The Eden Project

The Eden Project is not your average botanical garden. It was very impressive. Who would have thought they could take an old quarry and create a rainforest and a Mediterranean climate under plastic? It's all about ecology and being green. If you want to know more about it, click here.

It was a bit pricy. You are forced to buy a year's membership, which is something we wouldn't have chosen to do, but at least the price included parking and the shuttle bus. It rained a bit off and on the day we visited, but it didn't matter because we could stay inside the biomes when it was raining and walk through the outdoor gardens when it wasn't. There were more healthy food options than junk food and the only negative was that there were too many crying babies and whiny children for a place called "Eden".

Here are some of the pictures we took.

Shaking in Their Shells

Brixham is located in Devon across the bay from Torquay. It's one of those places where Mark was taken on holiday when he was a child and I think he really enjoyed sharing it with me.

We stayed at the Quayside Hotel - it's the larger reddish building in the center of the front row in the picture above. We were supposed to have a sea-view room, but we had a courtyard instead. Mark was a bit disappointed, but it was fine. Most of the local restaurants were impossible to get into but as hotel guests we had no problem getting into the hotel dining room. The hotel restaurant was exceptional. The seafood was all fresh (as you'd expect in a fishing village) and the servings were generous. (I had pasta with a fresh crab sauce - I could only manage about half of it.)

At breakfast the next day we asked our waiter if it would be possible to have the chef prepare food for dinner that wasn't on the menu. Mark wanted mackerel cooked in the traditional way and I wanted prawns sauteed with garlic. The chef stopped by and made sure he understood what we wanted so he'd be able to get it at the market that day. It was superb! And all cooked to order.

Mark told me that when he went there as a boy, he and his dad would fish for crabs off the pier. As we were walking past, there was a family with two little boys doing exactly that. Mark made sure he was in earshot of the boys and said, "You know, I used to fish for crabs here when I was a lad. Those crabs can be really mean when you catch them. They've been known to chase boys. They're real fighters."

The boys, who were probably six and eight, looked at each other with a bit of surprise in their eyes. Then they looked at their mom, who said nothing. Then they looked at their dad who just nodded and smiled like it was all true. After giving it a bit of thought, the older one reached down and grabbed his plastic pirate sword. He looked at Mark and said, "We don't care! We have swords!" The younger one grabbed his sword and they both waved their swords around, just as a warning to any crab that might have been looking.

Those crabs were probably shaking in their shells!

Mixer Taps

I love mixer taps. Almost to the point of obsession. They are so commonplace in the US that we don't even think about them. I'm guessing that most of my US-based friends are wondering why I keep ranting about mixer taps and the lack of them is so prevalent in the UK that most of my friends there are probably wondering what my problem is. Quite frankly, I don't know why everyone doesn't have them. Even if you want an old-fashioned look with separate handles, the water can still be mixed and come out of the faucet at the perfect temperature. 

On sinks like this one, it's fairly obvious.

The hot gets progressively hotter and the cold gets progressively colder. The two don't mix unless you run a sink full of water. If you're trying to wash and rinse your face, you'll have to run several sinks full of water to get all the soap off. On the other hand, if you have mixer taps, you don't have to run several sinks full of water; you can just run the water and splash it on your face.

Then we have this bit of trickery. Based on outward appearances, I was looking at a mixer tap. But when I started splashing water on my face, I once again had part of the water scalding and part of it freezing. The two were not "mixing" but were coming out of the same faucet separately. There was even a plastic piece to keep the hot and cold separate.

Why on earth would anyone install such a device? I don't get it. Anyway, that's it! I'm done. That's really all I have to say about plumbing. At least for now.

Getting My Feet Wet

Even in the winter, it's refreshing to walk along the seafront. And on a sunny spring day, who can resist a stroll on the beach and maybe getting your toes wet?

