h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just got home from a mini-break in Cornwall. Travelled down on Friday, arrived at the cottage mid-afternoon. The weather was cloudy and cool, but the BBC had promised me sunshine and warmth for Saturday! On Friday night we explored the area and had dinner in the local pub - fish & chips and other pub food, washed down with a few pints of Tinner's, the local beer.

On Saturday we planned a long walk. Unfortunately(!) I had injured my foot, so the rest of the gang set off on a hike, leaving me alone in the pub with the Saturday paper.

On their return 3 hours later, we got some pasties, stocked up on food in the local supermarket, then went home.

The fog and general overcastness hadn't lifted all day, so we ritually cursed the Beeb and their inability to forecast their way out of a paper bag.

The evening dinner had been pre-booked at The Beach, the restaurant on...er...the beach. A review of this establishment will (hopefully) be included in a future edition of .

On Sunday, we walked down to Land's End - around 2 miles away from where we were staying. This day *was* hot and sunny, and we were looking forward to refreshment when we got to Land's End...to find that the only licensed premise there was closed for a wedding. Presumably the wedding had happened the day before, but the guests were too hung over to leave? Or something? We made do with cups of tea, and walked back along the cliff path.

On reaching the beach we were staying near, we popped into The Beach again for a light whistle-wetter (cold Doom Bar this time) before going back to the cottage. Evening dinner was a pasta style dish - I managed to cook a vegetarian dinner for the "V"s among us, then added some fried bacon to meat it up for us carnivores!

On Monday, another hot sunny day, we took a bus trip out to see the Minack Theatre http://www.minack.com/ - sadly we were too early in the season for an actual production, but it's a fascinating place nonetheless. We found a pub in Porthcurno and had lunch there, before catching the bus back.

In the afternoon, we got into our swimming gear and went swimming off the North Cornwall coast. This is, for those with a flimsy grasp of geography, the Atlantic Ocean. It was cold! Most of the other people in the water were surfers, who had the benefit of a wetsuit, at least!

We'd bought some scones the day before, so we sat around in the afternoon sun having a well-deserved home-made Cornish cream . This involves (i) , (ii) scones, (iii) clotted cream, (iv) raspberry jam (in this instance). You combine them in any order that you find feasible (hint: the cream goes on the scone, not in the ).

Dinner on Monday evening was barbecued sausages and salad, using a disposable barbecue. I was nominally in charge of the barbecuing (Step 1: light match. Step 2: light paper. Step 3: leave for 20 minutes. Step 4: place sausages on barbie. Step 5: turn them after 15 minutes). I'll be the first to admit that it's not science. It's not even salad. As the cottage garden was rich in rosemary bushes, I chucked a few sprigs onto the flames to try and add some flavour. It smelled nice, but made no discernible difference to the sausages that I could...er...discern.

On Tuesday, I was placed carefully on a train to Paddington, leaving the remaining crew to enjoy the cottage until Friday. HI wanted to tie a tag around my neck saying "please look after this bear" but I refused.

And that was it. I returned here, slightly sunburnt, with a shoulder-bag full of dirty clothes, and the joy of a day at work to look forward to in the morning!

RF

Sorry, you lost me at the scones and clotted cream bit

Sounds like a nice weekend. I'm looking forward to the review of The Beach.

How's the foot?

Glad you had such a nice weekend. You'll probably be suprised, but I hate barbecues.

Hope your foot is much better, and the sunburn isn't too bad.

The foot is better, and the sunburn has just about gone.

Why do't you like barbecues, Bel?

RF

Ooh, topic drift by post 5!

you need to check B'el's journal, RF

So, are you getting drunken phone calls & texts telling you what a fab time they're all having without you?

Because I can't recall the last one I went to that was stressfree and where the food wasn't either burnt or half raw.

I fear your experience of barbecues must be skewed...if a barbecue isn't relaxing and stress-free, what's the point of it?

My dear mother has addressed the "black outside, raw inside" chicken problem that usually pertained when my dad was in charge of the barbecue by microwaving all the food first, then passing it to my dad to "finish off" on the barbie.

Sadly, it appears that HI has forgotten to take her mobile phone charger with her, as I've had no texts or phone calls (drunken or otherwise). On the other hand, she may have completely forgotten my existence.

RF

No news is good news, as we say here.

they say it there too