The Motte and Bailey

A Full English Breakfast, including to-mah-to.

Up bright and early, we are the first customers of the day at Launceston Castle. This motte and bailey was first built in the mid-9th century, but was substantially re-built in the 13th century. More recently (1650's) it served as a prison for the quaker leader George Fox, and other religious rebels, like catholics.

The motte is a big hill, and the bailey is a stone keep on the top. Now in ruins, it still has a stair along the outer wall to the top, but all the interior construction is gone. It looks isolated in the photos, but the castle is smack in the middle of Launceston, a busy, working-class town.


You can really see the idea in this photo. A natural hill was built up to get a better view. The tower is built on top of the hill.

The stairs inside the keep

They're about to open the gate! We can't wait.

Maggie and Karma look down through the center of the keep.


From the top of the tower, you can see for many miles...this was ideal when trying to protect the rest of England from pirates and other invaders who came up through Cornwall.

Tenzin on top of Launceston Castle


Maggie and Karma look down through the center of the keep.


Maggie and Karma explore the castle.


The motte and bailey are only part of the fortress. The whole town was inside the wall, parts of which are still found around the village. Here you can see the old moat and bridge. People from the region would have come to this grassy area, which at one time had buildings for paying taxes or seeking justice from the Duke's assistants.

We could go on and on, but we'll stop there. But we kind of wish we could stay here forever.

Kobi thinks the stone walls of the entry gate are perfect for climbing.
Get down from there Kobi!

Leaving Cornwall and finding a motte and bailey

We get ready to leave the cottage, and Karma takes a moment to photograph her "potato chip" bag collection. Here are a few of her favorites:


Marmite flavor potato chips. Our rule was she could buy them if she could eat them, but she only just managed to taste this one.


Here are the Steak and Onion Chips. One of our great regrets of the trip is that we didn't buy the bag of "Roast Ox" chips when we saw them in Bude --




A pretty pink bag of Prawn Cocktail potato chips. Of course, the English call them Crisps (and for some reason, what they call Chips, we call French Fries).

We regretfully leave Roger and Claire's beautiful cottage -- and Margaret's Tea Caravan. We drive around Cornwall a bit aimlessly, first passing through Tintagel:


This rocky cliff is Tintagel, where Uther Pendragon visited Queen Igraine, and the infant Arthur was born, later to become High King of Britain....although even the locals have a large dose skepticism about the factual basis of this legend.



Then we drive through touristy Padstow, where the Pinch family of Middletown supposedly has their roots. Interestingly, we find traffic calming already in place:


Slowing traffic naturally in Padstow



Finally, we look in the guidebook to try to find a Motte and Bailey, which is a medieval castle (Bailey) built on top of a hill (Motte). Every kid in Liz Warner's 6th grade history class at IDS had to build some kind of early English fortress. Combine Tenzin with 200 popsicle sticks colored brown, and a bunch of dirt mixed with glue, and our family will never forget the motte and bailey.

So just at sunset, we pull into Launceston, where Launceston Castle is a geniune member of the motte and bailey species. Right across the street, we check into a little inn called the Eagle House Hotel. We are unreasonably giddy about this stop and we wander around the grounds of the castle (which are closed) trying to figure out where the kitchen must have been, and pretending to be the guard of the gate.

The Bookstore in Bude and a Cornwall sunset

We take the whole family down the costal path into the village of Bude.

The land along the coast is private property, but there is an agreement that allows the public to use it.

Instead of a "NO TRESPASSING" private property sign, this is what we find. How civilized!


In Bude, the kids find what they were looking for.

These little bookstore visits are starting to impact our luggage weight capacity.


Our last sunset in Cornwall, we have the beach to ourselves.


Kobi and Karma on the beach.


Maggie doesn't want it to end.

Discovering Teatime

Karma We know there will be many continental breakfasts in our future, and we don't miss the opportunity to make pancakes. The tiny kitchen with exposed beams and stone walls brings back fond memories of cooking in our old house on Highland Avenue.


We read. We play on the beach at low tide. We go for a long rambling walk along the cliffs on the coastal path, just us and the sheep.


Jen actually remembers thinking as this photo was snapped:
HAS ANYONE SEEN KOBI?!


We know everyone else in the world already knew this, but we are just discovering the brilliance that is British Tea Time. Next to the cottage is a master of the art, the proprietress of Margaret's Tea Caravan.


Margaret's Tea Caravan.
A peak experience.


And we're sorry to have to do this to you, but....


Karma Fancy a Cornish Cream Tea? It's a scone with some jam and clotted cream, and then a cup of tea. It is astounding how good this tastes, especially outside in a jacket, with the sea breeze whipping around you. Fortuntately, we are only here for a few days, or you'd have to start worrying about our arteries...

To Cornwall

We wake at Roger and Claire's to a breakfast of French Toast and real maple syrup, and then Lark shows the kids how to take the raft out on the pond.


Huck Finn goes to England.

Roger takes Mark and Jen on a walk to the village and through their yard...


Buddha and sheep meadows.



We thought this was a really cool piece of driftwood sculpture, till we realized it is also a playscape -- see the swing at right.


Look up "English Village" in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of Chagford.


Then we pack up the cars and drive to their family's house on the Cornwall coast, where we'll be staying for a few days. The hard part for Kobi is saying goodbye to Bella.


Kobi and Bella the Dog


The setting in Cornwall is spectacular, and we settle right into playing house.