I can resist! It's the North Sea! I know the water is cold! I was fairly surprised to see people on the beach and in the water. (In fairness, the people who were brave (?) enough to get in the water seemed to be teenagers. But there's another reason I didn't need to dip my toes into the sea. I'd already got them wet when I washed my face. The sink in our room was so small that when I splashed water on my face to rinse it, all the water fell onto my feet. Which was unfortunate because I was wearing socks at the time. (I forgot to pack my ballet slippers.) Who knew they made sinks this size? It's barely the length of my hand. 

But as you can see, although it is small, it is clean. And white. The whole room was essentially small, clean, and white. But white does make things appear larger and more spacious. "White" essentially describes our room at The Beeches.

Background information: There's a fairly big difference between a B&B in the US and a B&B in the UK. In the US, they are typically large, older houses furnished with antiques. Each room in a house will have a distinct character and decor. The rooms have names and guests reserve a specific room. Guests are welcome to use the common areas of the house, such as the sitting room or parlor. Breakfast usually includes hot and cold foods, but rarely is anything cooked to order.  Guests are encouraged, (if not forced) to sit with other guests at breakfast. They tend to be somewhat upscale - typically not a low-cost option. They do have those types of B&B in the UK (we stayed in one in Wales this past February - Fabulous!) but frequently the term B&B is applied to a guest house, which is typically minimally furnished, sometimes with older furniture but rarely with antiques. Like a hotel, most of the rooms are furnished as identically as practical and guests do not reserve a specific room. There typically aren't any common areas other than the dining room, which typically has a table for each room so that guests do not need to share a table with strangers. Breakfast usually consists of an assortment of cereals and fruit, maybe some yogurt and then a cooked-to-order hot breakfast. These guest houses are often low-cost options. Often, particularly in small towns, this type of accommodation is the only option.

We found The Beeches to be basic, but adequate. It was exceptionally clean and the host was exceptionally friendly. While the room was small, it was large enough for us to store our bags without tripping over them. (We have been in rooms where that wasn't possible. - See post from last year about the Clarence Hotel in Windsor.) The bed wasn't especially comfortable but perhaps I'm just more sensitive to that type of thing in my old age. Of course, there was no air conditioning and it was warm. We opened the window and found that while the sea gulls were noisy, the noise was not unpleasant and we slept just fine. The parking was inadequate for the number of rooms, but those who couldn't get into the parking at the front of the house were able to park across the street.

The Beeches may not be my first choice of places to stay in and around Clacton, but I won't be hesitant to stay here again if my first choice isn't available. But next time, I'll bring makeup remover pads. 

Praising with Angry Insects

The Swan Hotel in Staines was highly recommended by friends who often stay there. I think they prefer room 10, which is the room we had. The bed is nothing special. In fact we woke up a bit stiff from sleeping in it. (Although it is far more comfortable than a coach airline seat.) It's a spacious room, particularly by European standards and the view from the window of room 10 is absolutely stunning, as you can see from the photo below.

We had a leisurely lunch before our room was ready. They had beautiful outdoor seating along the River Thames. (I'd post a picture of that view, but you really can't see anything but our faces.) And the food was quite good.

At breakfast I found myself viewing the chalkboard on the counter. I didn't have a camera with me at breakfast and there was no way to come back and photograph the chalkboard with any degree of subtlety. (I was trying to photograph a sign in Nashville once and someone thought I was trying to get a good shot of her sketch of Johnny Cash. She was flattered. I smiled and nodded.) Anyway, no photo - you'll just have to take my word for it. The chalkboard invited me to "compliment" my tea or coffee with some "cross ants".

In case anyone is confused, to compliment means to praise. To complement means to make complete or perfect. The words are not interchangeable. As for the cross ants, I can only assume that the individual who wrote up the board that day misspelled croissants, probably spelling it crossiants, and someone noticed the error and erased the misplaced "i" leaving a space between cross and ants. Being a grammar Nazi and having the ability to spot a typo at 50 paces, I had a good laugh at breakfast.

When we went to the desk to check out, I noticed that the special brew for the day was "Seafearer's Ale", which I found a bit funny. "Rule Britannia, Brittannia rules the waves!" Brits do not fear the sea. Indeed, it should have been "Seafarers". Perhaps I'm just too easily amused.