London, Day 1 - White Horse on the Hillside

Cornwall came out in all her glory today, to bid me a spectacular farewell. All of the best haunts were bathed in sunlight and you would never have guessed it had been raining only moments before! 

There was a farewell to the Norway Store lady ("Oh, your last chocolate twist? Sad! But here you are, it's only just come out of the oven.."), a quick dash to the trash (one must never leave trash in one's cottage), and then the inevitable bumpy cobbles rattling me thoroughly while trying to get down to the train. Fully one minute after I arrived, it rolled in, and I climbed aboard.

All the way to London, you could really hardly take your eyes off the windows. The greens were spectacular and I kept wanting to ask people, how can you ever grow used to this? There were hundreds, no thousands of fields with white sheep eating lush green grasses to their heart's content. Then there were the sweetest cows doing the same, gazing at us as we sped past. Thirsty California would never have believed it. And then I saw - really I did! - a white chalk horse on a hillside! You can see it here, at the top:

There were two very interesting ladies sitting with me. They appeared to be about the same age, but one was the step daughter of the other!. Both were in their sixties so the situation was unique, and you could tell that the step mother was the organized one ("You'll want to be sure your train ticket is out and ready because they won't let you out of the station unless you have it..", or "Remember, all of our bags are down the other end of the train car, so we'll need to get ourselves organized before the train pulls in.."). It was funny. They were both brilliant career women, making international deals even while we were on the train! The step mother was flying to Malaysia tonight to train and speak and do any number of fabulous things. Wow. As always, half the fun of travel is the people that you meet along the way!

Brunel Bridge (also called the Saltash Bridge)

And now, I am in my sweet hostess's darling home in London, have been fed royally, and am now ready to go get into my comfy bed. I had to say goodbye to Cornwall, but just think - only a few days, and I shall be back in the arms of my family. I can hardly wait! What fun we will have. What hugs we will give! 

Bliss.


See you along the way!
the SconeLady