The view from the hill near the cottage. You can see the Cornwall Coastal path, which leads right into the pretty little village of Bude.

Chagford, Devon

We're off to Devon in South-west England to visit with Roger (Dic Wheeler's brother) and his wife Claire and daughter Lark. They have a beautiful home and we start with tea on the edge of the pond, while Kobi bonds with their dog Bella. Next we take a walk on the moor -- where we have to pinch ourselves because we've been reading about walking on the moor in all those countless British children's novels, and here we are actually walking on the moor.


We come to a stone circle on the moor, smaller than stonehenge, but just as ancient and incomprehensible.


We climb over rocks and through heather to come to a stream.


The kids play on the rocks in the stream. Jen thoroughly embarasses herself by saying things like "Look kids, it's a gorse bush! Remember when Winnie the Pooh fell in the gorse bush?!"



We're not sure how Roger can see, but he manages to carry Kobi up and down hills, while Kobi excitedly points out all the kinds of droppings from the various livestock wandering the moor.

On the way back to the house, the kids get to tour the new skatepark in Chagford, which seems to have a lively civic realm, creating lots of activities for kids.


Just built, the skatepark is a big attraction for Chagford youth.

Back at the house, Roger makes a delicious veggie lasagna for dinner while we sit around and talk about England and Middletown -- their experiences in India and ours to come.

Brush up your Shakespeare

Way up on our list of THINGS TO DO IN LONDON is a visit to Shakespeare's Globe Theater, a recreation of the Elizabethan stage where many of his plays were first performed.

We enter the tube and try to figure out what train will take us across town:


Mind the gap!

Then we walk to the Millenium Bridge....


Kobi's Travel Philosophy:
Why walk when you can ride?

And pause for a family photo...



Halfway across the world to stand halfway across the Thames.


And pause to marvel at the marketing for a building under construction:

That's not a building. It's just a picture on saran wrap.


At the Globe, we get a tour from a friendly guide who gives us lots of details about the audiences of Shakespeare's day. Also -- he pops our "Shakespeare in Love" bubble -- it turns out the movie lied. The Queen would never have come to the theater to see a Shakespeare play.


Everything you always wanted to know about where people went to the bathroom when they were at the theater in the 1500's...but were afraid to ask.

The Globe Theater was (and is) open to the sky, and the reproduction is quite faithful. No electric lights or amplification.


The Globe Theater as it began to rain.


Tenzin on the second balcony.


Maggie, Tenzin, Jen and Karma decided to stay for the 2 pm show of "Anthony and Cleopatra" while Mark and Kobi went off to explore the waterfront.

The play is wonderful, and we sit in the stage left pews, until the final scenes are so exciting that we join the small crowd standing in the rain in front of the stage. Maggie draws the attention of one of the actors, who, while playing it a bit tipsy, does a bit referring to her, which gets a nice laugh from the crowd and a blush from her.


Maggie really, really enjoyed the play. That rope was used to hoist Cleopatra to her balcony at the end of the play.

Meanwhile Mark and Kobi go the Tate Modern, and, apparently, visit the gift shop:


Kobi and book.

It's our last night in London, and we relax in our room at the Jesmond Hotel on Gower Street, a bed and breakfast with the inventive "Quint" lodging, which consists of five beds and a bath in one room. Here's a photo of four of us in the room (that's Karma's toe):


Don't think of it as crowded.
Think of it as cozy.

Our first real day in London!

London is so cool.

According to our plan for the day, we ride a double-decker bus to Kensington Gardens and the "Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground".

From the stream of strollers, we know we are headed for the right place. While Mark gets a snack for Maggie, Karma and Kobi at the little ice cream stand, Tenzin and Jen try to enter the playground gate to get an early look around. Not so, says Supernanny! The locked gate is monitored by a camera and the speaker announces that we may not enter without small children. After retrieving the rest of the family, including our bonafide 4-year old, we are buzzed in.


Jen is intrigued by the playground sign, which says "...It is now recognised that risk taking is an important element of play and physical development. Parents and carers must note that the design of this playground does allow for a degree of risk. This is intentionally provided...."

Inside the playground, the Masselli kids make a bee-line for the giant pirate ship moored in the sand. Tenzin and Maggie climb the cabin roof and make friends with some homeschoolers from California/London, and Karma and Kobi scale the edges and climb the rigging.



The Pirate Ship!


Jen is pretty sure that this is the playground designer's worst nightmare...the kids are about 20 feet off the ground...


Karma climbs up to the crow's nest.


Kobi climbs down a ropebridge.


After a LONG time, we move on to explore the rest of the playground. Alas, there isn't enough time to enjoy every area, so we make a quick survey:


Sheep.


Skip on these tiles to hear beautiful chimes.




Climb inside a bowl and roll.


A water-play mound near the ship.


Kobi makes friends with "Patrick", and Karma spins them endlessly on this giant lazy susan (surrounded by a rubber "fall zone")

As we leave the playground we stop at the "fairy tree", which is a living piece of sculpture...


Fairies, sprites, elves and creatures, all carved in the trunk of this tree.


We love this playground. It has hidden groves and bits of art and so many things to do...we momentarily consider moving to London, and then check the exchange rate and decide to just go to dinner instead.

Out in the big city, we try to find somewhere family-friendly to eat...


Wayfinding on Carnaby Street.

and serendipitously wind up at "Strada", sitting at a sidewalk table and having spectacular pizza. What a wonderful day.