Day 5 - June 13th 2014

Day 5 was planned for Tintagel and perhaps other parts of Cornwall.  Again, the drive looks better on the map than it does on the ground, so we were managing our expectations.  Cornwall is a straight shot from Exeter, being right next door.  We scoped out the route before hand and it looked pretty easy.

I was driving today, being much more comfortable driving here than Dad.  We shot down the road, enjoying the countryside, which is beautiful, as always in England.  We got to Tintagel without getting lost and found a car park.  Right across the street was the TI (tourist information) and the bathroom.  The bathroom had an all in one sink, a button for soap, one for water, and when the water was done the hand dryer was in the same cubby.  Better in concept than execution but still pretty cool.

As we walked through town we were scoping out various options for food, since it was 1330.  The first place had a great menu but no interest in feeding us or taking our money.  We kept on down the hill and found a cafe where we could sit outside.  Tracy, Nana and Grandad ordered Cornish Pasty's, which were great.  Owyn got spaghetti and inhaled it.  Rhys got sausages and chips and beans and demolished them.  I got the full English breakfast, the other obligatory culinary item on a trip to England.  Grandad and I both got a pint of the local lager, which was disappointing.

We did not eat here, but what a great building.

Tracy likes this picture.

Koreve, Cornish beer.  It would be right at home in Mexico.

Nana was afraid that she had forgotten her paints, but discovered at lunch that she did have them.  She had been to Tintagel before and knew that she would not be able to climb to the top.  The remains of the castle, which is reputed to be the birth place of King Arthur, are perched on top of a peninsula overlooking the sea.
The route to the castle is down a steep incline.  At the bottom is the ticket sales/shop and tea house.  The path then winds up the cliff side, to the point where you show your tickets.  From there you can go to either to the left or the right; up a steep flight of stairs either way.  There is a land rover ride that will take you up or down to the ticket office for 2 pounds each way.

The ticket center.

The ticket booth.  The castle is both to the right and the left.

That's the castle up top.

Nana stayed at the bottom, at the tea shop, painting.  The rest of us headed up.  Owyn went up the stone steps like a goat.  I helped Rhys up and Tracy followed Rhys, just in case.  Grandad was somewhere behind us.  The neck of the peninsula is fortified but behind it the plateau is open.  There are ruins all over the top; just foundations mostly.  There is a well in the center of the peninsula and a tunnel for cold storage.  The position is as close to impregnable as you are going to find anywhere.

Tracy and Rhys climbing with the bay behind.

The built up part of the peninsula.  This was the most castle-y part.

The bay on the other side with the waterfall on the right.

The waterfall with the tea shop above it.

The other keep.  Tintagel town is in the back left.

A couple of dark age buildings.  Great view.

Tracy got tired of the cliffs and climbing and headed back down, diverting to the beach.  The boys and I explored the rest off the ruins then followed her down.  There are a couple of caves at the bottom of the cliffs, one of which goes all the way through.  There is a also a waterfall where the stream from the village comes down.  The boys took off their shoes and played in the water.

Tracy and Owyn at the foot of the waterfall.

The waterfall.

Owyn going to explore the cave.

The boys in the ocean.  It is about to go all wrong for Rhys.

Rhys decided to jump all the way into the water and pulled him out.  This started a fit which ended in a spanking.  We left the beach and gathered at the base.  Owyn and I were going to walk back up, and he had been good so rated ice cream.  Rhys had lost his ice cream due to the fit on the beach.  While Owyn and I started up, and they waited for the land rover ride, Tracy took Rhys into the shop and each boy got a knight toy.  (Actually they are a mounted archer and a mounted crossbowman on knightly caparisoned horses.  Totally historically inaccurate).

The shop at the head of the path.

Half way up the slope was an ice cream trailer.  Owyn got a strawberry cone, made with Cornish clotted cream and real strawberries.  I got a vanilla.  We ate as we climbed and Owyn told me his theories about how the castle had been stormed and burned, since that is the only way that a castle could be in ruins.  We arrived at the top first.  I had hoped that Owyn would be done with his ice cream by the time that Rhys got there but he had been running his suck so much that he was still working on it.  Rhys spotted the cone, but was surprisingly philosophical about the whole thing, accepting it as his just due.

Rhys contemplating his sins.  He has not reached the state of acceptance yet.

Once the whole family was back together we strolled back up through the town.  Tracy found an orange purse that she just had to have.  I bought a lion head bottle opener that I just had to have.  Owyn attempted suicide.  He was walking along, holding my hand, and he saw a bee.  He threw himself into the street to get away from it, right into the path of an oncoming car.  I pulled him back at the last second, but he would have been hit if I hadn't had his hand.  We spent the rest of the walk discussing bees, their stings, and comparing that to the effects of being hit by a car.  I'm sure he was tired of the discussion long before we got to the car.

No explanation necessary.

Owyn is not about to crush his brother, despite what it looks like.

Rhys preparing for his next zombie dive.

Once back in the car we left town and made a wrong turn.  The recovery was very scenic and only put us behind by 40 minutes.  The boys were anxious to get back so that they could swim.  We arrived with plenty of time and I took the boys down to the pool where they splashed and wore themselves out even more.  There were some other boys there so they played with them.  Both boys were making up animal dives and jumping into the water in goofy ways.  "Daddy, this is the zombie dive".  "Now I'm doing the lion dive".

After swimming we had dinner, drank some wine and went to bed, making it down by 2200.