach is parked.  We retrace steps and making it back to the coach. Grant is waiting.  As we wait I feel the need for a coffee and run up the street passing King Arthur’s Inn and a host of gift shops (including a Wiccan one) to Charlies where I get a take-away coffee and some friendly talk with the wait staff as they finish their shift.  Back at the bus, I hang up my vest, jacket and hat to dry.  We wait for stragglers.