Day 3 - Bristol, Cheddar Gorge, and Camborne

Today we woke up early to try to be on time for church.  The SDA church in Bristol was only about seven miles away.  But we knew we'd need extra time to find it.  We enjoyed the same breakfast as yesterday, loaded the car, and checked out.  I put the church's postal code into the GPS and then we started to make our way into downtown.  Again the trip was froth with MANY wrong turns as the rotaries are not always clear, especially in combination with the GPS advice.  At last we made it and found a place to park on the street.  By that time, Sabbath School was nearly over.  The majority of the congregants were black so we made some of the few white faces in the seats!  The pastor spoke and he mentioned going back to Newbold to finish his studies, so presumably he isn't finished with seminary yet.  He was very long-winded and dramatic, not to mention loud!

 The sermon took an hour after three special musics!  We knew we would get to our next town quite late if we didn't leave soon so we slipped out during the closing hymn.

There was no chance to change clothes, so we just drove on and at last got out of the city and were on our way west!  Or first stop was Cheddar which, yes, is the city where cheddar cheese comes from!  It is very small and on this day was heavily beladened with tourists.  We struggled going through all the little streets and byways, having to turn around more times than I care to admit to, and finally we found a street to park on close to the church where there was less excitement.  We had seen a cafe there and decided to try it.  First we popped into the church to look around.

 It was an Anglican church, small but not tiny.  We enjoyed looking around and taking a few photos.

 Then we walked across the street to The Sitting Room of Riverside Cottage.  It was a lavender painted cottage with a small sign in front advertising an all vegetarian menu.

 Intrigued, we went up to the building where a menu was posted.  We were happy to see many items with cheddar cheese (when in Cheddar...).  So we went in and the lovely lady behind the counter invited us to take a seat outside if we liked, look at the menu, and come back with our orders which we did.

We found a table, looked over the menu, then stepped back inside to place our orders.  While the food was being prepared, we enjoyed the lovely garden outside where we were sitting and the charming view of the river flowing past including a few ducks!

 Grandma had mentioned being cold, so soon the proprietor came out and put a blanket around her shoulders!

 I saw the chef come out to the garden to pick fresh herbs for our meal!  Soon the food appeared and just as fresh and lovely as we had hoped!   I ordered a croissant with (of course) cheddar cheese and broccoli soup with blue cheese.

  Mom ordered something called a Welsh Rarebit which was a slice of whole grain bread with melted cheese on top and some sides.

 Grandma asked for an omelet with mushrooms and onions and toast as they served breakfast all day long!  We each had a small salad served on the plates.  Grandma didn't even miss her toast in the end!

 After paying for our meal, the proprietor gave us great directions to see Cheddar Gorge and Glastonbury Abbey.

Soon we were back on our way.  First we drove through the main tourist area with the cheese shops and car park... 

...and before long, we were driving up through the gorge which has very impressive rock walls and narrow, twisting roads going through it.  We stopped once to take pictures, Mom got the rest out the window of the car as we drove along.

 It wasn't long before we were in Glastonbury.  We pulled into the abbey parking lot and went to the window to inquire as to the price and how long it would take to go through it.  After getting that information, we decided to press on to Camborne.  We could see some of the top of these impressive ruins over the top of the wall, but not much more.

Once again we had some troubles getting on the right road as there is a Combourne and a Camborne England and they are located in two very different places.  This is where GPS can get you into trouble.  At least we had some beautiful views on the way!

At last, we arrived in Camborne and found the resort where we had booked a week to stay in a condo or an apartment.  It was just after 9:00pm and we went straight up to the restaurant after getting checked in.  The kitchen had closed, but they were able to make us a margherita pizza which was basically a cheese pizza.  It worked considering it was late and we were hungry.  But that mad ethereal cheese meals in a day which for me, trying to eat vegan, it was a bit too much cheese!

Then we went to our "lodged" as it was called.

 We were impressed with how big it was.  There was a master bedroom and bathroom on the first floor along with kitchen and dining area.  Then upstairs was a sitting room... 

...and another bedroom with a small bedroom with twin beds off of it and a bathroom.  Three bedrooms in all!  And there was a pull-down bed in the sitting room!  We got settled in and went to take a shower before bed only to discover there was no hot water!  I looked through the book of information in the sitting room and it did say we would have to turn on the water heater, but I couldn't for the life of me find where the heater was.  So I called reception and they sent a man down who simply turned on the towel rail heater.  I asked him if this would also heat the water and he said it would.  So we went to bed, hoping for hot water in the morning!