Oh, Cornish Pasties!

Coming alongside the dock in Falmouth, I was lucky to be on lookout at the bow and so got to be involved in docking (sometimes you find yourself down below for classes and when you eventually surface on deck you find yourself in a different part of the world - it’s a weird feeling).

Falmouth is a seaside village much like Salcombe where we spent a vacation with friends from London. As I walked down the streets, I had flashbacks of visiting England - I wish you were here mum and dad!

The houses are painted pastel colours and the cobbled streets are cluttered with little shops and cafes. Our shore leave was spent wandering the streets eating Cornish pasties (delicious and mouth-watering pastries filled with soft potato, roast beef and caramelized onions) as well as having Cornish whippy (the most delicious and creamy soft ice cream in the world!).

We bussed to Penzance where we learned about a sustainable carbon footprint reduction project called Transition Penwith. It is an initiative whereby towns work towards being environmentally conscious and leave little impact on the planet. After an interesting lecture, we headed to the Bosavern Community farm for an amazing, organic meal that was one-hundred percent grown on their land. We ate thick slices of home-baked, whole-wheat bread, heaping bowls of to-die-for vegetarian chili, fresh green salad and tea. And, to top it off, we had massive slices of coffee cake for dessert.

The next day, we visited a local public high school. It was the craziest high school I’ve ever seen. They get tons of government funding and because of that everything about the place was really impressive. There were topnotch facilities for every subject area, professional sport fields, fancy uniforms and a prefect and school “houses” system just like in Harry Potter! My favorite part though was the rock wall that went up the side of the school’s main building - SO COOL! It was also really neat to have the chance to talk to students our age and learn about what life is like for teenagers in England. We ended off the day with a trip to the beach. White sand and bright blue water – paradise! We had so much fun!!

Back on the dock where our ship was moored, another tall ship arrived. It was another tall ship called the Frederic Chopin with a bunch of Polish high school students on board. We showed off our respective ships and had a tug-o-war, relay racing and rowing competition against their crew. Team Sorlandet won (of course) and to resolve any tall ship tensions we had a dance party on their main deck. Everyone had a good time.