15th September 2011, Noon @ Land's End, Cornwall

First my apologies: I know it's been a long time since you last heard from me. So many things happened and I was well busy taking notes so as not to forget anything; and in the heat of it all I forgot to actually upload it here!

I'm at Land's End, sitting on a lonely bench at the very tip of England, with the wind whistling and the waves crashing onto the rocks below. As I look out to the west it is almost as if I could spot the skyline of New York on the other side of the Atlantic. It's just amazing out here: there are no people at all. But even if I met someone, it'd be too noisy to talk. The splashing of the waves as they hit the shore, the howling wind and the crying seagulls all build up to an extraordinary sound scenery. It's amazing!

As it has been a long time since my last entry, I would like to share some of the observations I made on the way: Observation Number One concerns the English language. I met this girl, Barbie, at Costa in Falmouth. As it was a bit crowded she asked if she could join me at one of the lounge tables (I was lucky to get one of the comfy armchairs). And so we started chatting about this and that: where we're from, what we do, hobbies; usual small-talk stuff. That was alright and sure, she was a nice girl but in the process of listening to her I could literally feel my brain melting. A part of our conversation:

• She: "So I went upstairs coz it's like nicer, and there was this guy, he was like, I don't know, like 60 or so, and he blocked like 3 seats, so I was like: 'Is that free?' and he was like: 'No, sorry.' and I was like: 'Oh, okay...' But sure, that's like, kinda rude, you know what I mean, like?"
• Me: "Mhm..."
• She: "I don't know, like, it's just...you just don't do that. Like, when you are on a bus, or, like a train or whateva, I'm sure you would, like, offer someone a seat or like..."

Like. I don't know what's wrong with these people but there is absolutely no reason for such an excessive use of the word 'like'. If you want to say that you like something, that's fine. Or if you want to make a comparison, e.g. "That looks like a mackerel", that's fine, too. Don't mess with grammar! There is no reason to replace "I said" with "I was like". Just stop it!

I feel I have to tell you about my encounter with the singing chicken-lady in the international breakfast room. The B&B I stayed at in Penzance was run by a very authentic, slightly hyperactive and peculiar woman. She had an allotment where she kept chicken. That meant that the breakfast eggs were as fresh as could be. Speaking of breakfast: It must have been the most diverse, most international breakfast room I've ever sat in (and I've had the pleasure to sit in a lot of these over the last months). There was this woman from Wales with her Polish husband Grygorz (or something like that). The two young ladies in the corner, who I had first mistaken to be Russian, turned out to be from Brazil. Further on, arriving a bit later were Mario, the Italian Vito Corleone look-alike and his wife Paloma, who's from Columbia. The last one to arrive at his table was Mouritz, a guy from Fish Hoek in South Africa, who seemed to be using the sunbed a lot (he was dark brown and looked like a wrinkly sausage; too much, if you ask me). And of course, me in the middle of it all. The fascinating thing about this is that none of the guests were English. The majority of tourists I have met and spoken to before were from England: I had folks from Newcastle, Solihull, London, Bath, North Yorkshire, Reading and Nottingham, but this was the first English-free breakfast room so far. And while I was wondering about this, Emma, the proprietor started singing along to 'I Kissed A Girl' on Radio 4. You couldn't make it up!

Of course, I also have to tell you about the South West Coast Path. Over the last couple of days I was blessed with outstanding, beautiful weather, which made the whole journey from Fowey to Land's End very enjoyable. I feel my style of writing might not be suitable to describe the incredible beauty of the landscape. The photos that I'm going to upload in a few days will give you an idea but you really have to experience it yourself. I really believe that our limited, shallow words couldn't truly capture it. Yes, I simply cannot describe it; I'm no bloody Shakespeare or Byron! All I can say is: See it for yourself; it's so worth it!

I might be at Land's End but I'm not at the end of my journey yet. I will go back to Penzance this afternoon and onwards to St Ives before returning to London on Sunday. Or, if the weather is nice, I might decide to stay forever...

Keep walking...

johnniewalker