Spent seven lovely days walking the Cotswolds. We did the Best of the Cotswolds thru Cotswolds Walks. They were great in finding excellent accommodations, moving our luggage each day and providing detailed maps and a tracking app that kept us on the right trails…..most of the time!! Booked all our trains using Trainline….easy to use, no problems and also very good at keeping us up to date of any changes due to the train strike that happened.
Myself, two girlfriends and my daughter did this part of the trip. The Cotswolds are really incredibly lovely, very pastoral with fields dotted with sheep and lots of rolling hills (a few rather big hills too!) along with beautiful villages filled with what they refer to as “chocolate box houses”, beautiful, almost whimsical, thatched roofs and the honey-coloured Cotswolds limestone.
After our walk we spent a couple days in Bath enroute to a week in Cornwall (Part 2). This was new territory to all of us. Cornwall is just beautiful! One week barely made a dent in all there is to see. Lots of rolling hills, gorgeous coastline, beautiful towns and villages and apparently some of the skinniest roads in England!!
This is Part 2 – a couple days in Bath and then on to one week in Cornwall
July 13 Thurs
Up very early….6AM! Had some coffee and packed up. Breakfast didn’t start until 7:30 so just enough time to grab and croissant and out the door. The Moreton-in-Marsh train station is only a 5-10 minute walk.
Peggy was really disappointed in the shoes she’d bought for the walk so put them in a bag and hung them on the door of the thrift shop on the way to the station!
Caught our train at 8:10. A quick train change in Reading then on to Bath arriving at 10:30.
Linds had made arrangements to meet her friend, Angela, at the train station (she was coming from Bristol), so I took her luggage with me. We called a taxi, which was quick getting there…..none at the station waiting which we thought a bit odd. Just a few minute drive to our hotel the Holiday Inn Express on Lower Bristol road. Too early to check in but no problem storing our luggage. (The hotel was not in the location I was hoping for but was the best we could get…..everything was booked solid. Unbeknownst to us, when we were trying to book hotels it was graduation week in Bath which explained the lack of hotel rooms available…..and taxis!)
Peggy, LG and I grabbed a map and went off exploring. The historical centre was just a short walk across the bridge (the river Avon). Very different architecture here, still stone houses of course but much more Victorian or Georgian I guess….and it is the city vs the countryside.
Walked up to “The Royal Crescent”. Quite an impressive Georgian building. Looks down over a lovely big grassy area and garden. The apartments were built in the 1800’s for the rich. It did look nice but not as nice in the pictures I’d seen of it. It was hard to get a good picture just because it’s so huge!
Just a two minute walk to “The Circus”, which is a big circular drive surrounded on all 4 sides by smaller but similar apartments buildings like the Crescent. Nice little park in the centre of the circle. From there we tried to go to the Fashion Museum but it was closed…..apparently it is moving location and they are prepping for it so opening hours can vary day to day for now. Too bad, sounded very interesting!
Just sort of wandered around and up and down some of the pretty streets, many pedestrian only, lots of cafes and shops. Weather was a little iffy and it had started to sprinkle a bit….came across a nice pub where we thought we could have lunch……they don’t serve food??? Oh well, on we went to Cafe Lucca. Cute place, very “French” looking. We had a table that was right next to a clothing store…..so close you could just about touch the clothes! I had a very little sandwich, roast beef, horseradish mayo etc…..was very tasty but only appie size really. LG had the falafal and said it was excellent. Mega downpour happened while we were eating, luckily it had stopped by the time we left.
Sally Lunn buns was next. Cute restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and early dinner. Big line up to get in to eat, no line up for the museum. Sally Lunn was French and tried to recreate their famous brioche but came up with the Sally Lunn bread/bun. Her name was Solange but became “Sally Lunn” due to mis-pronounciation. The buns can be served any number of ways, sweet or savory. LG bought one (9L) just to try it. (Was OK….a “puffy” light bread). We did the museum, which was really interesting. Supposedly the oldest house in Bath originally dating back to Roman times so besides the old bakery there are some interesting artifacts from that period and information on the old underground city. Was free to get in so definitely worth the visit.
Walked over to the river. Very nice park all along. A good part of it was closed to a private party. Great view of the famous Pulteney Bridge and the cataracts, some long boats tied up and a little tour boat. From where we were the bridge looks like an old medieval bridge with shops on top but when you walk down further to cross it, it looks just like the rest of the street with shops. You can’t really tell where the bridge begins and ends except for the signs on the buildings above it. It had cleared up with the sun popping out and it looked quite pretty from the other side so we found a cafe overlooking both the river and the bridge and had a very expensive G&T. Further down the street is Great Pulteney Street where back in Jane Austen days that was “the street” for the young ladies to parade down to check out the boys and vice versa. Would have been lovely in its time I’m sure with the stately buildings but now it’s just a very busy street.
Working our way back to the hotel we went by the Bath Abbey that unfortunately was closed to the public because of the university graduation ceremonies happening in it for the next few days. Ah well!! And it’s virtually impossible to get a half decent picture of it because it’s so big and close to other buildings. From the front there were all the line ups of people for the grad.
Bought our tickets for the Roman baths for tomorrow at 10AM. Also went to the Thermae Bath Spa…..will do that tomorrow. Rather than reserve a specific time just cause we don’t know where we’ll be, you can do a drop in, if space is available. He suggested coming around 6-6:30 to check for spots.
Linds was on her way back to the hotel and we still had to officially check in too so made our way back there. Not really any places around the hotel for dinner. Decided on a Charm Thai, it was about a 10-15 minute walk. Food was excellent and the waitstaff really helpful for dinner suggestions…..Linds isn’t a big fan of Thai so the waiter asked her a bunch of questions about what she liked and then showed her ideas on the menu…..she ended up really enjoying it! The Pad Thai was delicious.
Going back to the hotel we went thru the “old” train station. It’s sort of a marketplace now but it’s all being redone, repairing the roof etc. to create a bigger and better one. There’s a brassiere, a pizza place and a couple stands selling purses and scarves. Stopped at the Sainsbury for snacks and water and home.
