Hello Everyone! I'm now in the West Country--sunny Carbis Bay (near St. Ives), Cornwall. The cloud cover has finally burned off and, while I should stay in and rest today, it's awfully tempting to get outside and go do something. I'll have to venture out eventually to get some dinner, since I only get breakfast here at the Bed & Breakfast. Prior to arriving, I took the sleeper train from London to St Erth in Cornwall Friday night. I was completely wiped out and boarded the train about an hour before it left the station. My car had a steward-in-training. I wish I could remember his name, but he was just a doll. He was probably in his early 20's and polite and helpful as could be. He pointed out all the features of my berth--how the lights worked, how to turn off the night light, where to plug in my earphones if I wanted to watch t.v., etc... He then took my breakfast order and asked what time he could deliver it to me. I tried to watch t.v. but really just wanted to sleep. But, sleep would be hard to come by. The train ride itself was quite smooth and quiet. There were times when I wasn't sure if we were moving or not. But, there was a little jolt each time the train left a stop and started moving again. And, there would be some swaying/rocking from time to time. The bed was a little bit hard, but I did finally fall asleep. I woke up several times in the night. So, I didn't get the great night's sleep I was craving. Promptly at 6:40 a.m., there was a knock at my door which woke me up. My cute steward brought in my breakfast tray. I had selected the hot breakfast of a bacon baguette and coffee. It wasn't much but was enough to get me going. I got off the train at St. Erth where I was greeted with open arms by my 5th cousin, Joanne! We met on Ancestry.com where we share a common ancestor from here in Cornwall. In fact, she grew up here and knows the area very well. She is here visiting her family this week. We first went to the farm where she is staying with her husband, Duncan and two little boys, Sam & Dan. When everyone was ready to go, we headed out to catch a glimpse of the Olympic Torch Relay. The torch began it's journey from Land's End and, at our vantage point, we were able to see the handoff between torchbearers 32 & 33 in Rosudgeon. It was pretty exciting. I uploaded one video and will upload the other one later. From there, we went to Clive & Claire's house (Claire is a cousin of Jo's) and were treated to some delicious cake and tea. Clive wasn't there at the time, but he showed up a little later bearing proper Cornish pasties for lunch. Yum! We ate these on the patio while being watched by ravens and seagulls. We put our crumbs on the bird table and it wasn't long before the birds got some lunch, too. Then, it was back to the farm to drop off Duncan and the kids. Jo & I drove around and she needed to return some old family photos to another Hicks relative we were new to meet. They live on a lovely farm with a beautifully landscaped garden and were so very nice. We stayed for quite a long while just chatting. Then, since I was pooping out, we decided it was time to take me to my accommodation. But first, we stopped in Lelant so we could visit the church of our ancestors. It was almost dusk, so I'll have to go back when it is a little brighter outside. It was just a lovely and peaceful place--very close to the sea. We wandered around the churyard a bit, looking for Hicks stones and other family names. Didn't come up with too much but there is a lot of ground to cover. We really wanted to go inside the church but it was padlocked. It's probably open today, since it's Sunday. So, I might try to head up there later. From there, we went directly to my bed & breakfast accommodation in Carbis Bay. It was a little too cloudy to see the ocean from the front door, but it's there! I was warmly greeted by the proprietors, Mandy & Gary. Thankfully, Gary brought my bags upstairs for me as the handle on my suitcase had broken earlier in the day. It is just too heavy! Before settling in, Mandy oriented me with how to order breakfast and how to use the door keys. I thought I should try to find something to eat since it was now after 7 p.m. Mandy said there was a Tesco just up the street that was open until 8 p.m. So, I took off on foot to grab a sandwich. It was a bit further than I thought. When I got there, I then had to climb a lot of steep stairs to get to the entrance. I was able to find a sandwich and some Diet Coke. I already had some chips at the B&B that I had leftover from London. I walked back and got everything unpacked and put away, ate my dinner, turned in my breakfast order and went to bed. I still didn't sleep very well as I had a fever and was so hot. I woke up several times during the night. I requested breakfast at 9:15, so I was able to get cleaned up dressed for the day before heading down. The breakfast was great! I had the full English breakfast but asked them to omit the beans, mushrooms and tomato. I had warm wheat toast, a fried egg, sausage, hash browns and some ham (they call it bacon). I even had my own french coffee press and helped myself to some orange juice. By now, I was feeling quite a bit better but had become very congested. I decided that I should probably just rest up today and try to plan out my week. But, now that the sun has popped out, I might have to get out and enjoy it while it lasts. So, there won't likely be another blog tonight as I don't think anything is going to happen between now & then. I have to say that every single person I have come across has just been the absolute nicest and so polite! Except at Paddington Station, I ran across a couple of workers with some attitude. Well, I think I'll try to get some fresh air and see what my camera can find. Toodles!