and we can visit the Eden Project too!

Our third day in Cornwall was wet and cold, so instead of our planned surfing lessons, we chose to travel south and see the Eden Project.

My parents had raved about the Project, so it was an easy decision to pass up a cold day in the surf for a drive through gorgeous country lanes to get there. The villages were very sweet, and every cottage had its own name - Haven, Little Overton, Sunny Down etc.

Once we got to St Austell, I was immediately impressed with the scale of the complex and the insane modernity of it all. It's hard to express in a photograph, but trust me that the biomes are enormous:


A lot of effort has gone into making the complex accessible to all. Not only does it have excellent facilities for mobility impaired visitors, but it is one of the first non-publicly funded places I have visited that deploys Easy Read principles on their displays.

The first thing I really liked was the vegetable garden. I spent ages exploring the varieties of food grown outdoors at the Project - and was delighted to learn that ginger, lemongrass and chillies all survive outside in England. I was even more interested to see Amaranth - my favourite breakfast cereal - for the first time. Lucy lost me in the garden for quite some time but I emerged eventually...

Apparently, the Project has the biggest glasshouse in the world. Once inside the rainforest project, I can believe it:


Not many glasshouses have five-story waterfalls inside them:


It got very very warm walking all the way to the top of the forest, and by the time we came down we needed a rest before visiting the next biome. Naturally, the Project gives you every opportunity to spend your money, and the cafe had the added bonus of selling food from within 5 miles of the Project. It made for a good break.

Fortified, we ventured into the second biome - based on mediterranean climates. It was much drier and more pleasant than the first biome, but also less interesting. There were ony two things I really liked. The first was a series of sculptures amongst the grape vines celebrating all things Bacchanalian. They were very cool:


And secondly, I enjoyed the low-key display of commercial flowers that demonstrated the links between changes in fashion and ups and downs in species protection. It was educational AND pretty:


We spent five hours or so at the Project, which was enough to tire us out and ensure an early night after dinner. Unfortunately, the weather had got quite bad by the time we reached our campsite, and I am such an amateur at camping I was convinced our tent would be squashed by the tipping over motorhomes of aforementioned empty nesters. Thus, I spent my night more or less awake in the car.

The eight hour drive home the next day compounded my weariness. But, actually, it was so good to get out of London and do some great things with Lucy that I don't mind at all. Yay for a holiday!