Cornish Delight and Other Stories

By Lee Daniels

This book is the fourth in a collection of travel essays that the author has published over the course of a ten-year period.

Its stories are about the author’s travel experiences in places across the U.S., Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia.

Some of the stories evolved from sections of old travel journals he wrote while in his twenties, while some date back a decade, and others more recent than that.

He feels extremely fortunate to have had the ability to live in different places abroad as an exchange student, relief worker, and backpacker in an age when travel was relatively cheap and the world a safer place, with health hazards amounting to nothing more serious than malaria and the occasional bout of dysentery.

His wish is that in describing these experiences, readers will regain confidence in the kindness of the human spirit?for without the kindness of strangers he met on my journeys, the author may never have successfully completed them?and become inspired to venture outre-mer, as did Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of our first great travel writers, did in his book by the same name about his travels in Europe in the 19th century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669814825

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by Lee Daniels.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Photographs by Lee Daniels.

Cover photo: Newlyn Harbor, Cornwall, U.K.

Rev. date: 03/10/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

840836

For Marian

You must remember that I shall be a nomad, more or less, until my days be done.

—Robert Louis Stevenson

CONTENTS

1 Cornish Delight

2 Rouen

3 Discovering the Maine Woods

4 Tour du Mt. Blanc: A Summer Trek Through Three Countries

5 Return to the City of Lights

6 To the Tip of Mexico by Plane, Bus, Boat and Train

7 Raksi Man

8 Costa Rica: Beauty and Power

9 Africa in Your Soul

10 The Charm of Bucks County, Pennsylvania

11 Colombia: Warmth and Passion

12 Sewanee, Tennessee: A True Southern Beauty

13 Night at Sea

14 Stepping Back Into History in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

15 Old Saybrook

16 George’s Guest House

Acknowledgments

CORNISH DELIGHT

It’s really just psychological, Dave Henley explained, as we sat together on the train bound from Plymouth, on the south coast of England, to Penzance, regarded as the capitol of the country’s Cornwall region.

Henley, an Australian journalist who had recently embarked on a six-month cycling trip across England, was describing how he managed to sleep in the normally damp, cold and wet conditions the region is known for.

Henley was adept at stealth camping, as he referred to it, or pitching a tent in the brush off a country road (camping in places other than designated campgrounds is illegal in the country). The trick was, he said, to eat a warm meal, get to bed early, make sure your upper body is protected from the floor of the tent, and focus on his early morning cup of coffee.

I had arrived in Manchester, in northwest England, the fifth-largest city in the country, the previous day and was headed down to Land’s End, at the farthest southwest corner of the continent, known to locals over time as the end of the world, to hike on a section of the 620-mile Southwest Coastal Path.

Cornwall, originally inhabited by pre-Roman Celtic tribes, was ruled in the mid-12th century by Corineus, a Trojan warrior. It was later settled in the mid-14th century by the English monarchy, from which the renowned title of the Duke of Cornwall was created, traditionally bestowed on the eldest son of the reigning British monarch.

Edward The Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, was made the first Duke of Cornwall in 1337 (the current Duke od Cornwall being Charles, Prince of Wales, eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II).

The region is best known for its abundant mineral reserves. By the nineteenth century, its iron ore mining and refining made it the largest producer of copper in the world and a prominent supplier of china clay, the primary ingredient to make porcelain.

Also a major producer of tin during England’s industrial revolution, today Cornwall is mostly famous for its nautical prowess—specifically, boatbuilding and fishing—sheep farming, ice cream, and pasties, a fried pastry slightly larger than an empanada filled with meat, cheese or vegetables.

As the train raced past scenic harbors, through dense corridors of gorse hedgerow and meadows dotted with relics of ancient Norman castles. we chatted about travel, literature, politics, and how advanced cycling gear had become. Henley could power his laptop and heat coffee from a magneto attached to his front wheel.

Like myself, Henley had no specific plan for his journey, just a map. Other than booking a hotel in Penzance, I used—as I have always enjoyed doing—a go by the seat of your pants philosophy while traveling.

And so, I was pleasantly surprised when, alighting from the train that afternoon, I found the little Honeydew Guest House tucked into a narrow street only steps from the train station, and was warmly greeted by its charming and personable innkeeper, Stacey.

After a fiery curry dinner at the nearby Little India restaurant, I retired early, anticipating a good stroll along the waterfront the next day.

The next day, I boarded a bus to nearby Mousehole, once called the most beautiful village in all of England by writer Dylan Thomas. From there, I walked the three-and-a-half miles back toward Penzance along the narrow streets overlooking the harbor, my jacket collar turned up against an early morning drizzle.

The walk took me through the picturesque seaside village of Newlyn, known as much for its large port and lifesaving station as for its lively arts community.

I passed a monument dedicated to fishermen lost at sea—a statue of a mariner facing the sea and casting a lifeline, and not long afterward, the Newlyn Museum of Art, tucked in a small allée near the sea front.

The rest of the afternoon I spent reading in the front garden of the inn, followed by a pint of Tiger Ale that evening and another fine curry in the cozy, low-raftered tavern at the nearby Longboat Inn.

The next day I walked to the bus station, adjacent to the train station, and boarded the 8:45 coach for Land’s End, a 53-minute ride that winds down Penzance’s High Street past Newlyn and Mousehole and southwest toward the tip of the continent through verdant sheep pastures and quaint settlements such as the tiny village of Treen.

As on my visit to Anglesey Isle in northern Wales the previous Spring, the standard-size buses were skillfully navigated by the drivers down country roads that were the width of one car, often hemmed in by large hedgerows on either side.

The rule of