We’re only here two days so thought we did pretty good today exploring. Maybe if the fashion museum was open and the cathedral one more day, National Assembly was undergoing renos but might be worth a visit too. Jane Austen House wasn’t open when we went by, may try tomorrow.
The mayor or someone from the city does free walking tours, so will see if we can catch that tomorrow after the Baths.
Updated my journal and to bed. Very stuffy in our room, can’t really open the windows because we’re on the ground floor, and the AC leaks when it’s on….right onto the little table. Told them about it at the desk when we left for dinner but doesn’t appear anything was done about it.
July 14 Fri
Up early 6:30. Went and grabbed a coffee. The weather is not looking good today. Wind, rain yuck!
Breakfast buffet included here. Small but OK. Enough hot plate stuff to put together an English breakie. Toaster barely worked….had to turn the toast over and put it through again and then it burnt lol….oh well. Not much in the way of pastry.
Our Roman Bath tour was at 10. The main plaza was full of grads and their families lining up to go in the cathedral. Everyone dressed up so nice. Suits, tuxes, long gowns….and umbrellas!! Sadly it was just pouring rain.
What a great tour of the Baths!! 16L to get in which included the audio guide. First you head outside on the upper floor looking down on the baths that date back 2000 years. Inside was packed….wall to wall people so sometimes hard to see things. There is a scale model of what it would have looked like in it’s heyday. The audio guide was great if you followed it along. It chronicled the history of the Baths….ruin, rebuild, ruin, restortation etc.
The further along you went the crowds thinned out which was good. Great displays of ancient jewelry and glassware. Most of what you see today is from the 15C (the last re-build) but parts of the original bath structure has been preserved. The spring is still flowing! Excellent site, definitely worth the money to see it. Was told we’d need at least an hour…..I think we spent over 2 in there.
Linds headed off to meet Angela and Peggy, LG and I toured around a bit in the rain. We were going to do the free walking tour at 1PM but it was just too miserable. Had lunch at a place called “Bills”. Kind of a pub I guess. We were lucky to get seats, the place was packed with big groups from the graduation ceremonies. Food was excellent!! I have a delicious fish pie.
Out again but the weather was just as bad if not worse!! Too bad. More line ups for the grad ceremonies outside the Abbey. They do them in groups…..not sure of the exact details…..because there are too many, even in that huge church, to do it all at once. So you are assigned a time, not sure based on what though. It will go on all day today and tomorrow.
Just ended up back at the hotel to wait for Linds. She arrived back at 4 to get packed up and on her way to the train station. This is the end of the vacation for her. She goes from Bath, thru Reading and directly to Gatwick for her flight home tomorrow morning.
Trying to get a taxi was a bit of a challenge with the rain and all the grad activities……started to get worried as her train was at 6:30. Worst case we could have walked as the weather had cleared a bit but too far really to be rolling a suitcase. Finally our taxi arrived and got us there by 6.
Saw her off on the train and went to meet Peggy at the Thermae Spa. LG opted not to join us. By the time I got there the sun was out and it had warmed up nicely……oh well!!
No problem getting in as a “walk in”. 45L to use the rooftop and basement bath. You cannot use your cell phone there. NO PICTURES ALLOWED!! You get a wristband and a special little case to lock it in that will unlock when you tap the wristband it at the end of your visit. We picked up our towels and bathrobes and went to change into our bathing suits. Forgot our flipflops, you can buy a pair there for a few pounds or go barefoot…..which we opted for. The change rooms are for both men and women but lock up tight when you’re in them….no cracks. You then take all your stuff to a locker and wave wristband over a barcode thing to lock it.
Up to the rooftop first…..the sun had come out but still quite chilly with the wind. You jam your robe and towel into a little holder cube/box along the wall. In we went….thought it would be much warmer than it was!!! Warm but just barely bathwater warm. We worked our way over to the edge near a short wall that sort of divided the pool into sections at the corners (???) hard to describe. Super views over the city from there….just standing there chatting when all of a sudden the jets come on…..mega jets!! I wasn’t holding on to the wall so it shot me, and a couple others, out about 10ft. Finally worked my way back to the wall where Peggy was and we both got the giggles. The mega jets seem to only be in the corner sections but when they come on…..boom! They bubble like crazy, water splashes in your face, your hair….just a mess with make up running and fuzzy hair! You’re allowed one and a half hours total. After 30-45 minutes we went to check out the basement spa. It was lovely…..much more spa like. There’s a hot tub area, a couple of waterfall things for your back and an area with a current that just floats you around the hot tub. There are some jets around the sides that are really strong and actually hurt if you get too close to them. Lots of windows and lounge chairs around the pool deck if you want to just sit and relax. Probably spent just over a half hour in there.
Nice big open showers (left our bathing suits on) with soap, shampoo and conditioner. Back to the changing rooms. They have hair dryers, which was very good! They also have a handy, dandy bathing suit “dryer” machine which was like a super duper spinner that gets just about all the water out…..worked great! Once you’re done you drop your towel and robe off, go to the front desk, drop off your wristband and use the thingie to unlock the phone case. Was a fun experience so glad we decided to do it.
Checked with Linds to make sure she was still on her way to Gatwick…all good and called LG to see if she wanted to meet us somewhere for dinner. She did so we checked out the brasserie at the old train station but they only served pizza outside and it was just too noisy inside. Had LG check out the bar menu at the hotel, which sounded good enough so we headed back there.
Food was pretty good. Basic bar type menu. Had a pasta dish which was pretty good.
Packed up and checked in with Linds….she’d made it with no problem to the Holiday Inn at Gatwick for the night. Early flight tomorrow, looks like it’s on time.
Tomorrow will be interesting……first time driving in the UK!!
July 15 Sat
Breakie and checked out just before 10:30. Taxi to the Europcar office.
