Tuesday
Even though the excursion means a
lot of time on the bus, it is nice because we are able to enjoy the beautiful
English countryside, which looks exactly like the Shire. I love being able to
look out the window and listen to my iPod, just taking it all in. It also involves Dr. Ryken enjoying his
power with the announcement system.
At one “motorway rest stop”, he commended us to enjoy the “archetypal”
experience of the motorway rest stop and for half of us to write poetry about
it and the other half to write a novel about it and compose “A Motorway Rest
Stop Anthology” for future Wheaton in England students to study. It would definitely be a new venture
into an unknown genre.
Tuesday we had a nice long bus ride
to Tintagel, which is supposedly where Arthur had his castle. The day was overcast and chilly, but it
only rained a little bit. The
ruins of the castle were located on the cliffs of Tintagel. We hiked up there and saw what was left
of the stones. Next, we made our
way to the top and saw the view from the cliffs. It was breathtaking.
The white cliffs jutted out from the brightest green grass I’ve ever
seen, which overlooked the blue-gray Atlantic, which disappeared into the gray
misty horizon. The gray sky added
to the mystery and magic of the legendary area. We were hit rather hard by the wind, reminding us that we
were but small humans compared to the wild untamed nature that surrounded
us. 
We wandered the cliffs, getting as
close to the edge as we could without falling. I’ve never been so awestruck by natural beauty before. Dr. Ryken told us there are three types
of nature in England: the Cultivated (gardens such as Penhurst), the
Picturesque (as in the Lake District), and the Sublime, or untamed nature (that
would be Tintagel).
After exploring the cliffs, a few
of us wandered down to the beach, which is where Merlin’s cave is located. Merlin was locked away there forever by
a sorceress he fell in love with.
Once the tide comes in, the cave is completely covered by water, as is
the beach, leaving only the cliffs for the waves to crash against.
After exploring Tintagel, we went
back to town and then the girls and guys split up for the night to stay in
different hostels. Dr. Coolidge
and Dr. Ewart led us girls on the mile hike up the cliffs again to our
hostel. Along the way we passed an
abandoned church and graveyard.
The sky was still dark and foreboding and we were surrounded by wild
heath everywhere, making us feel as if we were in a Bronte novel. Our hostel over looked the cliffs and
if you walked too far from it, you would fall off.
The first thing we did upon arrival
was to eat a much-needed dinner and then some of us went out exploring. We walked around the cliff edges taking
in the beautiful view. The area is
very lonely, with only a few homes dotting the green heath. Everywhere there were beautiful
wildflowers and wildlife. We saw a
family of bunnies and some seagulls.
It was wonderful just to sit on some shale at the edge of the cliff and
take in the beauty of the ocean.
We could hear the waves crash against the black cliffs, and we saw a
rainstorm roll in from off the gray ocean. More than once were we inspired to yell “Heathcliff!” Afterwards, we bunkered down for the
night in our very cozy hostel run by two sweet women who spent their night
knitting and drinking wine. A
couple of us ended the night by reading loud select passages from Jane Eyre. All in all, it was a wonderful day and I would definitely
rank Tintagel near the top in sites so far.
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