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.

On Location at Portwenn

North Cornwall

You may remember that several years ago Taylor and I attempted to visit Cornwall.  We drove from Exetor through Dartmoor, heading toward Cornwall when we panicked over driving on the wrong side of very narrow roads.  After having a little incident with the rental car we abandoned it in Dartmouth and refused to go further (although we did eventually return the car to the rental agency).

When we determined to come to Cornwall this year, we decided not to rent a car.  Hence the train, and taxi.  However, we wanted to see the area with its multitude of little villages and twisty roads.  I solved the problem of how to do this by hiring a tour guide to drive us around for two days to show us the sights.

David, our guide, picked us up at Treverbyn House in Padstow and off we went.  Taylor was quite excited to enjoy the view without the stress of managing the narrow one track, two lane roads that are lined with hedges disguising stone walls.  The entire day of sightseeing, with all the beautiful scenery and narrow lanes, was quite relaxing when neither of us was in charge.

Many people travel the world to see historic points of interests.  That, after all, is evidence of intelligence and sophistication.  We realized, as we were wandering through Port Isaac that we aren't among those intelligent folk.  We were exploring a TV set!  Port Isaac - Portwenn for all you Doc Martin fans - is a small fishing village extremely charming and filled with tourists.  We were there on a calm day, as filming  happened the day before. Filming brings huge crowds of lookers along with the people and equipment it takes to film a TV show.  And Port Issac looks exactly like Portwenn does on TV. It does not look, from the outside, like fame and fortune has gone to its head.  I wonder if the production company has required that the village make no changes as long as Doc Martin is being produced.  Even the fish store, where the Doc buys his fish, smells to high heaven.  Other than that, the village looks a little shabby but comfortable.  It certainly is in a great location.

The Doc's house is really quite tiny.  I love the dog in my photo - everyone has a dog in Cornwall.

Louisa's school is really a restaurant.

There are lots of charming shops in town.

I was too embarrassed to have Taylor take my picture in front of the Doc's house, so I had him do it in one of the side streets.  I needed proof that I was there.

Isn't it amazing how small Doc Martin's house is?

We tore ourselves from the TV set and drove all along the North Coast.

One of many beaches on the North Coast.  This one is Newquay (pronounced Newkie). It is popular with surfers.

This huer's hut is where the fishermen would take turns standing watch to look for pilchards and herring.  The lookout would give the cry, and all the villagers would run down to the beach with their baskets and nets to bring in the fish. Poldark fans have seen these fishing scenes on TV.

A village, even smaller than Port Issac.

Here's the quay below the house pictured above.

There are so many perfect little quays like this all along the coast. The contrast between the surfing beaches and these little keyhole harbors is quite striking.

The ruins of Tintangel Castle.  This is the setting of the King Arthur legends.

This was our first full day in Cornwall.  We came home to Treverbyn House exhausted and happy.  Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without fish and chips.

Once again we're on TV location.  Rick Stein is a well know TV personality chef and cookbook author.  We ate at two of his restaurants.  He's got a good product.

Taylor is a happy camper:  no driving required, and fish and chips.

European Adventure 2017 - on to England

North Cornwall - Padstow

Reluctantly we said goodbye to our family and friends in Bruxelles and put ourselves on the train  to London. From London we took a second train to Bodmin Parkway.  We are now in North Cornwall!!!!

Our prearranged taxi driver collected us at the station and drove us 19 miles to the fishing village of Padstow on the River Camel where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

I have been fascinated by Cornwall for years.  I suspect my first introduction to Cornwall was the Elizabeth George novels that I love.  Her detective Peter Lynley comes from an estate in Cornwall. Who wouldn't be intrigued by that? Plus, I had further evidence that I might like Cornwall from watching Doc Martin and Poldark on TV.  I'm not proud to admit I came to Cornwall because of murder mysteries and TV shows, but there you have it. What I wasn't prepared for was to fall in love at first sight .  And that is what I did.

Treverbyn House B&B gave us a room with a view.

The weather was spectacular.

The downtown harbor which is a short walk from our B&B was captivating.

There was no opportunity for annoyances.

There is even a tasteful Almshouse - although I think it is now expensive apartments

And, at the end of our introductory ramble we had sherry to sip as the sun set.

With an introduction like this, I'm sure that we will have a great 8 days in Cornwall.

Dear Solomon

I wonder what Solomon is doing. I wish you were here in Cornwall with us.

Grandpa and I were chased by these cows

On our way here

It's not a house.  It's a castle!

We miss you.  We love you!

Belgian Grande Finale

After leaving Ypres, Syvart, Iris, Taylor and I drove to the Trappist monastery of Westvletern to attempt to purchase their much coveted beer.  We went to the abbey yesterday but they had already sold out of the beer when we got there.  This was our last chance.

Westvleteren is one of six Trappist abbeys that produce this beer.  The Trappist philosophy is that the monks brew beer to live, not live to drink beer.  Therefore they only produce what they can by working 6 hours a day.  The rest of the day is spent in prayer. A limited amount of the various beers is available on an irregular basis from the abbey.  Hence, our excitement when they actually had the beer that Syvart and Iris wanted, and we were able to be at the beginning of the line to get it.

Score!  We were each allowed to purchase 2 six packs of this rare and special beer.

 With our beer in the boot, we headed off to Bruxelles.  We spent our last afternoon and evening with the family strolling through La Grande Place and having dinner.

I can't begin to describe La Grande Place.

It was grim and rainy but we were still impressed by La Grande Place.

The sweet shops helped take our minds off the rain.

Bruxelles has lots of beautiful sweet shops - practically every other shop sells the "best" Belgian chocolate.

At the end of a rainy day, and a wonderful dinner we all returned for an after dinner coffee at the Metropole Hotel.

We had a wonderful time with Iris and her parents.  The time flew.  Thanks you Syvart, Iris, Frits and Carolien.

Now we are off to England to see what Cornwall brings

Back to Belgium

We left Zeeland and headed back to Belgium for our final two nights with the family.  We first went to Ypres (Ieper on the map) which was pretty much demolished in World War I.

Ypres is dotted with large and small cemeteries. Perhaps over half a million soldiers died in at Ypres during WWI.  The exact number is unknown because so many bodies were unidentified. The British empire alone lost over 200,000 men in battles at Ypres. The memorial gate lists the names of 54,389 soldiers from countries in the British Empire whose bodies were never found. This town has become a pilgrimage point for Brits coming to honor their dead. We attended the ceremonial "Last Post" which is presented every evening at 8:00.

Damage to the cloth hall in the center of town during WWI.

The center of Ypres - the cloth hall. Ypres was a center for the import of British and Scottish wool to the continent. This is where wool and cloth were stored. It looks like a cathedral.

The cloth hall has been totally reconstructed using original stone.  Notice the details of the statues - the one on the left is a soldier.

Walking on the ramparts (town wall) in the morning, I came across Mary.

Early morning on the ramparts is somewhat magical.

From time to time there are indications that the ramparts were used as defense and there are lots of entrances to tunnels underneath. At one time these ramparts were more extensive than the city they protected.

The town has been restored, the morning streets are quiet.  It's hard to believe that nothing was left of Ypres but rubble at the end of WWI.  All is peaceful now.