Busy place with just one guy working. Had to wait about a half hour before the car was ready. Was raining on and off so not the best start for the first time driving in the UK….on the wrong side of the road and in the car! We have a Vauxhall Crossfire, which I think is a rather big SUV to be driving here….ach! Got in and checked everything out……windshield wipers, signals, lights, reverse, mirrors etc. Ran thru all the gears…..a bit odd at first with my left hand but OK. Got the GPS set up and google maps on our phones. Sat for another 10 minutes or so waiting for a downpour to pass. Pulled into a big box Home Depot type store parking lot just down the road from the rental place to get a better feel for the gear ratios and shifting with my left hand. All good-ish!!!
Off we went. A bit stressful at first trying to remember to stay to the left. Got honked at a couple times just because I was going so slow. Hit a curb on a very narrow road. Only one roundabout which thankfully was not busy. Once we were on the highway (A4) all was good. The GPS took us first on the A4 to Bristol, then onto the M5. Not sure why as it seemed a bit of a long way around but it worked. Good, long merge lanes to get on. Said the drive was approx 4.5hrs.
Stopped for a bit of a break just outside of Bristol along an inlet, possibly the Bristol Channel with Wales across the way. Deep breath and back on the road.
A few sprinkles on and off but OK for driving. Was a bit stressful to start but got the hang of the roundabouts etc. Finally onto the M5. Great road, not a lot of traffic, which was good. Found a rest area with restaurants (fast food…McD’s, Burger King and Costa Coffee). We’d been on the road for 2.5hrs at that point and no where near half way!! Not all rest areas/auto stops or ?? are just off the highway as we discovered later. Luckily the one we stopped at was a huge big one right off the highway.
M5 to Exeter and then on the A30, which is still a good double lane highway. Trying to drive and look at the scenery! Lots of pretty rolling hills dotted with houses and farms, fields divided by stonewalls. It was pretty overcast most of the way, no rain though and the sun did pop out once or twice. Made good time and was all clear sailing along until we hit a detour…..major roadwork being done to extend the M5/A30 further south/west. Followed the signs and directions and the line up of cars. Eventually we all ended up at another worksite where the road was closed! Asked the men working where we were supposed to go??? Us and the other 50 cars behind us?? Very strange. Told us to turn around and turn left about 100ft back at the sign for some little town. So we, and the caravan behind us, did just that. Talk about testing my driving skills!!! The narrow road wasn’t much wider than the car, definitely not enough room for 2 cars to pass….luckily there were a couple pullouts along the way but we didn’t come to another car. It was a very pretty drive though! Mostly forest, then fields and small hamlets. After what seem like hours (really only 20-30 minutes) we came to a wider, more main road. GPS was of no help here and kept trying to redirect us, so we just followed the car ahead and turned left, at which point Google maps agreed we were off in the right direction. Finally back onto the A30 just before Hayle so all was good from there to Penzance. This was a good thing as LG was starting to feel really car sick!
GPS and Google didn’t like the address for our rental so we put in Luggers Pub which we knew was right next door. Had to drive through town and then down on to the water front. Found a parking spot right across the street from the house! Our home for the week is called Sea Dreamzzz. Arrived just after 6, so not really that bad timewise I guess, considering a couple stops and the detour.
Unloaded and put the code in the lock box but it would not open. Went to find “Steve” next door, who was the contact for any problems. He came over right away and also could not initially get it open either. After much fiddling with it, and trying to pry it open, it did. Got the keys, thanked him profusely, and in we went. Decided NOT to use the lock box…..
The place is really quite nice, bright open living room, big dining room, OK kitchen. Bedrooms upstairs were good. Drew names for the bedrooms. I got the one at the back, which was good. The other two were ensuite (teeny but…..) so I got the main bathroom. OK front yard with a great view across the bay and St Michael’s Mount one way and Newlyn the other.
Peggy and I went next door for a well deserved glass of wine, LG had a bit of rest. Luggers was having an Italian buffet until 9 but it really didn’t look that appealing. We found Gino’s Spaghetti House down the street, which turned out to be really good. P & I shared an order of mussels, we all had pasta and wine to wash it down.
Walked to the Lidl market, a few minutes from the house, to pick up stuff we’d need for the next few days…..wine, cheese, crackers, bread, various spreads and dips, snackie things, milk, coffee etc.
Home and cracked open the wine, a few games of cards and that was it for the day. Just a bit stressful to start but we made it all in one piece. LOL…….I think the biggest challenge for all of us will be remembering which side of the car to get in……every time we stopped LG and I walked to the wrong side!
July 16 Sun
Slept OK. Comfy bed but even with the window open it was pretty warm. A mix of sun and cloud this morning, quite comfortable but needed a sweater.
Made coffee and LG was making toast……which set the smoke alarm off!! Could see it on the panel but could not open it to stop it. Thought it might go off by itself so we opened all the doors and windows but that didn’t work. Next door to get Steve……wasn’t even 9 so was hoping he was there!! He was thank goodness. Came along with a special key to open the box and showed us what to do to turn it off. Apparently in these vacation rentals they are required to have this spiffy thing hooked up in case of fire…..but why no access to it in case of burnt toast?? Oh well. Steve left the key for us in case it happens again. We hadn’t really planned on doing any cooking but definitely won’t do anything other than boil water now!
Decided we’d explore Penzance today. And to find a pharmacy to get LG some Gravol or something for her car sickness because from what we’ve seen other than the A and M highways there are no straight roads in Cornwall!
Up the hill around the corner, past a lovely garden that we’ll hopefully get to explore another day. Very different architecture here. Sort of Victorian I think. Streets of row houses, all with lovely front gardens. The main street, Market Jew Street, has a variety of shops, pasty places, dollar/pound stores, a lot of thrift shops and a couple cafes and restaurants. They have a big “game” store here too. Saw a couple in Bath. You don’t just buy games there, you play them too….video games, board games….they have game days/nights and tournaments! Kind of a fun concept.
