England Once Again

On the way from Belgium we met an American guy from L.A, Yassin. Yassin is a musician that plays in several bands. You may say he is famous in the "world music" scene. We talked a bit and he told us about his music. He was a pretty cool guy and was a joy to meet. We took the local trains from Belgium instead of going back to Paris and arrived in Calais. We split a taxi from the train station to the port with a guy named Chee whom we would end up spending an hour talking to waiting on our ferry to Dover. Chee was a recent graduate from Cambridge University, originally from Singapore, with a graduate degree in electrical engineering. Jordan and I had a chill ride back across the channel and arrived around 9pm after gaining an hour coming back across the channel. we walked back to East Cliff Hotel, Victoria's hotel in Dover, and her son, Steve, was working. We got our bags that we left from him and he gave us a really cheap deal on staying the night. We washed the continent off our clothes, went and ate a delicious Kebap, and then went to bed. We got up the next morning and spent an hour drying our clothes at the laundry mat. We then took the train to Canterbury, went and got our britrail passes from the travel office and then got on a train to Cornwall. The train to Cornwall was long, 4.5 hours across the southern part of the country from one side to the other. Cornwall, practically it's own country (at least in their minds) is so far the most beautiful place in England. It was simply breathtaking. The reason we went to Cornwall is because of our study and interest in the Arthurian tradition or the legends of King Arthur. The castle at Tintagil is supposedly the place where King Arthur was conceived by Igraine the duchess of Cornwall and Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, the high king of England. The castle is now in ruins but it is a great location for a castle. We had to take the 4.5 hour train ride into Cornwall, take a bus about 45 minutes, and then take a 30 minute cab ride just to get to the city near the cliff where the castle is. That is with 21st century transportation! How out of the way. After spending 2 hours waiting for a bus that never came we took the cab and showed up late to Tintagil. We went up to our room and quickly noticed a thong hanging from the lamp post in the bed room. Seeing how it was neither of ours we sure do wonder whose it was and how clean the room was we were staying in! Either way, we went to sleep, got up early and walked the 3 miles up the cliff to the village of Tintagil. We wandered around the various shops a bit and then climbed up to the castle ruins and walked all over them. It was amazing! The ruins are perched on a cliff and underneath there is a cave called Merlin's cave. Supposedly where Merlin stayed when in Cornwall. Jordan and I climbed down and explored the cave too! We spent much time on the cliffs, carved our names into the rock at the top (sweet! forever a part of Tintagil castle!) and then walked back to get our backpacks. We took a cab to the train station and left Cornwall less than 24 hours after we got there. We actually found a place where we can horseback ride through the moors in the area and think we might go back and do it at the end of our trip! Riding on the same lands that King Arthur and Uther Pendragon and their knights were said to have ridden! On the train to Oxford!

We got to Oxford and made our way to the home of Laura and Justin Estrada some family friends of Jordan's mom. What a blessing they were! Justin is a graduate student at Oxford University and has a masters of Divinity. He and Laura were such a joy to spend time with and even at their young age are a vision of humility and hospitality. We spent some time talking and watching the world cup and had a delicious dinner courtesy of Laura's brilliant cooking. We then randomly got into a theological discussion on the subjects of Once saved always saved, and immediate ascension to Heaven after death, and a little bit on freewill. Smooth to talk to Justin! a brilliant man indeed! We then finished the night with a little Smash Brothers and then we hit the hay!
We got up and headed to town and Laura and Justin showed us all around. We went to the Eagle and Child where the inklings met (Tolkein and C.S. Lewis). We then walked back down the river a few miles and said goodbyes to Laura and Justin and got our packs. The next morning we quickly got up and went to Christ Church college (where they filmed much of Harry Potter) and climbed the tower at St. Mary's church where we got a 360 view of all of Oxford. We then ran back to the train station, took the train to Birmingham, switched trains and got to Nottingham about 5pm. But that's another story!