Corfe Castle, a hidden pearl in the UK.
In my first international trip, back in 1998, I took a couple of weeks off to take a Teachers’ Training course at the Anglo-Continental school in Bournemouth, England. And during a class, Lorna, one of our teachers, told us we had to visit Corfe Castle, a city nearby, in order to taste their amazing scones with clotted cream. She made our mouths water at such a delicious treat and right after our class, we got some information and decided to go there by bus.
This unexpected journey was one of the most beautiful adventures during my stay in Bournemouth and also the wildest one, as we missed the last bus back home. Anyway, let’s get to Corfe Castle first. The way to the city was like a dream, our regular double decker bus took a ferry with an astonishing view to the sea which felt as if I was being cuddled by a mother figure both for its beauty and by its geltle waters.
When we reached the other side, it felt as if I was getting into a fairy tale book, filled with green lands, small country farms and cottages. Something I would have never dreamed of doing when I woke up that morning. When we arrived, I literally couldn’t believe my eyes, all houses were made of stone, and up on a green hill, we could see the caslte, something I hadn’t ever seen live, only in movies and books.
Off we went straight to the castle, which is in ruins, but that doesn’t stop you from imagining how that place must have been in its glorious days. To complete this perfect scene, there was a steam train passing behind it, just like a giant toy locomotive. My classmates and I got some amazing pictures .
Next, we decided to have our 5pm tea with scones and clotted cream at the Morton’s hotel which had some undergound tunnels communicating with the castle. Although we couldn’t see them, the service was impeccable and not expensive at the time.
As for the food, it was even better than what I had imagined. We all savored each and every bite of those fluffy sweet scones with jam and the clotted cream which is something out of this world. It’s been 22 years and I have never tasted anything like that yet, a trully magical experience.
In a nutshell, after this phenomenal day we forgot we had to come back to Bournemouth…and to our surprise we found out we had just missed the last bus back. Then, we thought of getting a taxi but it was very expensive and we did not have enough cash(22 years ago credit cards were not an option)
After a long wait on the road we finally got a taxi driver that was a real gentleman and accepted our offer, as we were underbudgeted. I don’t remember the amount of cash we had, but most importantly, he drove us back safe and sound. In the end, I arrived home around 11pm, took a shower and went straight to bed because our class would start at 7 am next morning.
