Moving On - South Cornwall

St. Ives

After several lovely days in Padstow, we moved down the coast to South Cornwall and the fishing village of St. Ives.  St. Ives is larger than Padstow and is another historic village. It is heavily populated by artists.

Our first day in St. Ives was gloomy and rainy. Not being the kind of tourists who stay in and dry, we spent our time wandering around town getting wet.

Heading to the wharf.  In good weather I imagine there are lots of kayaks and sailboats in the water.

This fisherman's chapel is right on the wharf.

It commemorates fishermen lost in a storm...a common hazard of a dangerous job.

This is not only a vacation hub, it's a working harbor.

 

Our B&B, 27 The Terrace, is on the hill overlooking the water. As you can see, no one is on the beach due to foul weather.

Even though it was cold and wet, we resisted going in to the Three Ferrets.  Somehow the name didn't appeal to us.  They are pretty cute though.

Instead we went back to our B&B to dry off, warm up and have an espresso until it was time to go back out for dinner.

 Having a pre dinner cocktail or a pint seems to be mandatory in this part of the world.  So we went up the road to a hotel bar that advertised "Gin O'Clock".

Since we were in Cornwall, I had to try the locally made gin - Tarquin's.

I had been told that gin and tonics are fabulous in Cornwall, and with orange slices and special tonic, this was exceptionally good.

Cheers!

 It is important to insert here that we have been cold pretty much since we landed in Paris.  In Amsterdam, Taylor even stopped to buy two new sweaters to add to the sweater he had been wearing every day. However, the new sweaters, although handsome, really weren't up to keeping a body warm. Today, during lunch, I noticed that Taylor kept looking out the window behind me.  He finally said he needed to go into a shop across the alley.  I assumed he had been looking at a bakery.  Boy was I surprised when he walked right into a clothing store - specializing in UK knit sweaters.  He bought one.

Here he is, enjoying a pint, in his new Jacob's wool sweater.  Finally he is warm.

 After our "Gin O'Clock" hour we toddled down the road back to town to find dinner.  It was still cold and wet, but now the tide was out so things looked a little different.

The main drag, right on the harbor.

By evening the tide was out and the life boats were grounded.  Hopefully no one needed to be rescued.

Suddenly the shops looked appealing - ready for beach goers.

Locally made spirits across from the beachy shops.

Ooh!  Who doesn't find this display to be cute?

Finally, we're trudging up the hill to our B&B.  Can you see the display on the balcony at the very top of this building?  It brought a smile to my face.  Taylor walked right on by.

We made it through a cold, rainy day and now we're ready for day 2 of our tour with our guide, David - this time we're exploring the South Coast of Cornwall.  Here's hoping for better weather.