June 19, 2000 - Monday
Well, today is a bit cooler and more overcast than it has been on previous days. I'm still going hiking, but if I were any less set on following this exercise routing, I'd probably skip. However, weather's supposed to be worse later in the week, so I may not have much of a choice then. Today my hiking includes visiting an old iron age fort of the Ancient Britons. Pre-Roman stuff - the kind I like.
I learned that the bird I'm so fond of is called the Chaffinch and the name of that dessert is called Trifle. I wonder if that's where they get the saying "it's no trifle." I never thought much about the word other than the word itself meant a 'hassle.'
XXXX
It really is turning out to be a beautiful day. Yes, the day is overcast, but it's far from being cold out. Dew on the grass has soaked my shoes though, so I've taken the off to sit down for a bit. The air is really so fresh out here. I can smell a bit of soot from a fire somewhere. I keep expecting this to be Pennsic & run into knights marching off to war.
There is a pretty constant light breeze being brought in from the ocean. My feet are perfectly content to be without shoes. they say that there's no snow here in Cornwall - or any real winter for that matter. It's almost tropical. Some people have even imported Palm Trees to grow in their lawns. Passed by one house that had a Dream Catcher in the window and was styled in Western. There is a very interesting mix of cultures with these people.
The footpaths are generally wide & carry you through many private properties, but they are legally a public right-of-way. I don't think people would stand for that in the US. Everybody has a very definite idea of what is mine and what is yours. Here there seems to be a sense of "what I have is for everybody to take pleasure in, as long as you do it respectfully." You see this in the gardens people plant as well as the paths they keep.
I passed through several private fields today, running into both cattle and horses. The 'stiles' are made so that livestock cannot pass over, but people can quite easily. I love how the walls here seem to spring right out of the earth with their dirt & rock composition. Yet they were made by hand hundreds of years ago. And are still used.
XXXX
Met a cute little bunny on my way up to Chynhalls Point. Don't know what's wrong with it, but it won't move, eat or anything. It's not dead because it's breathing & its eyes blink occasionally. I carried it up here in my pocket & have laid it down now. I'm sure it must be dying, so I've layed flowers on it like a grave. There could be worse places to die. My instructions say this is the site of an old iron age fort, but I don't see any earthenworks around here. Lots of rocks jutting about, though. The signs around here also say they have a small herd of shetland ponies grazing (and not to feed them), but I have yet to see them either. Ah well, I'm only part way round. Maybe I'll see them yet.
XXXX
Again, I say it - my poor feet. Hiked in mostly wet shoes all day. I'd waterproofed them before I left - or so I thought - but it's not helping at all. Thankfully I did bring talcum powder (or it was with the second bag, rather). Ran into a few more interesting things on my way back from the pirate's cove. 1. In England they have orange colored flies that eat cow dung, 2. A small herd of cattle thought I was a matador or something with my bright red bag. They started following me along the trail & I was afraid they were going to try to run me down, 3. Cool weather can feel awfully warm when you're hiking around. The schedule said 7 miles today, but I may have walked closer to 9 or 109 - again with the turn rounds I was making. I'm glad I went too far on the Coastal Pass - I wouldn't have seen the Shetland Ponies if I hadn't - or Dina's Cove. The people around here seem to be quite proud of their "real, working mine" I've seen enough of them before (it's just a rock mine) so I skipped the photo op. Seemed to me like unnecessary noise more than anything.
Right now I've got my shoes drying out by Rita's 'Aga' = stove. She's so funny - some of her favorite phrases are 'alright my love' and 'will do.' She's full of canned phrases, but no conversation. Very sweet lady, but not the easiest to talk to.
Ran into several for the guests down in cove-town (Covellnack?) and they were all quite enjoyable to talk to. I ate the second half of my sandwich back on the Coastal Path, but picked up a homemade rum raisin ice cream cone down in town. I'm dying for one of those Cornish Pasties now that I know what they are.
