England - Land's End & a Japanese Garden

In St Ives we feel several emptinesses: Our fridge is already moaning, its light shining liberally into every corner, however empty. In our storage cellar (Felix has everything: garage, cellar, south wing...) the last lentils and chickpeas rattle from left to right at every turn and our bellies thirst for Thai food. 

Strange mixture? Yes, absolutely. Because a real Pad Thai is always good. And we haven't had one for a long time. In St Ives we find what we're looking for and eat our way through the menu.

After a leisurely stroll through the famous artists' colony and the equally touristy holiday resort and a bulk purchase, we continue our journey. Always along the coast. 

At the side of the road we read something about "Japanese Garden". Gerd slams on the brakes and we turn off. After a few very, very narrow streets (when will the narrow streets finally end?) we stand in front of the garden, pay our entrance fee and are the only visitors here. 

The entrance says: "...built as a meditative garden, it is the perfect place to calm the mind and release unwanted stress through contemplation and reflection." Well, if that's nothing, our now more than calmed minds can reflect here. 

We smile, our lifestyles seem to make us the calmest versions of ourselves (not that Gerd ever needed that!) and so we stroll across little bridges, marvel at mossy little mini-houses (the meaning of which has never been clear to us) and in the Zen garden the three or four leaves on the neatly raked sand annoy me. So much for contemplation. As soon as a leaf gets in the way, my peace is over.

Deeply relaxed, we continue: at some cliff, at some bend in a deserted road, we park our Felix, our late afternoon nap merges seamlessly into night sleep. The cows outside our window should enjoy the sunset, we continue with travelling and amazement tomorrow.

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News #1
On 24 June we will give a talk about our trip in the van in Konolfingen, Bern, Switzerland. All info and the possibility to Registration here. We look forward to seeing you!

News #2
I am currently writing a book about the encounters on our journey. If you would like to test-read a chapter or two this summer, please contact me by email.

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