Penzance is not a terribly attractive town…..sort of weathered and worn out, not from the weather!! Thought it would have a more nautical feel to it. A few pretty streets and some unique old buildings. Found the pharmacy for LG, checked out a couple of the thrift shops and a really nice shoe store. Had a Cornish Pasty for lunch from Mounts Bay Pasty Company. I got the beef one, it was only OK, a bit dryer than I was expecting but tasty enough (had them at home from the British deli and they had more sauce/gravy in them), came with fries.
Chapel Street seems to be the “go to” street here. A couple of pubs, houseware type shops, a clothing store or two. Some fun nautical door knockers but nothing else that screams seaside town. Ended up at the Globe Pub to watch the men’s tennis final. Initially there was only us and a couple people at the bar but slowly more and more people came in, also to watch the tennis. Nice little pub but they don’t serve food other than bags of chips/crisps. Spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon there…..the Spanish guy won (I’m not into tennis enough to know names….).
Nice walk back down to the water and along the quay or lido or ?? home. Since Steve has been so helpful we thought we should check out Luggers for dinner. Was the “Sunday Roast Buffet”. Was not terribly good. The beef was way over cooked for my liking so I had the ham and roast pork, all a bit dry, I think from just sitting in the buffet for too long. Nice big Yorkshires with gravy made it all OK.
Lots of cards tonight.
Was good to explore Penzance today. We do have a pretty nice view here out into the bay.
Plan for tomorrow is St Michael’s Mount and Marazion then Newlyn and Mousehole in the other direction.
July 17 Mon
Slept OK again but still warm in that room even with the window wide open. I think because the house next door is really close and LG’s bedroom window is at the end of that little gap…no air circulation! Made coffee and went next door to the little pastry bar at Luggers.
Went to the laundromat. Wasn’t too far but drove because we had the clothes. Really nice people running it. You put your laundry in and they’ll move it to the dryers when it’s done. Told us to go grab a coffee and it would be ready within an hour. So we did. Cute little place just down the street…..a nice pedestrian only street with a couple of cafes and some cute shops. Had a breakfast wrap and a cappa. Went back and picked up the laundry…..that had all been very nicely folded…..at no extra charge!
Off to St Michael’s Mount. There is some connection between it and Mont St. Michel in France….don’t recall the details. Really nice big beach, quite a few people on it but didn’t see anyone in the water. The tide was still out enough that you could walk out on the causeway. Big pay parking lot. Buying tickets for the Mount was a challenge. Tried buying them online but couldn’t get any of the credit cards to work for some reason. No place or sign of anyone at the entrance to the causeway to purchase tickets. Decided to walk up into town to find someone to ask there.
Cute little place, a museum, a church, a few restaurants, a candy shop and a number of stores selling beach stuff. Stone houses with lots of flowers and baskets, potted plants and some nice little gardens. No one seemed to know about buying tickets??
Stopped at a cute little place called the Tea Garden for Devon/Cornish Cream Tea which is a pot of tea, a tea biscuit with clotted cream and jam. The difference between the two is Devon (I think) you put the cream on the biscuit first then the jam and Cornish is jam first then cream. I did it the Devon way because that makes more sense to me!! Anyway it was yummy.
Walked down to the causeway again but the tide had started to come in. Ventured out on the rocks and came to the little boat launch, which is your other option to get out there. Talked to the boat guy who said he really only sells tickets for the boat but he can sell them for the island too???? So why doesn’t something say that. Oh well. It is not cheap to go…..26L gets you both the garden and the castle plus 3L each way for the boat if the tide is in. We decided against it….we might be sorry later but oh well.
Back thru Penzance and on to Mousehole…..pronounced “Mouwzal”. Not a lot of parking but we did find a spot on the pier (pay parking). Very cute little place with a very pretty bay. Tide was still out enough that some boats were just laying on the beach. Some cute shops, a pub and a couple restaurants, narrow streets, stone houses…..quite picture perfect really! Bought a tea towel and a couple Christmas ornaments.
To leave we had to drive down, or up, a very narrow road. I moved over for a car coming down but he stopped wanting me to move over more….so I did and proceeded to run over a little brick wall or step and pshhhhhst……tire blown ARGH. The guy just carried on……the truck behind him said he had more than enough room…oh well. Crunched my way over the step thing a few feet closer to the corner where the road was wider, got out and had a look. Definitely a big gash. A guys was building a new stone wall came over and said he could change it for us…..great! Unfortunately NO…… so since there was no spare tire in the car!! Apparently they get stolen so the rentals don’t provide them anymore….very strange. Got all the papers out to call the rental companies BCAA equivalent, which is the RCA ((Royal Automobile Club) except there was no phone reception. The lady whose wall he was working on said I could use her land line but even that could be sketchie so we found a good spot…..in her doorway….where it worked. Not really an address that I could give them but the wall guy gave me the “postal code”, which is how they find you. All good but would be at least a couple hours. Explained to the RCA lady the lack of cell service so she said they’d try my cell first then the land line so they could call/text to give updates and when they were on the way. We were on their priority list!! It was around 3 so wasn’t sure what we’d do. The house lady was just lovely though and said she owned a restaurant down the road and we could go and have coffee or something and wait there until the RCA called to say they were here. If they called her house she’d call the restaurant to tell them to let us know! How nice! And the man, who’s house I was parked in front of said absolutely no problem staying there…..apparently it happens all the time!
She walked us down to her very nice restaurant, 2 Fore Street, where we first had a drink (yes I had a glass of wine….) and an appie. Really pretty place, great service, lovely people. Sat outside in the their nice garden. No cell reception so every half hour or so I’d have to walk out to the corner to check for updates. Did finally get one to say it would be around 7PM that they arrived. Decided we might as well have dinner since we had no where else to go! Was very good. The special was the Newlyn Crab…..was delicious! Had coffees and dessert too. Got an update saying they would be about 20 minutes so we settled up the bill, thanked them for having us for 3+ hours and walked back up to where the car was.
