Happy St Piran’s day!*

We had a blast!!! Loved Cornwall, there was so much to see and wonderful sights for the eye! We left Monday late morning and headed to Penzance.This was a much anticipated trip to celebrate my Birthday. It took a little over three hours and we drove through some patches of driving rain. The terrain began to change from actual evergreen forests to very green open fields.

*Just for clarification St Piran is the patron saint of the Cornwall tin miners and we were there on the annual celebration.

Monday afternoon and evening we slogged around the city in the rain. We saw The Turk’s Head a famous pub from the Crusade era. We stopped in at Admiral Benbow's Inn for a soda and to get out of the rain. The most amazing thing that I noticed as we made our way around town were the palm trees, camellias and prickly pear cactus growing about. It really is a milder climate there because of the gulf stream. It reminds me of California.

 A rainy afternoon in Penzance.

We happened on to the Navy Inn for dinner and afterwards discovered it in our Rick Steves’ travel book! Good food, especially the homemade bread! We were then ready to head back to our warm and cozy B&B. The new owners had just purchased The Camilla house on March 1^st, we were their first guests.

Up at 7:30 Tuesday morning for our breakfast and then off to the shops to see what Penzance had to offer. FYI there is a definite pirate theme about, the buccaneer motifs were everywhere. We took our umbrella this time though it we just sprinkling.

Shopping in Penzance

While I was waiting for Bill to buy a banana at a fruit and vegetable stand a short white haired, wrinkle faced old lady came and stood by me. She addressed me in a quiet tone kind of out of the side of her mouth: “do you buy things off a gypsy?” I replied that I did not, she continued: “I can tell your fortune, you are going to a blue wedding and you will be a teacher.” I told her that I had already been a teacher, “You look ten years younger than your age” then “You would never judge anyone and you cannot stand any one to be dishonest to you”. Next she tried to get me to remove my glove so she could read my palm… “I am Welsh, I really am a gypsy” I told her I did not want to pay her money for her to tell my fortune, she said it would just be a small donation. No thanks I replied, she walked away. There you have it, my first gypsy encounter!

Of course we had to find a good bakery so we could have an authentic Cornish Pasty for lunch. We found one a desert-added-in deal. It was good, kind of like beef stew in a pastry shell. It was a little bland. The origin of the Cornish pasty comes from the tin miners. They could have their whole meal in one as they came up out of the mines for lunch and sustenance for their long day’s work. The thick crust gave them something to hang on to with their dirty hands while they ate.

After making some purchases and enjoying our filling lunch we drove to Land's End, the most Western point in the England. It is the sight of the either the last or the first house. You can see it below. Our guide book said that it would be a bit of a disappointment because it is just a tourist trap with cheap trinkets for sale etc., but I loved it! First of all because it was off season there were very few people there. It was rainy and windy and kind of eerie! The landscape is stark with rolling ‘tundra’ like hills and craggy rocks with sea spray crashing over them. It was like being in a suspense movie! Apparently there is a deaf cat in the area so watch out.

Lands End, The Merry Maidens and deaf cat warning.

On our return trip we found an ancient circle of stone similar to Stonehenge but much smaller. They are called the Merry Maidens. In earlier centuries the local people had a legend that some wayward women went out in the field to make merry on the Sabbath and were turned to stone, hence the name. They are just in the middle of the field on the side of the road.

When we returned to our little room we found a note under the door with a recommendation for dinner. It took us a while to find the Inn but well worth it, the food was phenomenal! It was gourmet food in a little pub in Newlyn.

Beautiful St. Ives.

Wednesday dawned with sun shine! I have decided that if you live on the sea side you need to get used to how noisy sea gulls are! At breakfast we met a lovely lady named Barbara who was visiting Penzance for a gallery appearance with an artist she had written a book about. She was so enjoyable to talk to.

We packed up our stuff and checked out and headed toward St Ives. The drive was beautiful and we loved the city itself! Such a quaint place with a lot to see and enjoy. We both decided that we needed wool sweaters. I got a cardigan and Bill got a ‘jumper’ (slip over). We were now nice and warm with a useful keep sake!

Our final destination for our trip was Port Isaac, the little fishing village where the TV series Doc Marin is filmed. The scenery was so beautiful on the way there and the town itself was not a disappointment! It was really fun to stroll around Dr. Ellingham and Louisa’s town. We felt quite amazed that we were actually there and that it is as beautiful in real life as it is on TV! We had lunch there and walked around for a while taking pictures. We noticed that we were not the only mature couple walking about.

We bid good-by to Cornwall and headed back to Bristol late afternoon. We truly had a wonderful holiday! Now back to our work!