Devon, Cornwall and Eden...

Over the long weekend Tatiana and I decided to goo take a short break somewhere. Not unusual for as we're separated so often we usually look forward to spending some quality time just the two of us.

This one was a little different though. I'm living mainly in New York right now. And my wife has just been promoted and... She has to go live in Geneva, Switzerland.

So, we checked our schedules and it turns out, we won't see each other again now until September. So, with us both living outside the UK for a while, I thought I should try and do something in the UK that my wife has always wanted to do.

And she's always wanted to go south to Devon and Cornwall. So it seemed like an ideal time to jet down to Exeter, rent a car and drive around the English Riviera.

We checked into a wonderful little boutique hotel with an excellent view of Torbay.

Torbay has a nice marina.

And a long boardwalk (can't quick figure what that building with the pagoda style features are on the hill).

But the big surprise I had for Tatiana was that I had bought tickets for the world famous Eden project. Basically, you’re driving through this wonderful Cornish countryside and bang! You come across this.

It's a global garden and it's quite breathtaking. Recreated right there is a rain forest environment and also a Mediterranean environment housed inside huge "Biomes" as they are called in what used to be an old china clay pit.

If this next pic looks a little steamed over... It is. The shot was taken inside the rain forest Biome and the temperature was... Well, just like a rain forest!

And to prove the point that it is the real thing, they actually grow and package bananas for sale.

The temperature on the other side at the Mediterranean Biome was a little easier for Tatiana to handle.

These are vines growing grapes with some kind of weird shit going on with dancing bulls... and er... Stuff.

All manner of flora and forna is grown here.

And for all kinds of reasons.

One of the other Biomes had an exhibition called the Sexy Green Car Show. There was wonderful old Ford Prefect on show, the first car my father ever owned (and incidentally, where Douglas Adams took the name for the lead character in the Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy.)

And as a contrast, one of the most modern (and green) cars on the planet. The hydrogen powered Morgan, LIFECar

This guy looked a little scary when we bumped into him.

But then a second look and we could see he was made from old washing machines and vacuum cleaners!

Eden project. Fascinating!

Afterwards we were ready for lunch and went to the wonderfully quaint village harbour of Mevagissey. This is still a working port so you can watch the fishing vessels coming in and out. I can recommend the ancient old pub, the Sharksfin.

The next day, on the way home, we stopped at Exeter, the ancient capital of Devon. Here we had a beer at the 17th century Prospect Inn.

After which, it was time to hop a jet back to Newcastle.

See you in September, Tatiana!

Cheers!