East to Eden.

Thursday 1st April

We headed East today to the Eden Project tucked away in an old quarry just south of Bodmin. It's another example of a small group of people using positive determination to fulfill a dream and is a rather magical place somewhere between Disneyland and a garden centre. Outside the rain fell, but we stayed warm and a bit dehydrated in the two wonderful biospheres. It's a brilliant resource and the ticket, which gives you a year's access to the site, really supports local schools and communities to make full use of the educational resources and research going on here. In a county where tourism and agriculture provide the main industry it's a wonderful magnet for encouraging young people growing up in the area to visit regularly and make sense a potential economic future for Cornwall.

We drove north up to Tintagel and braved the angry afternoon on the ruined battlements of the castle. Marta - a serious historian - wasn't very impressed by the mythical conceits of Arthur's 'alleged' birthplace and shunned Merlin's cave hidden in the cliff face below. Still the drama and romance of the place was difficult to dismiss. Weather beaten we headed for a pint in The Cobweb at Boscastle - now fully restored after the devastating floods of five years ago and then headed down coast to Padstow for a 'Cornwall rocks!' meal in Rick Stein's bistro. Heading for home tomorrow

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