Eden Project - Cornwall

It's been about 3 weeks since I've got back from this trip but the memories are still making me smile. Hubby has loads took loads of (what were probably) very beautiful pictures of the Eden Project on his fancy camera, but we'll have all died of old age by the time he uploads them and goes through them, so I thought I'd give you a little verbal run down of the awesome day we had.

For those of you who haven't heard of the Eden Project (perhaps because you live under a rock?), I stole a picture from my Dad's Facebook from when he went last year. It is filled with beautiful plants everywhere including things you wouldn't normally see in the UK in the rainforest and temperate biomes. They also do lots of conservational stuff.

I did take a couple of food photos in the wonderful pizza restaurant within the Mediterranean biome. You can always rely on me to make sure I have my own snaps of the food, I like to use them to cheer my tummy up with happy food memories when I'm stuck with flabby work sandwiches.

It was such a surprise to find a little restaurant actually within the biome. I got to sit on the terrace, and it really did feel like I was sitting on a terrace somewhere in Italy. What was even more of a pleasant surprise was how good the food was.

We started with an antipasti platter, which was basically a wooden board heaped with all my favourite things. I adore artichokes, olives and sundried tomatoes all of which were great quality. The great cheese stuff piquant peppers were both sweet and spicy but the highlight for me were the little balsamic pickled onions. Mmmmm pickles!! The bread was awesome too and hubby enjoyed dunking this in the oil from the tomatoes.

As there was a proper pizza oven we had to go for pizza. It was delicious! One of the best pizzas that I have had in the UK. The crust was beautifully thin and crunchy, supporting the generous (but not OTT) and tasty toppings. Hubby had a harissa spiced butternut squash and feta pizza that I enjoyed even more than my very nice hammy one.

The rainforest biome was my favourite bit. I loved the humid heat, the smell of the soil and all of the plants that I remember from trips abroad as well as ones I've never seen before. I got a little case of the leg-wobbles climbing up to the top of the new ariel walkway, but it was worth it for the view of the rainforest below. I recovered with a baobab smoothie - I wasn't sure at first but by the end of the glass I was converted.

I came away with an armful of new colourful jute bags and a massive smile on my face.

The best thing is, once activated, tickets give you entry for a year, so I'm hoping to go back in the summer when there are more flowers outside. I promise to take my camera so there are some more pictures!