England 2017, Tuesday, 5/23/17

Up and out today, leaving the charming Beryl Mansion Guest house and it's wonderful full English breakfast behind.  Although this morning two of our travelers opted for eggs Benedict, one with bacon and one with salmon.  No dirty plates again this morning. One slight contretemps; it seems that Tim has misplaced his eyeglasses.  All packed up and no spectacles to be found. High and low, under the bed furniture, under the morning breakfast table, even the house maids are set upon the search.  As we were leaving a forwarding address should the missing accessory be found, I suggested that he check his pockets by saying" Have you checked your pants?"  Tim started shaking his trousers to double check, and slipping out of his leg appeared this missing eyewear!  Seems that during his morning sit down, he removed them to peer more closely at an article in The Economist that he was perusing, and the missing were set down upon his lowered trousers. 

The big question here is how he spent so much time looking for them, up and down on his hands and knees, etc., and they didn't take register!  Oh well, another adventure to tell the grandkids.

Off now to Glastonbury and a tour of the Abbey ruins.  The sheer size of this former cathedral is amazing.  The Wells Cathedral of yesterday could have easily fit inside this behemoth.  It was dissolved in 1540 when Henry VIII decided he needed a new wife (and he needed some extra cash, as the Glastonbury Abbey controlled almost one sixth of the land in England at the time.)  Too much power in one institution in Henry's opinion.

Around 1:00 we headed towards the southwest, our eventual goal being the coastal village of Boscastle, near Tintagel.  We arrived around 4:30, although this did include some back-ups and re-tracings of our route at times.  English highway signage leaves something to be desired in our American eyes.  It would be very helpful if the road route numbers would, from time to time, be posted along the side of the road so as to provide proof that you left the previous roundabout headed in the proper direction.

That said, I must take a moment to give a well deserved shout out to our star navigator, photographer, leader and travel agent.  We would not be on this incredibly adventurous journey without Deb.  She has planned all, made changes on the fly, and sat in the navigator's seat, gently urging the driver to "watch out" for the oncoming traffic hurly lingo towards us on the "wrong side" of the road. Not to mention documenting our trip with photos and videos. We are truly appreciative. Thanks, Dear.

Arriving in Boscastle, we again find ourselves staying at a wonderful Guest House, The Old Parsonage.  After a top-up of tea and cake, we unloaded our gear and struck out on a walk along the coastline to the Port.  Little did we flat-landers realize the size of the hills in this Cornish coast line. Breathtaking views of the sea, the port, the city, and the surrounding countryside.  Did I mention that everything is uphill?  When I say uphill, I mean u-p-h-i-l-l.  We eventually arrived, sweaty and breathless at our 7:30 evening meal reservation, The Napoleon Inn.  Good old pub food, highlighted by local gin and a true Cornish Pasty.

The culmination of the meal was the entertainment.  The Boscastle Buoys were the scheduled entertainment of the evening.  These guys look like just a bunch of locals standing at the bar with beers in their hand, (which they were!) when they suddenly broke out in an acapella sea chanty singing of local Cornish songs.  This went on for over an hour, with only a stop to refresh their beers or pass the bucket for charity.  An amazing performance. 

We took our leave, headed out uphill to our guest house, retiring and well walked (over 9600 steps on the FitBit; some say that the uphill steps should count triple,) around 10:30.  Another wonderful day and we should sleep soundly.