Chatted with the house lady and her husband for a bit until the RCA guy arrived. He patched up 3 gouges in the tire, which was enough to get us back to drop off Peggy and LG and me to then follow him to the tire repair place. I dropped the car and keys and he drove me back home. I am to call them at 9 tomorrow to see when the car will be ready and if not early in the day then I should contact the Europcar office here in Penzance for a replacement car…..just very lucky there is an office here!
Lots of wine tonight when I got home. I felt so bad…..like I’d wasted half a day of our time but not much I could do. What an experience and so glad I payed for the extra insurance on the rental car!! Played cards and to bed.
July 18 Tues
Did sleep OK, considering! Called the tire place and the car won’t be ready until later this afternoon, so called the Europcar office and yes, they can get another car for us.
Nice day, a good walk along the seawall to the car rental office which is across from the train station and the bus depot. New rental wouldn’t be ready for an hour so we walked up to Market Jew Street and found a quirky little place called The Front Room for breakfast. Food was really good.
Back to pick up our new car, which is a smaller Citroen SUV….better to drive on the narrow roads. Was 11 but decided we’d head to Port Isaac any way. No GPS in this car so we used Google maps…..told the navigator that I wanted to stick to the the main-est roads possible…..nothing with 4 digits if we can help it. Those are the very narrow country roads…..3’s are sometimes OK.
Google said it would take 55 minutes but was more like and hour and a half. It kept wanting to re-route us because of congestion on the A39 but stayed on it for as long as possible then onto the Axxxx…..but it wasn’t too bad. The only “congestion” we ever came to on A39 was 5 or 6 cars at a roundabout!?? Not a lot of traffic on the narrow road and lots of pullouts if necessary. Very pretty drive, lots of rolling hills, farms and little hamlets.
Nice big parking lot at the top of the hill down into Port Isaac. Great views out over the water. Had started to spit on and off driving there and then just turned to drizzle on the walk down into town. Was very pleasantly surprised that it was quite a cute place…..looked rather drab on Dr. Martin. Many nice shops, a couple of cafes and a pub. The bay, with a few boats laying on the beach and cliffs surrounding it, was lovely. Very hilly though. Walked up to the “surgery” and caught the tail end of a local tour (free!). He said a lot of the show is NOT filmed on site so the buildings we saw may not really exist. Walked a bit further up the hill to get more pics and then it started to pour buckets. Back down and to the pub that was still luckily serving lunch. Peggy and I split an order of fish and chips (v.g.) and I had a non-alcoholic ale to go with it. The worst of the rain had happened while we were in the pub so wandered around a bit more….saw the church….in and out of a few of the shops then started the trek back up the hill.
Rain had stopped and it cleared up quite nicely….warmed up too! So even though it was just about 5 we thought we’d stop somewhere on the way back seen we were up this far. First thought Newquay but missed the turn so went to Padstow instead. What a pretty drive on the way, a mix of forest and farm land, rolling hills, mostly on very narrow roads again. Even a bit of excitement when we came to the “FORD” sign……a bit further on we came to the stream that we actually had to ford!!
A bit of confusion with Google maps as to where the parking lot in Padstow was…..it actually tried to take us down a pedestrian only street, which was a little scary. So kept going and ended up on a dead end road near a resort of some sort. Stopped and had a look at the map to see where we should be and backtracked into town. Nice big parking lot just below the marina.
Walked up into town…..what a pretty place it is!! The main touristy area surrounds quite a big and very nice marina. Lots of hotels, shops, a pub, an ice cream place etc. People fishing off the edge (no railings….or very open railings where there were any. And no warning signs…..I guess they’re much smarter here than in North America lol !!). Stopped for coffee, Peggy got an ice cream, and toured around some of the streets off the main area. Lots of nice buildings with lots of flowers. There is an Alms House there…..dating back to 1870’s. It’s now a seniors housing complex…..stunning building with the red brick and blue trim. All the towns in this area and most of coastal Cornwall depended on the fishing and mining industries, so in tough times (no fish or mines closing) people relied on the alms houses for food and shelter if necessary.
Unfortunately everything was starting to close up so not much chance to go into any shops. Was almost 6 by then so we just headed back to Penzance. And we didn’t want to run into the roadworks detours that were supposed to be happening in the evenings.
No issues getting home, took about an hour. No parking in front of our house!! Had to park up around the corner, which worked good because you can only park there between 7PM and 9AM….it was about 2 minutes after 7 when I parked.
Walked down to The Dolphin Tavern for dinner. Nice pub type place. Soup of the day was tomato with a kick (v.g.) and natchos!
Turned out to be a good day. Better car, Port Isaac was cute, Padstow was lovely, no issues driving and a good dinner!!
Cards and to bed.
July 19 Wed
Slept good…..window wide open and curtains! Nice day….sunny with a bit of cloud and comfortably warm.
We got tickets to a play later this afternoon at the Minack Theatre so left early to go off exploring our end of Cornwall!
First stop was the teeny, tiny town of St. Just, the most western town in England! Small but very cute with granite buildings. A few shops, a 14th or 15thC church, a bakery, a couple of restaurants, a grocery store, a little theatre and a very pretty town square. Was the centre of the Cornwall mining industry back in it’s day. Parts of Poldark was filmed somewhere close by.
Had coffee and an absolutely delicious “tea cake” at the Dog and Rabbit cafe, which seemed to be the daily coffee hang out for everyone…..most tables had reserved signs on them.
Very pretty drive from there over/through the moors to Pendeen and the Geevor Tin Mine (15L to get in with seniors discount!). Had to wear a hardhat! Who knew a tin mine could be so interesting!! Great museum, then you just follow the signs from one display to another. Explained the beginning and all the hard work that went into mining. Lots of the old equipment and the new stuff that was used until the mine closed in 1990. Just fascinating really. Such hard work and really a terrible industry to have to work in but apparently the pay was good and provided a good (?) living for a lot of families. All those men that put their faith in the old manual equipment and the men operating it every day! We went into one of the tunnels……very dark, narrow and definitely not for tall people! The tunnels were only as big as necessary because it was extremely hard manual labour chipping away at the rock by hand. The views out across the coast were pretty spectacular. The moors, also around St. Just, come right down to the water. There’s a couple farms and fields dotted with sheep and cattle but really isolated. I can’t imagine what it was like in the winter back then…..cold, miserable weather, rough seas. Pretty sure it was an incredibly hard life. Defintely worth a visit and all the mining history in Cornwall.
