Falmouth...

Early Friday evening we hopped on two more trains to make the scenic two-hour journey to Falmouth, in the far southwest corner of England. We dropped our stuff off at our guesthouse and headed into the small town to have dinner at a pizza place that had a separate vegan menu, which is always a big plus.

The next morning we took a taxi up to the even smaller village of Penryn to tour University of Exeter’s campus which they share with Falmouth University. We enjoyed the lectures, but were disappointed that we were not given a proper tour of the science facilities. I was also not impressed when I learned that many of the Marine Biology classes are taught by Biologists rather than Marine Biologists. 

Ashlynn liked the campus and was especially happy when our tour guide stopped at a reptile table run by some students. First she was thrilled to hold a gecko...

...but her true love was this adventurous corn snake.

As you can see, she was completely calm as he crawled all over her.

He clearly wanted her to take him home as he climbed into her bag.

We got back into Falmouth in time to go to a Cornish pasty shop that makes vegan pasties and then to the movie theater to see Black Panther, which I absolutely loved despite not being a big fan of comic book movies.

University of Plymouth...

The University of Plymouth has a very modern campus right in the city center. Drake’s Place and Garden was named after Sir Francis Drake, who was responsible for the original channel built in 1592 bringing water from Dartmoor to Plymouth. A reservoir was built here in 1825 and was used until the 1970s. Eventually the school bought the derelict property in 2007 to restore to its former glory.

As a future Marine Biologist and an American, it was fitting for Ashlynn to pose with this funny Pilgrim fish. I had my first egg butty (fried egg and mushrooms served on a bun) while she enjoyed a vegan breakfast at one of the cafés on campus.

Our first appointment was to meet with Dr. Stacey DeAmicis, an American who got her PhD there and never left, for a tour of the Marine Biology Department. She brought along a Dutch student named Emma to be able to give us an international student’s perspective. We were really impressed with the facilities...

...which were just as sophisticated as what we saw in Southampton. It was actually too bad that we only had 1.5 hours until our appointment for a campus tour, because it was such an informative visit (and the view wasn’t bad either). 

After our campus tour, we met back up with Emma who had no lectures that day and offered to show us around some more. First she took us over to the Marine Biological Association to see their library, which students are entitled to join and can use as a peaceful place to study. You can only imagine how excited Ashlynn was when this original copy of Darwin’s masterpiece was placed in her hands.

Then we walked to the other side of the harbor to the Marine Station, the school’s waterfront teaching and research facilities, which were also very impressive. We had lunch nearby at a restaurant serving Asian street food and heard more about what Emma thought about the school and city. It was impressive to learn that she’d been accepted to St. Andrews, but chose Plymouth and had no regrets. We would have loved to have stayed an extra night, but we had to get to our next stop: Falmouth.

Special Note: just as I’m posting this, Ashlynn finally made her decision and she chose Plymouth as her top choice (she’ll find out if she has secured a place after her exam results are in on August 16). I’m crossing my fingers that Jimmy and I’ll have many visits to this wonderful city in the future.

Beautiful Plymouth...

When Ashlynn was invited to attend University of Exeter’s Applicant Day on a Saturday in mid-February, it dawned on me that we could also visit Plymouth University along the way. We flew out on the Thursday (I must mention that the closest airports are two hours away!) and explored the city. Directly in front of our hotel in the middle of a traffic circle was the remnants of Charles Church, built in 1657 and destroyed by fire in March 1941 during World War II bombings. Rather than rebuilding, it remains as a memorial to the 1,200 civilian deaths in Plymouth during the air raids.

It’s probably not a surprise that we immediately headed towards the coast. The big open space is know as The Hoe and features statues...

...and Smeaton’s Tower, a lighthouse used from 1759 to 1877 and then relocated here as a memorial to the designer. 

We both loved the views along the low limestone cliffs.

We had no idea at the time that we climbed the hill that this 17th century fortress was built to defend the coastline from the Dutch. The Royal Citadel is still in use by the military today, but does offer occasional tours in the spring and summer.

There were threatening clouds, but luckily we stayed dry as we wandered along the harbor.

Despite the Pilgrims having absolutely no connection with the city of Plymouth until they were forced into the harbor due to bad weather, I’m guessing most of you connect this city as the starting point of the Mayflower’s historic trip to the New World. This portico was built in 1934 to designate the Mayflower Steps, however, historians believe that this was not the actual spot that the Mayflower was boarded. 

We enjoyed visiting the small but very interesting Mayflower Museum. Ashlynn got a good laugh when I wondered why they were selling stuffed empanadas and she reminded me that we were on the edge of Cornwall hence it was clearly a Cornish pasty.

We covered a lot of ground that evening as we went in search for dinner. While we never ventured out of the downtown area, I can say that we loved everything about this city, and I could definitely imagine Jimmy and I having a great time visiting Ashlynn there.

Giant Carnaval Floats...

The floats were definitely unlike any I’d ever seen before. Not only were the huge, but they were extra complicated because they had to lower in order to get under the apartment building built over the road. Where we stood didn’t make for the most scenic background, but it was fascinating watching the floats lower and raise up.

Some of the floats made political statements, such as this yellow book saying: Leadership for Dummies.

Many of the floats were just goofy.

Many were huge and goofy.

We left after two hours and incredibly it was still going. When we headed to the station, it was finally over and the street parties had once again begun. At one point we were so stuck in the crowd that I wasn’t sure we’d ever make it out, but we managed to push our way through. Will definitely have to bring Jimmy back next year.

Carnaval Parade in Tilburg...

I love parades and this one was by far the largest I’ve ever seen in the Netherlands (or perhaps anywhere for that matter). I wore my bunny onesie again and was definitely not alone in being dressed up in the audience.

This parade consisted of two major components: giant floats and dressed up groups. I thought these cards were very cool.

It was funny seeing these folks pretending to try to clean up the confetti-filled streets.

I loved all the bright colors...

...and creative costumes.

This appears to be the Royal Throne...

...followed by the necessary toilet paper.

I thought these crazy dresses were an especially clever use of plastic cups.