Before returning home on Monday after our fun long-weekend in Cornwall we stopped in at the Eden Project. This place is totally amazing! The Eden Project is an educational charity trust. They use exhibits, events, workshops and educational programs to remind people what nature gives to us and to help people to learn to look after it in return. Because it was school holidays it was really busy and took us about 30 minutes just to get in! They get over 1 million visitors a year and work with schools, colleges and universities.
It was a really foggy day - and it was also raining on and off which I think was another reason it was so busy - because as you can see in this picture - a lot of it is under cover!
Inside these massive bio-domes was like an outside, undercover rainforest museum. We only went in one - there were two, a Rainforest one and a Mediterranean one. We went in the Rainforest one, and it was really quite hot in there. I actually felt a lot like I did when we were in The Louvre in Paris - there was so much to see, people were everywhere and we didn't know which way to go first! Everything was displayed so well though and there were so many different plants - all with labels telling you what it was, where it grows and what it's used for, along with SO many others things to see and learn about. You could spend days in there... and you quickly forget that you are actually in Southern England in the middle of Autumn pretty quickly - it's unreal!
Because we went just a few days before Halloween, they were having a bit of a Halloween festival on in one of the huge tents - with pumpkin carving and story telling, face painting and magic potions to mix up, there were even holes to stick your hand in and feel yucky gooey mysterious objects! Of course our girls just watched all the goings on and didn't really participate - they like to do that!
Lani considered putting her hand in a couple of times, but just couldn't do it! (It was fun watching the guy on the other side (through a secret window) teasing everyone as they put their hands in!
There was also a Winter Wonderland event happening. This big ice skating rink is set up for the winter season (well October - February) and it looked awesome - just like a real Winter Wonderland - I couldn't resist having a skate!
I talked Lani into coming out with me - she was quite excited about it! We had to wait about 20 minutes for our session to start - which ended up being longer than we were out there!!!!
I didn't actually realise how hard it was to ice skate with a little kid! We did well on our first round - but just trying to keep Lani standing up straight was a challenge - and quite tiring! We hadn't been out there long when we both slipped over. Lani was a bit upset about it and wanted to get off straight away - I tried to get her to have another try, because I didn't want her to leave never wanting to try again. But she didn't want to and I don't blame her, cause it hurt and was a bit of a shock at first. I don't think I have ever fallen over ice-skating before! I wouldn't exactly call myself good at it, but I do know how to skate and felt quite confident that we would be okay together - needless to say, it was a lot harder with Lani than I thought! I didn't feel the pain at first cause I was just worried about Leilani, but over the next couple of days I had big bruises and was quite sore! I don't think we will forget our first ice skating experience together anyway!
I doubt we even saw half of what they had here at the Eden Project, there was just so much to see and do it was all a little overwhelming. The place is just unreal though, and it's such a clever and interesting way to teach and inspire us all to be more green!
The fog lifted a little while we were there, this view - even if you saw nothing else was worth the trip here! So different to anything else - probably in the world!
You can never exit one of these big tourist attractions without going through a 'gift shop!' I enjoyed having a quick look at all the interesting environmentally friendly things they had here on display... it was good to see Australia and its main feature - Ayers Rock!!
We had a great day at the Eden Project but I think we were all glad to be on the road and heading for home... once again!!!!
11 comments:
Christmas tree looks good. Lani is looking very grown up. Glad you got to see the Eden Project. I've read about it before and thought it sounds like an interesting place. Didn't realise it was like a tourist place though.
This does look interesting. I know Riley would love it. The Christmas tree looks great.
Looks so cool Han, we went to something similar in San Fransisco with those big eco bubble things, it had rain forests etc the kids loved it!! This one looks 10 times better though. Lani looks so old in these photos. Do you think she will remember all of us???
This reminds me of a simpsons movie...
Sure looks like an interesting place, I think our kids would have found it pretty cool too!
What a fascinating travel journal you guys have been building! I'm sure your photos will help the children remember so much more than they could have done. Well done!
Oh those girls are loving the whole adventure...what an amazing place the Eden Project must have been..i loved that horse made of drift wood and the Christmas tree looked like i could almost smell the fagrances of pine needles, oranges and lemons and cinnamon...fabulous.. thanks again for the journey and the places..i am loving it.
what an awesome place. Looks kinda x-files movieish!
Today Charlotte and I were at the uni walking down a flight of stairs when out of the blue Charlotte declares, "I can smell Leilani! can you smell that mum?, it smells just like her." I couldn't smell a thing but thought it was cute she could remember Lani's smell :)
I've seen a documentary about the Eden project. Quite a few years ago now, I would LOVE to have a look around.
never heard of it but it looks great...and that ice skating, so cool you did it with lani even though the wait was longer than the skating! i love that christmas tree, is it dried fruit peels and cinamon sticks or something? love the earthy look!
gr8 post han, looks awesome! dont think i would be able to get the ice-skating, been way too long LOL glad u had fun. xx
far out you are going to miss all the stuff to do there when you come home to TAs. I have loved seeing all that you do Han.
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