Eden and the Garden

     Today was a daze of a day. I am really glad that I took some photos, or I may have already forgotten what happened today. It was the last day of our adventure west and though we all had a great time and learned so many things, we are grateful to be back in the center. This morning we had breakfast provided by our little bar/hotel that was surprisingly good. I slept really well last night and I am not sure if it was due to my bed being super soft or being really tired. It was a rather uneventful night except for the part where Matt tried to find his brother’s room and ended up knocking on the door of some random british dude that was not too happy to have an unexpected guest. Also, it was raining a lot, which was wonderful.
     The bus went around and picked up everyone from six different hotels, and then we made our way over to The Eden Project. Never heard of it? Me neither, but it was actually really cool. It’s a large center made by people that love trees and what not. This large center has two massive “biomes” where they have collected trees, plants and bugs from different places in an attempt to preserve them and stuff. There was a rainforest dome and a Mediterranean dome as well. We went through the rainforest dome and that thing was HUMID! It was so muggy that I almost wanted to run away or die. It was very beautiful though, and it was fun to see all different kinds of plants there are. Who knew that there were so many! They also had stuff like huts and waterfalls spread throughout to make you feel like you were really there. Also provided was a lookout point that you could climb up and see the entire dome. Again, it was all amazing, but by the time we finished we were dying. We bought some crazy African-like smoothies at the end of the path (great planning on their part) and then made our way over to the Mediterranean dome which felt AMAZING. Nice and cool and full of the sort of plants that I am used to. There was an entire section devoted plants from the “Western United States”. I was very familiar with that area. The time went by so quickly and though there seemed to be so much to explore (story time and books made from elephant poop) we had to leave for other things.
     We sat on the bus some more, eating Galaxy bars, Boost bars and Digestives. We talked about favorite TV shows from childhood and SLEPT A LOT! We eventually made our way over to Stourhead to see a massive garden/pond/yard. I was asleep when we were told exactly what it was, so all I know is that it was a beautiful walk we took in the rain with a massive pond and lots of cool architecture. It was all very romantic like. Bwahaha. The girls were also freaking out because they filmed parts of Pride and Prejudice there. (I cannot tell you which version though, they were squealing at a pitch that I am unable to hear).
     Back on the bus and a few hours later we made it back to the center. We ran to the laundry room and to our computers (it’s hard being away from Wifi for so long I suppose). We are ready for some rest, but then will be jumping back in to ADVENTURE!!!!

 Our hotel in the middle of nowhere, right between St Ives and Penzance

 A nice view of the biomes.  

 We entitled this our "totem poses"

 We climbed way up there.....

 Here I am, way up there

 Drinking some bizarre Baobab smoothies.  

 Walking through the massive gardens. So breathtaking.

 So excited.  Or at least I am!

Romantic umbrella pose on the bridge!