Our next destination took us on a bit of an adventure. The Lanyon Quoit dolmen, the neolithic burial tomb. No signs and Google maps kept taking us down the same road….telling us we’d passed it. No signs anywhere. Finally decided we’d just head to Porthcurno where the theatre was and have lunch at the restaurant.
A little excitement on what I think is probably the narrowest road in all of England en route to Porthcurno. A bit of a traffic jam at one of the pull outs (5 or 6 cars) as we were face to face with a huge semi truck. Everyone had tried to move over as much as possible and this truck just kept coming and coming….albeit very slowly. We’d move and inch when the car in front moved and inch, the truck would move and inch going in the other direction and so on for about 5 minutes. He finally got by……with barely the paint from his truck and the car separating the two. Phew!
Made it to the Minack Theatre with lots of time to wander and have lunch. Big parking lot which was still almost empty. The views are pretty spectacular……two gorgeous beaches tucked away in coves with aquamarine water, great hiking trails. Sadly the restaurant was closed for renovations!! Luckily there was a little snack shack set up so we just grabbed something from there (a sausage roll and a bag of crisps!). The hiking trails seem to run on forever in both directions. Walked a bit of it and would have liked to have spent way more time there. Very rugged cliffs and coastline….very dramatic. LG walked part of the way down to the beach but it was quite far and would have been a pretty good hike back up the hill.
The theatre is set right into the rocky cliff. Lovely gardens, with some massive succulents. Was warm and sunny but I could just imagine on a cold winter stormy day how incredible it must be. The bottom 6 or 7 rows are concrete seats with backs on them, further up it’s tiered grass levels. We were early enough to get in at the bottom with the backs. The play was supposed to start at four but they announced that it would be delayed by 15 minutes or so because of a “jackknifed lorry” on the only road in!! Wonder if it was the same truck?
The play finally started around 4:30. It was really more for kids. After maybe 20 minutes we decided to leave and beat the crowds. The place had really filled up…..don’t know how many people it holds but would think a few hundred. There were quite a few houses in Porthcurno but I just can’t imagine living there with that being the only road in or out. (Found out later there is another road…..as narrow, if not worse….out of there)
We stopped at the Merry Maidens Stone Circle…….thousands of years old just sitting in the middle of a field!! Not really any parking area, just a bit of a gravel pull out near a bus stop. Good road from there back into Penzance. A very nice drive, treelined road with fields and lovely homes. Came into town from the top of the hill.
Earlier dinner since we hadn’t really had lunch! The Beach Club, which is part of a hotel, just a few minute walk down the street. I had the calzone type thing with pepperoni (v.g).
Home, planned our day to St Ives tomorrow, cards and to bed!
July 20 Thurs
Off to St Ives. Beautiful morning! Nice walk to the bus station along the lido/promenade.
Was almost an hour to St Ives….lots of traffic. Glad we opted for the bus though, driving there would have been terrible I think. The bus stops at the top of the town. Great views of the beach. Nice walk down, not too steep, and through town to the beach. Was really a nice warm day, no wind.
Lovely huge crescent shaped beach, very pretty with the buildings around it, boats on the beach because of the tide being out and a big pier or jetty. Busy, busy place! Walked out to the water and stuck our feet in…..wasn’t cold, quite pleasant really. Lots of people had set up for the day with umbrellas and chairs. A few people in the water. Tons of seagulls of course…..most pecking away the fish carcasses on the beach.
Walked back through town and around the other side is another lovely beach (Bamaluz??). A lot more people on this side. Just wandered a bit, lots of nice shops, bakeries, cafes, tons of beachie type shops etc. Around the other side of town is yet another gorgeous beach called Porthmeor with even more people and a lot more people in the water.
There is also a Tate Gallery there. Peggy and I went to check it out but decided to pass on it (13L to get in). Back down to the harbour or main beach and had lunch at The Balcony Bar and Kitchen. Food was OK but a great spot with nice views and fun for people watching and the entertainment along walkway.
Slowly worked our way back to catch the bus back to Penzance. St Ives is just lovely but I’m glad we didn’t stay there…..too busy and too hilly. Most of the rentals seemed to be way up the hill and no parking. Would have had to use the public parking lots at the bottom of the hills…so not great. And getting in and out of town each day would have been a pain I think!
Got back home around 3:30 and was so nice out!! Warm, sunny, just lovely so walked around the corner to visit the Morrab Gardens. What a beautiful spot!! Very well maintained, an amazing variety of local, exotic and subtropical trees and plants. It’s free too! Quite a treasure really. Once you’re in the gardens it’s very peaceful and really enjoyable to wander through. Many of the trees/plants have plaques identifying them, which is nice.
Home for a bit of a rest and then a walk up to Alverne for dinner. Sort of Mediterranean I guess. Really quite a nice place. I had the soup of the day which was a creamy leek soup and bread, Peggy had a salad and we shared an appie thing that was kind of a stuffed eggplant (v.g) LG didn’t have anything….not sure why?? Had a couple of glasses of wine. About a 10-15 minutes walk downhill back home.
Home, cards, wine and snacked on the goodies that we still had in our fridge! Cheese crackers, nuts etc.
Fun day!
July 21 Fri
Cruise ship out in the bay this morning. Looked like it might have been coming into port but just sat for a bit then headed out around the point. Another nice day!
Off to Land’s End today…..and hoping to find more standing stones/dolmen in our travels.
Nice drive and easy to find. Huge pay parking lot….all the money goes back into the attraction, which it really is! Quite the tourist spot. Lots of shops and stuff for kids (pirate type things), a very nice hotel, cafes, ice cream and popcorn etc.
