Friday I only had a half day of work since we were leaving to go to Cornwall (the southwestern-most point in the UK, known for its history of smuggling and pirates, good surfing, beautiful scenery, pasties, and haunted/bizzaro sightings) that afternoon. My coworkers were freaking out a bit and acting like I was never coming back, but I do believed that they managed without me. I met Morgan and Trace at Paddington and we ended up catching the wrong train initially, which we didn’t realize until we were on the train and the announcer said the train was for Bristol. Luckily the train left just minutes before our train to Penzance and also stopped at Reading, where we were able to switch and be on schedule again. We had a surprisingly quick 5 1/2 hour trip, getting into Penzance (yes, as in “Pirates of,” but without any modern major generals) at about 7:30 that evening. We checked in at our fabulous B&B before heading to a nice seafood dinner where we also tried some of the v. locally-known clotted cream (kind of tastes like a sweet butter) on some oh-so-delicious jam sponge. After dinner, we found a local pub for a drink and in the punchy conversation decided that our “team” (Morgan, Trace, and I) were actually a pirate crew on the ship the “Bonny Anne” (reverse of a well-known female pirate, Anne Bonnie), and I was the Captain since I planned the trip. I was actually referred to as “Cap’n” for a good amount of the trip, much to my amusement and Andy’s (he was v. jealous) dismay. Andy, Meredith, and Alissa got in around 1am since they didn’t’ leave til after work that night.
Saturday, Alissa and I thought about getting up for the sunrise, but it didn’t really happen. Instead, we had a really punchy breakfast (stupid, nerdy jokes and laughing at nothing, which was obviously the theme for the weekend), chatted with other B&B guests, and headed out to roam the town for the morning. We walked along the Strand (the shore-side area along the bay/sea), and out along the rocks and shore before heading up through town to shop and snack. Morgan and I got v. excited for a yarn store, Trace and I got v. excited for an organic food store, and we all got v. excited for a bakery with lots of pastries. Meredith and Alissa found some wellies, joining my I Heart Wellies club for the weekend. After shopping, we went back to get ready for our afternoon boat trip that was unfortunately postponed til Sunday due to the rough winds. Instead, we decided to go to Lands End (the tip of Cornwall and I’m not sure about the relationship to the clothing line) and caught the bus there. (photo: Meredith, Andy, and I near Penzance)
The roads to Lands End reminded me a lot of highland Scotland with all of the v. narrow roads that took an hour to go 12km. As soon as we got to Lands End, it started to rain and rain v. hard, so we didn’t last long taking pictures near the fudgie photo sign before deciding to retreat to the one open restaurant to get a pasty and a cider to wait out the rain (most of the shops and food places were strangely closed at 2 in the afternoon on a Saturday). Luckily, the rain did pass and we went out hiking along the cliffs to see the wreck of a ship on the rocks and to test out our wellies. We had a lot of fun walking through lots of mud and splashing through puddles and remaining completely dry due to our fabulous footwear! However, we had to cut it shorter than we’d like in order to catch the bus back towards Penzance. We decided to get off though in Porthcurno to see the Minack Theatre, an outdoor theatre carved into the side of a cliff with fabulous views of the ocean. However, the theatre had only just closed minutes before our arrival, so we had to settle for another mini hikey hikey with fantastic views of the coast, the ocean, and the sunset. The waves we saw were humungous and there were even crazy guys surfing in the frigid water. We hiked down to the beach where they were surfing and Alissa and I got seriously splashed by a deceptively-large wave. We finally got the bus back to Penzance where we regrouped before heading to dinner at the pub we’d been to the night before before heading back to the B&B for bed. (photos: Andy, me, Alissa, Trace, and Meredith at Lands End in front of cheesey sign; wellies in action; hike along the coast, looking back towards Lands End; hiking towards the sunset; us all watching the sunset on our rocky perches; and crazy waves, the black specks in the water being the surfers.)
Sunday was another attempt for a sunset that didn’t happen and instead haad a nice leisurely breakfast. Alissa and I even talked with the owner of the B&B who’s grandfather and family were survivors of the Titanic (his gpa was 6 months old, but we got to see the newspaper clippings, etc.). We eventually made our way down for our belated boat trip. The six of us, plus our two guides, got on our waterproofs (a waterproof jacket and snowpants-like overalls) and boarded the boat. Our little boat explored the bay, including stopping near St. Michael’s Mount (a former monastery turned fancy residence) and various other caves and coves looking for seals, dolphins, porpoises, and maybe even whales. However, all we saw were lots of cool birds (including a cousin of the penguin called a guillemot and the largest seagull in the world). Duncan, our guide, said that he couldn’t even remember when he hadn’t even seen seals. Just our luck… But we did see the birds, lots of fabulous scenery, learned lots about local legends and culture, and Andy and I especially got drenched due to our seats on the boat. After getting back to the dock, we all were cold and made our way to a nearby café for a hot beverage before heading back to the B&B for our luggage. We caught some lunch at a pub and caught the train back to London. (photos: us before the trip; Penzance from the harbour; St. Michael's Mount; me getting drenched; Morgan cold and wet (she's from South Carolina and was "without a doubt the coldest [she's] ever been in [her] life; and us after the trip.)
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