The owner of the delightful Weymouth B&B where we had stopped, drove us to the station yesterday morning, which was much appreciated. It was further from the station than we usually choose.
Thus started our “l
o n g” journey to Penzance – we had changes at
Bournemouth, Eastleigh and Reading. The
leg between Bournemouth and Eastleigh was on a coach due to engineering work –
at home I usually try to avoid using PT when buses are replacing trains, but it
all went relatively smoothly, even having to put our packs in the luggage
compartment under the coach.
During our journey, it started to rain quite heavily and as
we didn’t arrive until just after 6:30pm, of course it was dark. I didn’t feel I was missing anything reading
my book. I am actually reading a book
that our fellow Australian Emma gave me in Abisko as she had finished it. It is called ‘One Good Turn’ by Kate Atkinson
– Emma had bought it (second-hand) in the UK, as it is set in Edinburgh, which
she knows quite well. For the moment I
have given up on the JK Rowling book!
On the tube in London, there are frequent announcements about
‘Mind the Gap’. On the train last night,
there were announcements about moving back from the front of the train as these
carriages might not be platformed (?) and being careful when alighting as it
was so wet.
Anna suggested that as I was the one who wanted to come to
the UK, that I might like to be the one who planned out itinerary. I am actually quite pleased with what I have
planned and so far it is going well. Why
did we come to Penzance? The only school
production in which I was involved was Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of
Penzance’. This was about 50 years ago,
but ever since then I have always wanted to visit Cornwall and Penzance in
particular. I am not disappointed, we
have had a great time.
The hotel we chose is very close to the station, although
fortunately it had stopped raining by the time we arrived.
This is a view from the lounge area on the same floor as our
room, the station is on the left.
This morning, after a delicious Full Cornish Breakfast, we
set off to the bus station and caught a double decker bus to Land’s End. We sat in the front upstairs seats. Not coming from somewhere where double decker
run, they are a bit of a novelty. There
were numerous buses, primarily double decker, along Praed Street near
Paddington Station, near where we stopped in London, but we only went on the
tube.
After yesterday’s rain, this morning’s weather was just
beautiful, fine and sunny. We thought Land’s
End was very spectacular. We didn’t walk
far but took photos with which to remember our visit.
On the return journey we again sat upstairs at the front, which
gave us a great view.
We alighted in the middle of the shopping area in Penzance and
bought a couple of items – in particular I needed a new shoe horn as I had
broken the one I had. I am still wearing
my woollen hiking socks, which are very comfortable, but I need a shoe horn to
get my shoes on! This one is also
plastic – I hope it lasts the distance.
We also bought a Cornish pasty for lunch. While we were sitting in the sun eating, we
got to chatting to a local. He suggested
we walk along the seafront to St Michael’s Mount, which we sort of intended to
do anyway. According to a guide which I
picked up, there is a church which was built on the summit of the island after
the Norman Invasion, when St Michael’s Mount was granted to the Benedictine
Abbey of Mont St Michel in France. (This
was one place I considered visiting, but it didn’t happen!)
We didn’t actually get all the way to St Michael’s Mount as
the weather started to look a bit threatening so we turned back. We did consider continuing and getting a bus
back, but weren’t sure when they ran.
When we returned we decided that we didn’t really need dinner
but had a late afternoon tea instead – a Cornish Cream Tea, which was very
delicious.
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