The landscape is rather bleak looking as you would expect, very rocky, tufts of grass, heather and gorse (maybe?) and some wildflowers. A farm or two around it with a few sheep. The water though was really calm, like glass and crystal clear, almost turquoise in some places, close to shore. Really quite spectacular! I would think come winter it would be pretty nasty though. A nice little walk down to the actual Lands End with the flag pole. Quite a few “FIRST AND LAST” places along the way.
Back up and to the hotel for lunch. Cafeteria style, was good but it was the view from the window seat we had that really made it! Just gorgeous. The hotel has honeymoon packages….
Sennen Beach was just a few minute drive so we went to check it out. Absolutely gorgeous!! Parked at the top of the hill above the town and took the trail down, which part way down was like walking over a big sand dune. What a funky little spot! Beautiful beaches, cute town, lots of surf shops, pretty stone buildings, the odd one with a thatched roof, a couple cafes and restaurants. Many people out on the beach, even a windsurfer. Definitely a surfing town. Some huge big boulders on the beach….not sure if they are leftovers from the ice age of washed in with the rough seas. Lots of hang gliders coming off the cliffs above the town. Some very big hills, there is even a little bucket type funicular that people use to get up to the houses further up. Walked up the road to the parking lot instead of the trail, was very, very steep. It did take less time but not sure it was any easier than walking back up the trail.
Went in search of more standing stones! Did finally find the Lanyon Quoit megalith this time only because there were a couple other cars parked in the pull out. A small sign just where the trail starts that was barely visible from the road. It’s probably around 5000 yrs old. Originally it had 4 stones holding it up but was knocked down during a windstorm in 1815 and was re-erected/repaired with only 3. I love these things……and the fact that they still exist in this day and age is amazing!
Wasn’t sure just how long one could actually stop in the pull out so only went as far as the stones, which was too bad because there was also the Men-an-Tol circle stone, the Boskednan Stone Circle and the Bosiliack Barrow, an ancient burial site, not too far away. Very pretty countryside around it, sort of scrubby but much greener, lots of heather and gorse I think it is. A few farm type buildings here and there and the Greenburrow Engine House from an old mine off in the distance. Would have been great to spend some time there.
Just home to do a bit of packing up and to check our train situation for tomorrow. With the strike going on it’s hard to know whats happening. Penzance station was pretty much shut down today but according to some people we talked to there shouldn’t be any problem on main lines like Bath to London. I did get an email from Trainline saying our train was a bit later but only by a few minutes. They have been great about posting updates. Worst case scenario I guess is that we drive as far as we can to wherever we can drop the car and use the tube to get into London but we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it!!
Walked down to The Dolphin Tavern for dinner. I had the Dover Sole which was very good. Lots of “fun” boats out in the bay this evening……pirate ships! Pirates of Penzance???
Home to finish packing up, cards and the rest of our wine and snacks! Have to leave by 6AM tomorrow morning I think just to be safe getting the car back to Bath by noon.
July 22 Sat
Up and out the door just after 6. No issues checking out or leavng. Keys back in the lockbox, garbage out etc.
Supposedly a 4.5 hr drive back to Bath but it was pretty miserable out…..rain, wind and chilly!! Gassed up in Penzance and on the highway with no problems. Was making good time so stopped at a truck stop with a McDonalds! Coffee and breakfast and back on the road. All was going great until Google was a bit late telling us to take an exit! Was rather confusing because of how the road was there. We were in the right lane, which looked like it was just going off to the left running parallel with another road……as we are going under the sign Google tells us to take that exit! Ah well….a bit of re-routing and a tour through the city but we made it back to the Europcar office just after 11. All good, no problems from my tire mishap.
Took a taxi to the train station……all good with our train to London, no strike problems!
Train wasn’t until 2:30 so plenty of time for lunch but was raining so hard we checked out the places just outside the station. Decided on Ludo’s Sports Bar, which was upstairs but their elevator wasn’t working and there were a lot of stairs to have to go up with luggage! We were just about to leave when someone from the restaurant came down and offered to carry our luggage upstairs!! How nice was that! Had a beer and a very good cheeseburger! After lunch they had a server carry our bags back down the steps!!
No issues at all with the train…..someone said they had settled that morning. Arrived at Paddington Station just after 4. Decided to use Uber instead of a taxi to the hotel, which was around 20L so I do think it was a bit cheaper.
Our hotel is called the Cherry Court Hotel, on Hugh Street, just a few minutes walk to Victoria Station. LG found it in Rick Steves’ book so thought we’d check it out. It is cheap by London standards, a single room for 80L!! Good location, the room is very tiny…..just enough room for a single bed and a little table with a kettle and basket of goodies, a vanity type sink and the bathroom is the toilet and wee shower. They do make it very clear on their website that the rooms are small. It’s old-ish…..could do with a bit of updating (paint, new bedding, decor type stuff), but very clean, a great location and a lovely family that owns it, so all is good. The room does have AC just in case. Not really a hotel hotel (?), in that they give you a key for your room and the front door when you check in but there isn’t always someone at the little office. They do give you a number to contact if necessary. I think it’s the deal of the century for London so it will do just fine for the price and for two nights!
Went to St. George’s Tavern at the end of the block to check it out for dinner. Way too crowded and too noisy so we had a beer and moved on. Found an Indian restaurant a couple blocks away called Lovage. Was just OK but had a nice chat with people at the next table that had been in Bath during grad week.
Was after 8 by then and nothing was open so just back to the hotel. None of our rooms were big enough to play cards in so we used the table on the stair landing, brought an extra chair from my room. Worked out good. Chatted with other guests that were coming in for the evening.
Was a long day!! Was not sad to see that car gone! I think I did OK driving, other than the blown tire, and after the first day or two it really wasn’t too bad……you quickly get the hang of driving on the wrong side of the car and the road!! Just the very narrow roads in some places that can cause a bit of anxiety but luckily there was never a lot of traffic anywhere we went so nobody tailgating or honking etc. which was nice.
