Those Cornish People are So Good Looking!

Dear Reader,

Have you ever traveled somewhere and discovered something uniquely unusual about the people such as a common  facial feature or unusual height? At first you don't realize what it is and then suddenly it comes to you, "Wow, everyone here is so tall!".

On a trip to Cornwall, England we made the same discovery about the people there. John and I had been in Cornwall for a few days seeing the rustic beauty of the cliffs and coastline when we arrived in the small town of Tintagel. This is a famous place in Great Britain because of the legend of King Arthur and Camelot. Tintagel claims that the castle is there on a rocky island connected by a very narrow penninsula. There are lots of myths and legends around Tintagel and the place has a very mystical feel to it.

On our first night in Tintagel we went to the local pub for a beer and it was really rocking. There was a great rock band playing and young people drinking and dancing. At first I noticed that many of them were tatooed and pierced and had wild hair in various primary colors such as chartreuse green and styled with spikes up the middle. These are working class people, truck drivers, farmers, laborers, but they sure can party. And once you get past the hair and tatoos, it dawned on John and I at almost the same time how good looking they are. Every single person in that pub was nice looking. It was downright strange.

After the pub that evening while walking back to our B&B we both commented on how good looking everyone we had seen in Cornwall is. We scratched our heads and pondered on this for a few days as we continued to drive around Cornwall and came up with the following theory. The Cornish people claim they have never been conquered by outsiders. When the Saxons invaded England they stopped at the Cornish border and agreed not to cross it. Later when William the Conquerer came over from France, he didn't conquer Cornwall either. I believe that the Romans never conquered Cornwall either. I guess it's just too cool and windy for them and doesn't produce all the much?

I'm not really sure of the answer but if it's true, it seems plausible that these people have not blended much with other races and come from a really good looking ancestry! Whatever the reason, Cornwall is really special and so are the people. They are friendly, abrupt and straight forward, hardworking, weather worn people with extraordinary good looks!

Later we visited the very popular tourist destination for the English of St. Ives. It's a very attractive seaside city with a beach and has that old 19th century tourist destination feel to it. I realized that day that I had not had a Cornish Pasty yet while we were in Cornwall. If you've never had a Cornish Pasty, it's a wonderful combination of ground meat and God knows what with some potato and spices cooked inside a delightful fluffy pastry which comes wrapped in paper and you eat by hand. At the first pasty stand I bought my Cornish Pasty and we proceeded to take a nice stroll on the beach. Overhead I kept seeing shadows swooping and the caw caw of seagulls all around. I was afraid that one of them was going to poop on me but I had no idea what was about to happen. As I brought the pasty towards my mouth for my second bite, a seagull swooped down practically right on top of my head and grabbed it out of my hand! I was so despondent over losing that delicious treat and went chasing after the bird like an idiot. John laughed so hard he said we had to leave so I didn't get another one.

We also visited Lands End, which, as you might guess is the western most point in all of Great Britain so you have to go there and climb out onto the end of the cliff. On the other side of Cornwall facing the English channel is the city of Falmouth, which we visited in honor of my dad who came from the namesake, Falmouth, Kentucky. Plymouth is also in Cornwall and was, as you should know, the launch point for the pilgrims who first settled in America.

It was all very interesting trip and I recommend traveling to the out of the way places such as Cornwall because you get away from the crowds and you get to meet real people and truly learn about them and their way of life as well as their past. And who knows, maybe if you go there you might just ask them why they are all so handsome.

Cheers,