June 4 St. Michaels Mount, Cornwall

Awakened to a dark and overcast day and thought we'd have to change plans, but as we ate another great breakfast the sky's began to clear.  PS-English bacon is absolutely the best--double or triple the thickness of what we're used to and very little fat.  Anyway, back to the facts.  We headed out to St. Michaels Mount which is a castle and grounds on an island.  We stopped at the bathrooms after parking and another man and I were leaning against a fence.  I said to him, "I'll be here awhile because I can hear my wife talking to another woman." He said, "You'll be here longer than you think because she's talking to my wife." Sure enough they both walked out just chattering away.  We  had a good laugh with the Australian couple. At low tide one can walk a causeway from the mainland, but we arrived at high tide so it was a boat ride for us. Then a long walk up cobblestone paths to the castle which was magnificent.  The only downer was that the gardens were closed on Sunday.

While in the castle we kept running into a couple from Potsdam, Germany.  The man spoke English, but the wife didn't.  After climbing down from the castle we stopped at a cafe on the island for a Cream Tea (2 scones, clotted cream and jam, and tea) which we ate outside at a picnic table.  In a couple minutes we noticed the German couple come outside and were looking for a place to sit, so we invited them to join us.  They were a few years older than us.  We shared pictures of what we were interested in, and Betsy learned that the German lady was an artist also. We probably spent an hour with them, and had a delightful time.  Early in the conversation I ask the man how he had learned English and he said that he grew up during the early occupation of Berlin in the American Sector and he learned English so he could ask the GI's for chewing gum or candy.  When they were ready to leave we stood up to shake hands and I said to him, "I have something for you."  I then reached into my pocket and put a piece of chew gum into his hand.

St. Michaels Mount is our first castle and it was a 10.  At low tide there is a causeway for walking to the island, but we arrived at high tide so we rode to the island.  The only disappointment was that the gardens at the base of the castle were closed on Sunday.  What a stupid day to close the gardens!