Updated my journal. Was really stuffy in my room so I opened the window for a bit but couldn’t leave it open since I was on the ground floor over looking the alley or mews or whatever.
July 23 Sun
Slept OK….bed was quite comfy. The continental breakfast they provide is a juice box, a package of granola bars, a packet of nice little cookies, an apple, an orange and a banana! There are packets of instant coffee and tea too.
Out at 8:30. Found a spot for coffee and pastry around the corner. Walked straight down Buckingham Palace Road to the palace! Came in from the back so didn’t realize it was just about changing of the guard time until we saw all the baracades and a million people! We wanted to walk down The Mall to Trafalgar Square on the St James Park side…..to do that we had to walk past the front of the palace and cross to the other side of the road then walk down a ways where they were letting you cross again. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, so was nice to see the park with everything in bloom. The girls stopped partway down for a bathroom break and I just waited along the road. Lucky me right across from where I was standing was where the changing of the guard started!! Front row spot to watch the procession coming out and then turning down toward the palace. The Mall is blocked to traffic of course while all this is happening so was really a nice walk.
Just love Trafalgar Square!! Always busy and something going on. St Martin in the Field was having a music recital at 3PM which I would have liked to have gone to but wasn’t sure where we’d be then.
Neither Peggy or LG had been to Covent Garden so that was where we went. It’s a fun place too. Lots of pretty flower baskets etc., some buskers and other entertainment. In and out of a few shops then over to the market stalls. Back to check our restaurant menus but nothing appealed to anyone so we moved on.
LG was set on going to Camden Market so we started off in that direction and found the Wildwood Kitchen for a lunch break. Had a great table at the window, which was wide open so like being on the sidewalk. The food and service was excellent. I had the prawn risotto (v.v.g), Peggy had pasta, LG had a salad, all washed down with a couple glasses of wine.
Turned out to be quite a walk down to Camden Market!! Around 2.5 miles and took an hour. It wasn’t the most pleasant walk either…..in hindsight we should have hopped on a bus!! A couple interesting buildings along the way. It was very Egyptian-ish. It’s now the Greater London House but was originally the Carreras Cigarette Factory.
Had no idea what the draw was to the Camden Market until we got there. Right up until a block or so before we’d seen maybe a handful of people on the street but then you cross a street and “BOOM” you are shoulder to shoulder with a zillion people!! Tons of discount type stores, pubs, cafes, a couple of unique bubble/pod type restaurants etc., some funky, painted buildings, small alleys with more shops and a bar or two. Some very eclectic characters…..a good people watching place! And there are locks on the canal there so we got to watch a couple of the long boats going through. In and out of shops, some had pretty good stuff but a lot of them were all pretty much cheap tee shirts and souvenir type things. There was a big food market further down but we didn’t go. Went upstairs to one of the bars and had a drink before starting back. Glad we went but no need to go back……
Took the bus back…..was very convenient that there was a Pimlico bus that dropped us a block from the Cherry Court! Already 6 by then so just enough time to tidy up a bit and find a place for dinner.
Decided we wanted a “Sunday Roast” for our last dinner in England. Pretty well every pub has them so we picked the Warwick that had great reviews. Just a few blocks from the hotel. Their Sunday roast special was 19L, with your choice of beef, chicken or veg. I had the beef, Peggy had the chicken and LG had the veggie one which was a “cauliflour steak”. Loved the Yorkshire pudding!! It was all delicious but a ridiculous amount of food…..enough for at least two people!
Walked all that off after. A really nice area just on the other side of the hotel. Pretty mews, a little gated park surrounded by lovely townhouses.
Back at the hotel we all checked in for our flights home. We all leave from Heathrow but Peggy is on a Westjet leaving from T4 at 11AM, LG and I are on BA from T1 at 5:30. Too early for LG and me to go when P does so we’ll just grab an Uber later. Cards, repacking and to bed!
July 24 Mon
Peggy’s flight has been delayed until 3PM, so now we’ll just all Uber to the airport at the same time, a bit early for LG and me but lots of places to sit/eat there and kill time.
Had coffee around the corner and back to check out. They kept our luggage for us, which was really nice. Found a fun little place for a proper breakfast then just wandered around, in an out of shops until we had to head to the airport.
Uber guy was kind of miserable. We’d tried putting in 2 stops but it wouldn’t work and he said there was nothing he could do….argh. So we all went to T1 with the plan that Peggy would catch the shuttle to T4. Uber was 40L. Said our goodbyes to Peggy and LG and I went on our way.
Got our bags dropped and thru security with a few hours to kill. LG was in search of tea towels and I for plane snacks! Caught up with her at our gate and discovered that our flight had been delayed about a half hour.
LG booked the aisle and I booked the window hoping for an empty seat between us but was not to be. A gal from Germany that was traveling with her aunt and uncle sat between us. She was lovely and chatted A LOT! They were touring Vancouver, then to Whistler and over to Jasper. She wanted to see bears……so I showed her the pictures/videos of the ones going through and breaking my fence!! Hope she got to see one or two!
Sat on the runway for almost 2 hours!! I think it was just a traffic thing. Such a busy airport….there is one plane after another, just crazy!
Flight was good, seemed long but we obviously made up time because we arrived in Vancouver only a few minutes after our original 7PM arrival.
Used the ArriveCan app declaration thing again so I just whipped through. Luggage came along quickly. Said bye to LG (husband picking her up) and called Linds to let her know I was out and ready to go home!
Home safe and sound! Was a great trip! So happy I braved the car rental thing, so much we wouldn’t have been able to see without it.
This was such a great trip! The Cotswolds are just lovely, beautiful towns and villages, good food……a great area to walk. Would be wonderful to go back some day but with a car as there were so many more places that I would have loved to see.
Cornwall was amazing. We only covered a very small part of the west, so much more of Cornwall to see and explore one day!
My Travel Journals 