Tuesday 17th – Eden Project

 

 

Once again, we were up early and off. This time though, we had timed tickets to something called the Eden Project therefore, we had to be there on time. The weather was awful as we drove however – and this would become a theme of our holiday – it was dry when we reached our destination. My dad had calculated his travel time wrong and we had arrived at the Eden Project, frankly, before anyone else! We got out the car slowly and I was pushed in my pushchair to the entrance. The Eden Project had been built in an old quarry therefore, we have to walk quite a bit. This, uphill and downhill walking would become a familiarity for our trip and I think my dad lost a little weight.

 

Once at the ticket desk, we were still 20 minutes early however, the kind lady let us through. Once through reception and back out into the outside world, I gasped at a few big clear bee comb shaped buildings. I had no idea what they were for however, I was determined to find out. That was, after I had consumed a cake that my mum had just given me. This cake was made by my mum and was delicious however, it must have been the crumbliest cake in the world. If I am honest, I think I ate 20% of the cake and the rest flew off me like a snowstorm as I got out of my chair. Dad wasn’t impressed that I had cover this project with cake!

 

The Eden Project is all about something called ‘sustainability’. There were loads of flowers and ways we could protect our environment. It was a really interesting place with flowers and trees around every corner. My mum and dad did let me walk around a bit which I enjoyed.

 

Eventually we went into a big building. There was this weird blue thing blowing rings of oxygen at people. Apparently, this micro-organism – which had been magnified – is responsible for all life on this planet … or whatever that meant. The rings of oxygen were cool … but I preferred the white room which held an enormous model of a seed. The seed wasn’t that interesting however, the room created a huge echo. I loved telling myself a story at the top of my voice while in this room however, it would appear others didn’t like it as everyone else left.

 

Finally, I was pushed into those clear bee combed shaped buildings and all became clear. These plastic sheeting buildings acted like a greenhouse. This allowed the Eden Project to house both Mediterranean and jungle plants. First of all, we all visited the Mediterranean dome which housed plants from Greece, Spain and Australia. Paths had been built and I loved looking at all the plants. There was also this enormous tree with a face! As we left, we went past a restaurant which served pizza and paella. It looked closed however, I felt that it could be a good place for lunch.

 

We then all went into the Jungle dome and the temperature sored. So much so, that we all de-layered very quickly. Mum got me out of my pushchair and allowed me to walk … which was a mistake as I was off like a shot. My mum struggled to keep up and I lost sight of my dad until we met up again at a Jungle house. I really liked the jungle; sure, it was hot and humid however, the different plants and birds which ran past my feet made it very exciting. Finally, the dome had a ‘jungle boardwalk’ at the top. It was pushchair friendly therefore we went to get a bird’s eye view of the place. I was loving my trip to the Eden Project however, it was very tiring therefore, I went to sleep.

 

As I slept, mum and dad popped back to the Mediterranean restaurant and ate said pizza and paella. I only discovered about this back in the car after as they discussed how delicious it was. I found that restaurant! I was not happy and I was determined not to fall asleep again.

 

I awoke once outside of the domes. We had a tiny part of the park left to see before we headed through the souvenir shop – where we spent quite a lot – and back to the car. We had spent around 6 hours at the Eden Project and it had been amazing. I certainly want to come back when I am older.

 

The time was only 3pm therefore, not really the right time to return to 1972. Fortunately, there was a National Trust place called Lanhydrock house only a 20-minute drive away. Normally, I don’t like National Trust houses … and this was no exception. Fortunately, we had arrived near closing time therefore, without me having to be annoying, mum and dad had to rush around the inside of the house. Even here there was a connection to Japan as a Japanese artist – who made bowls – visited here and a lot of her work was on display. It was pretty incredible however, completely unusable.

 

Once the house was done, we had to walk up another big hill to head back to the car. We stopped at a park where I got to play for a little while however, it was starting to rain. We therefore left this National Trust house glad that we had visited.

 

On the way back to the chalet we stopped at an M&S food hall to buy dinner. For dinner we had pasta with a tomato sauce. The sauce was such a rich colour I felt that the chalet needed some of it on its wallpaper. I climbed up onto a chair and pressed my ‘tomato sauce covered hands’ onto the wall’s multiple times. Dad was horrified as tomato stains … whatever that means.

 

All I know is that I went to sleep watching my mum wipe the area of wall I have placed my hands. Why, I had no idea!