As with everything, I'll update my blog as I visit these places this summer!
So I left The Minack and continued driving around Cornwall, finding interesting buildings and places that intrigued me. As an American, I often stop and look at architecture and buildings built (by American standards) a long time ago - but by European standards, just yesterday. Small towns and intriguing spots. I'd often see a "barn" that I can only guess is like a "barn" that we think of. The difference? They were stone and looked like small houses. Here's one I found...
Next Official Stop? Lands End. Also south and along the shore. Land's End (Cornish: Penn an Wlas) is a headland and small settlement in west Cornwall, England, within the United Kingdom. It is located on the Penwith peninsula approximately eight miles (13 km) west-southwest of Penzance. They definitely play upon their name there - Lands End. End and beginning of everything. Apparently, Lands End is privately owned but the area certainly is scenic being right on the edge of the water. Here are some pictures I took of it.
As you can tell, these are not professional pictures - I took them using Google Maps Street View as I will all my pictures until I get to the UK and take them in person :)
Cornwall was definitely a pretty area. It had lots of agriculture and the villages in it are small and scattered. What I have yet to understand is where they get their groceries from. Do they drive to bigger towns? I suppose there's no midnight ice cream runs like in America. I am left to guess better planning and not forgetting things when you are at the store are in order if one lives in such a rural area. (If I am wrong - someone tell me!). But the one thing I have learned about the British is that food there is much more natural and homemade. Perhaps they run out to the barn (see pic above), milk a cow and make their own ice cream. Yes, this must be the case. (Again - someone post a comment and tell me, ok?) I'm pretty sure I saw ice cream at the First and Last House (again - picture above) but I'm talking residential.
Continuing on with the subject of things being more natural, it always amazes me when I find a garden in the UK (what in America we would call a "yard") and they have a vegetable garden. There are exceptions to the rule here, but many Americans simply go to the grocery store or farmers market when they need fruits and vegetables but when people in Europe need herbs or vegetables, chances are they may have grown them. I see this as a good illustration as using what is in season in your garden now to plan your meals rather than living on a whim and just being able to drive to the grocery store. Neither are right or wrong, but from someone who would rather live on a holistic natural diet, this really appeals to me. Imagine the taste of fruits and vegetables that aren't covered in wax to make them look pretty or pesticides. One day I was driving around in Saint Banbury and found this amazing looking garden that excited me ;)
(Thanks to the unknown owners here)
Another picture that is one of my favorites is a wheelbarrow of Rocket that my friend Peter sent me to show me what Rocket was. Rocket was something I was not familiar with in America although I'm sure somewhere they may have it?
Here's the definition from Wikipedia: Eruca sativa (syn. E. vesicaria subsp. sativa (Miller) Thell., Brassica eruca L.), is an edible annual plant, commonly known as rocket, roquette, rucola or arugula, not to be confused with Wild rocket. It is a species of Eruca native to the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal east to Lebanon and Turkey.[1][2] It is closely related to Eruca vesicaria and included by some botanists in that either as a subspecies E. vesicaria subsp. sativa[3] or not distinguished at all;[4] it can be distinguished from E. vesicaria by its early deciduous sepals.[
Ok - back to more travels -watch for the next blog coming soon to my blog on your computer where Technology melts with Humanity!
Love ~ Peace ~ Happiness
Marianne
Ok, my friend Jimi informed me that the "barn" was indeed a church - despite the fact that the tag on it says "barn" - remember I thought it looked more like a house? Well he said they have probably converted it into a house now. LOL - I asked "where's the parking lot??" Told me it was before cars. Gasp! Before cars? Oh yes - it's England. Ok Jimi - I'll give you this one....
ReplyDeleteHi Merry. That's cool you're going to visit Cornwall this summer. For most of my life I've lived near Tintagel on the North coast of Cornwall.
ReplyDeleteFor shopping we had a small village store which on a good day we could walk to up some very steep hills. Tintagel and many other places in Cornwall is completely reliant on the holiday tourist trade but this does mean that there are some services available for 'locals'. Our nearest supermarket was 12 miles away. From the late-noughties things got easier and we were able to order groceries online. Before this though, if we wanted anything more substantial than convenience goods we'd have to make a day out of it. In the 90s supermarkets only stocked food, if we wanted anything else (without the luxury of online ordering) that would be a 40 mile drive to Truro. In English distances that's huge!
There are definitely a lot of ice cream producers in Cornwall: Kellys, Martins, Roskillys, Callestick Farm and Hellsett Farm are the ones that I can think of but I'm sure there are others. Our ice cream is a lot plainer than Ben & Jerry's, usually single flavours but for the most part pure, unadulterated and natural.
Not many people grow their own vegetables, at least not sustainably to make it anything more than a hobby. Thanks to richer people who travel down from London, there has been an emerging trend on good locally grown produce sold at above average prices which means plenty of farm shops and farmers markets.
Since last year we have moved to Devon as my father's condition got too poor for us to live amongst a deep valley with lots of steps to the front door. If you're interested in a detour we own an ornamental victorian garden open to the public.
James (from SL)