Turns out that Rita's daughter is the one who makes the homemade ice cream you get all over the peninsula down here. I must say it's very god. Rum Raisin today, White Chocolate Raspberry yesterday. Not many Americans down here, but the Canadians I've run into think it's the bee's knees.
Second time I've run into someone talking about the English retirement planning being such a pain. The ice cream lady is in retirement & not able to get any State Pension because she has her work pension. What a pain. That may end up being the way they go in the US. The more other retirement income you have, the less you'll get from SS. Basically, no one really gets to retire.
XXXX
Let's see. The town I hiked to today is Coverack. Tomorrow I hike to Mullion via the Earth Station & Goonhilly Downs. I'm supposed to see some standing stones along the way. I hope they are more obvious than the Iron Age fort I missed today. My hips are killing me from all this work I've been giving them. My feet & legs are feeling better now, but my hips are getting much more of a workout with all the climbing and constant legwork they're getting.
Tomorrow will start out through a lot of fields again. I hope it's a drier morning tomorrow or my feet will be in real trouble. I wonder if I can get Rita to hold some of my leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Would save me some hassle with finding somewhere in St. Keverne open as early as I'll want to head out. Tonight's dinner is fish. But I probably won't have any leftovers. I'm already tired -- could go to sleep right now. I've got to repack my bags for the taxi to pick them up in the a.m.
My sunburn is starting to turn into tan, though it is still mostly red. Have been keeping lotion on it so it doesn't dry out. My acne cream exploded in my bag on the way over. Still have most of it in tact, but it is a mess. Got a bag from Rita, so hopefully I'll salvage a bit of it.
I'm amused that most of the people I meet down here are vacationers from London or Manchester areas. Makes it hard to know what accent I'm actually listening to. I do find that the more proper it is, the more likely it is I'm talking to a city person. However, now that I'm getting used to the sound of the British, they don't sound nearly so foreign or particularly special for the way they talk. Everyone else is just the same. I'm the novelty to them, but no one makes a big deal about my accent here the way we would in the states if we met someone from Britain.
I'm enjoying the peace. It's nice to have people around, but it's nice to be able to take off on my own, feeling like I can conquer the world - or at least hike over to the next point I'm aiming at. I have no stress on me right now - only a little bit of muscle soreness.
XXXX
Another thing I like here is that when I say the names of some of my favorite mythological characters, I don't have to proceed into an explanation of them. Here, they begin to tell their favorite parts of the story when I mention Cuchullain's name. Given, they don't remember who Manamin is until you mention the Mabinogion, but that's a term 99% of Americans would stare blankly at.
Again, dinner was wonderful. Salmon was the main course today. Rain may be in the forecast tomorrow, so I'll have to see if I can get in my hike at all. I'm sure my legs would appreciate the rest, but I'm not sure what I would do with my day if I don't spend it hiking. This isn't exactly the most active countryside in the world. Not much going on and only so much time I really want to spend in a pub.
Popular saying here is that "any town with a pub's got a church." However, they also imply that any town with a church must also have a pub. Virginia is a bit different.
One of the old women here likes to use the phrase "lovely, lovely" a lot. Not that the world "Lovely" isn't overused here in the U.K., but she's taken it a bit far.
Sweet old biddies - we were talking about where people's accents come from (one of them is a true real live Cockney and the other a true Londoner, but neither really has her native accent) and then about where people's names come from. All very pleasant conversation. They both remind me so much of my Grandma Parrish, that I wish she were here in my place She and Grandpa would really enjoy vacationing down here and the prices are fabulous, too. Less than 20L a night here and only slightly higher than that at the Helston B&B. That equates to almost $28/night. Really fantastic. These people would die if they knew what a comparable place in America would charge for the same facilities. I always thought it was outrageous, now I know. What else I know is that these tour people are really running a racket. They're puling in a bundle off what I paid to them. I could be doing this on my own for a third the cost. Not that I would have known where to go, eat, or sleep - but things have their way of just working themselves out over here, I've found. I've never had so much faith in my ability to accomplish a thing on my own as I do here -- after this trip.
***
Joan Seabrook & husband
Richard & Bettsine
No comments:
Post a Comment