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"Hey Guys!  Check out all the surfers!"

After a short bus ride to the city centre, Katie and I spent the morning walking around the shop-filled streets that seemed to stretch on for miles.  We were both very surprised to see the streets filled with so many barefoot, board-carrying surfers making their way down to the beach.   What was so surprising about it was the fact that is was only about 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).  It quickly became obvious that when it comes to surfing, the people of Newquay don’t mess around.  Little did we know that this was just a preview of what we would witness in the hours to come. 

View of Fistral Bay from the Golf Course

After a short stroll through town, we made our way over a steep hill where we were met by a seaside golf course overlooking the famous Fistral Beach.  As we got closer, we soon found out how this place earned it reputation.  The shoreline was literally filled with surfers riding (or at least attempting to ride) some of the biggest waves we had ever seen.  I remembered reading online the night before that some of the surf experts compare Fistral beach to the North Shore of Hawaii and to some of the popular surf beaches in Australia.  Remembering that we were talking about England, I quickly dismissed the claim as being an exaggeration, but boy was I wrong.  This is obviously a legitimate surfing destination for a reason. 

We made our way down to the sand and after climbing over some rocks we sat for a while watching the surfers do what they do best.  (Once we have faster internet this week, I am hoping to post some of the video we took.  The pictures really don’t do these waves justice.) 

The rest of the day was spent strolling along the costal streets marveling at the rest of the beaches in Newquay.  The whole day was actually clear and sunny, which was welcomed change from the gloomy, rain-filled week that preceded it.  After a lunch in a great café overlooking the coast we decided to head back into Truro where we have pretty much spent the remainder of the weekend relaxing, Skyping with family and just enjoying the fact that we actually live here now.

It’s kind of funny that we still need to remind ourselves of that.  I think that no matter how settled we are beginning to feel we have moments when we truly miss all of you and moments when we are still swept away by the adventure of it all.  It’s a balance that we continue to carefully walk each day.  The impending holiday season will certainly leave us feeling further from home, but the weather in Minneapolis this weekend definitely made us appreciate this change of pace : )  No matter how we feel at any moment in time here, this dichotomy acts as a constant reminder that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  For this it is even more important for us to embrace every moment here and be grateful for the challenges and opportunities that come with it.