Magic and Pirates and Wind, oh my!

The next day saw us off bright and early, heading toward Tintagel.  If that sounds somewhat familiar, it is linked to King Arthur and the legends that surround him.  Tintagel is the supposed site of Arthur's conception, although a less romantic place we can't imagine!  The remains of the castle are built upon a rocky penninsula that is only attainable by climbing a seemingly endless series of steps carved into the rock face.  It would appear that the line, "Wanna come back to my place?  I have a castle," worked, at least in that instance.

Now, let's talk wind.  I grew up on the prairies, so I know wind.  It has stripped a few layers of skin off me in over the years, I am sure, and I probably walk at a permanent slant from walking to school always against the wind.  I am reminded of a line in a book I read that took place on the Isle of Harris, where the wind was described as only being noticed when it stopped.  I have to say, though, that I have never experienced wind like the gales that lashed us at the top of the rock.  A great deal of credit goes to image stablized lenses for any of the photos that we got that were sharp.  Amazingly, there were people living there even before the whole King Arthur thing, as far back as the Roman times, but we really can't imagine what those people were thinking when they decided it was a good place to settle.


Don't get me wrong, Tintagel proved to be stunning, interesting, mysterious and rigorous all at once.  Seeing the caves where pirates stashed their ill-gotten booty and letting our imaginations run wild was something we will never forget.

After Tintagel, both a castle and a wee town, we headed off to Penzance, just to keep the pirate theme going, but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as it is not a thriving place and might look better in the sunshine, and maybe with some of its shops open.  After Penzance, we headed back for cider and pizza!!

Our morning drive took us through the exquisite countryside of Cornwall, the southern tip of England.

It all looked quite quintessentially English.

First sight of the castle, the Atlantic, and the caves, one of which is Merlin the Magician's. 

The bay below the castle.  You may notice a small, wooden landing down below, which might help give you a sense of scale.  Nothing here is without a stairclimb - there are over 600 of them - so down we went.

The Atlantic rolls in against the rocks.  It was easy to imagine shipwrecks, with pirates and probably townspeople hiding in the cove.

After a not too pleasant climb up the stairs, Rick proudly shows, once again, that nothing will stop him!

Oh, did I mention stairs?  The castle is actually spread across both sides of this gorge, and you pay to enter at the wee building you can barely see.  We are on the outcropping side, looking down and then up again to the landward side.  To be fair, there used to be a better land bridge in ancient times, which has worn down over the years, but still, it is hardly hospitable!

Remains of the castle.

Looking from Tinagel toward the other side of the bay.  The rock used to build the castle were quite flat, not the usual block shape of other castles.  Once again, another cave or two in which to hide.

A nearby hotel that, for reasons unknown, hasn't blown into the Atlantic.  

The foundations of the houses used by the inhabitants long before Tintagel was built.  Nice view, but I don't know if it is the best location, location, location.

The flora and fauna - low grasses and "tourista windium", otherwise known as Rick.  Oh, and rock.  There are some sheep up here, probably not your happiest of sheep, who we hope don't go too near the edges!

Finally, we made it to the other side, so we are looking south along the coast.  To get this photo, I had myself wedged against the rocks as I was splayed out like a tripod just trying to stay steady.

Upon completing the loop, we arrived back at the castle, complete with a view of a bit of its layout.

Down and up, up, up we went to the mainland side of the castle.  If you look closely, you will see people dressed in red climbing the stairs up to the outcropping side of the castle.  The stairs were worse for Rick going down, as you stare directly into the roiling sea.

The day was growing more overcast, but that didn't make the views any less spectacular.

We made it back to the town of Tintagel, where we came across this old building that is known as The Old Post Office.  It is a 14th century manor house made of stone with a slate roof.  They may want to do something about the roof line!!

Lunch was definitely on the menu, so to speak, so we went to the King Arthur's Arms pub.  I believe Rick is checking out some historical facts on his iPad, with what looks like Geepers, our GPS in the foreground.

When in Cornwall, have a pastie!!  Much like champagne from the Champagne region of France, the Cornish Pastie has to come from Cornwall, or it can't use that name.  It was very tasty and filling, which was its original purpose, to fill the hungry, hard-working miners and farmers, not peckish tourists.  Meat, potatoes and onions, all in one handy, hand-held packet.  The "salad" in the background is to give the meal the illusion of health!  PS - it is pronounced like "nasty," not like "hasty."

Now here is a surprise!  We are now in Penzance, and I guess full marks for not feeling the need to change the original name of this street.

A rather interesting building in Penzance.  We really didn't know what to think.

The Admiral Benbow Inn, a 17th century pub that is partly built out of, and contains remnants of, shipwrecks.  There are tunnels leading into it that were used to smuggle rum and whisky without the knowlege of the tax man.

Atop the pub, a watchman keeps and eye out for either pirates or the government.

Teddy, Alfie and Wolfie tried to mingle with one of the locals, but he never really relaxed.