The Cornish Coast

Our trip

I've been wanting to visit Cornwall all year, so with only a month left in the UK, Grant and I decided to take a weekend trip down to the southern peninsula of the country. Penzance is a port city right near the bottom of Cornwall. It was about 5 1/2 hours from Slough, but I think it was worth the journey. Unfortunately, we only had the opportunity to visit for a couple days on the weekend. I absolutely loved it and would have enjoyed staying for a whole week, but I am happy we had the chance to go at all. :)

In Cornish, which is the traditional Celtic language in Cornwall, Penn Sans means "holy headland." It was named holy headland due to the location of a chapel that supposedly stood on the headland near Penzance over a thousand years ago. A headland, in case you don't know (I didn't), is a high point of land on a coast, usually with a sheer drop toward the water. The chapel is known traditionally as Saint Anthony's, though there isn't really any proof that the chapel was dedicated to Saint Anthony. The chapel is no longer there, only an eroded stone figure survives. The figure is now in the churchyard of St. Mary's church.

We were very lucky that our first full day in Penzance was a beautiful, sunny day. We took a long walk out to see the remains of an ancient village. When we got back, we left our cameras and phones behind and went off to the beach. Unfortunately, this means we don't have any sunny pictures of the coast near Penzance, but it was beautiful with plenty of people splashing around in the waves. It rained the next day, so we just walked a bit around the historic part of town and down the beach to take a few photos.

Penzance Harbour

Penzance sights

Chysauster Ancient Village

The mysterious fogou

Chysauster Ancient Village: This is an iron age village near Penzance called Chysauster Ancient Village. There you can find the remains of about 10 houses and a fogou - which is Cornish for cave. A fogou is basically an underground room, though it is not certain what this fogou was used for. As far as I could tell, there were many other historic sites around Penzance as well, but we really only had time to visit the one. It was about a 2 hour walk from Penzance so luckily it was a nice day. However, if you have a car, it isn't too far away.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/chysauster-ancient-village/ 

The view on our walk

St. Michael's Mount: There is a similar sight to see in Normandy, France, which you might recognise, called Mont Saint Michel. They are both tidal islands, meaning that when the tide is out, you can just walk straight up to the mount and it isn't an island at all. However, when the tide comes in, the mount is surrounded by water and becomes an island. It seems the reason for both mounts having the same name is that the priory on Saint Michael's Mount was founded by the same religious order (the Benedictines) from Mont Saint Michel in the 12th century.

The Cornish name for St. Michael's Mount is Karrek Loos y Koos, which apparently means grey rock in a wood. This is probably because the mount used to be surrounded by forest rather than water. It's really quite amazing that this is the Cornish name, since the forest was submerged probably around 1700 B.C. The naming of this mount in Cornish combined with the evidence of an ancient forest being submerged just goes to show how amazingly long-term and accurate folk memory can be.

I didn't have a chance to visit the mount due to the limited time I had in Penzance but if you do visit, there is a 15th century chapel and a 12th century castle on the mount.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/st-michaels-mount/visitor-information/

Saint Michael's Mount in the distance

Minack Theatre: Well, I didn't actually go here either, but I really regret not having been able to. It is an open air theatre facing the ocean. It looks absolutely stunning. Take a look at some pictures and shows on their website and if you have a chance, go see a show for me: http://www.minack.com/

And of course, if you are in Penzance, you must visit one of the beaches along the coast. The one we went to, which leads around the bay toward where Saint Michael's Mount is, was quite nice in some areas, but very rocky in others. I really liked the area closer to Saint Michael's Mount.

The beach on a cloudy day

Food

Warrens Bakery: This is a chain of bakeries around Cornwall selling traditional Cornish baked goods. They are apparently the oldest bakery in Cornwall, having been established in 1860. I had a traditional Cornish Pasty as well as a Cornish Saffron Cake for breakfast on the Sunday morning. Both were delicious and I definitely recommend giving a Warrens Bakery a try if you are in Cornwall. (http://warrensbakery.co.uk/)

Blacks Dining Room and Bar: We went here on our first night in Penzance, quite late at night. In addition to the regular menu, they had a list of fresh seafood dishes. Of course, we both chose a seafood dish. The mussels for me and a monkfish dish for Grant. We also had some Cornish cider and beer - all of which was quite good. This restaurant was definitely on the pricey side, but it was delicious. I would recommend it as a place to indulge. There were a lot of other restaurants selling seafood, of course, so take a walk around Penzance and check them out as well. (http://blacksofchapelstreet.com/)

Little India: This Indian restaurant is highly rated and always busy at dinner. If you do decide to eat here, either go a little early, reserve a table or order take-out. The dishes we ate were very good, but I have to say, I was a little disappointed by the service. The staff seemed a little distant and annoyed, as if by ordering food from them, we were putting them out. However, the service was at least quick and reliable, plus the delicious food made up for it. (http://www.purelypenzance.co.uk/winedine/takeaway_menu/chinese_indian/indian_little_india_takeaway_menu.html)

Cream tea at Francine's

Francine's of Penzance: We were searching for somewhere to get a good, homemade cream tea a couple hours before we had to board the train. For some reason, it was proving difficult to find somewhere with an appealing atmosphere or that was open (I guess because it was Sunday). Just when we were about to give up, we came across Francine's. We ordered two cream teas, though we could definitely have probably done with sharing one. We were not disappointed with the homemade scones, locally-made strawberry jam and the essential Cornish clotted cream. Francine's doesn't seem to have a huge online presence, but if you are in Penzance, take a walk along Market Jew Street and keep an eye out. This link at least gives you a little picture and the street address.

Willy Waller's Ice Cream Factory: This ice cream place was by the port. I ordered a plain Cornish clotted cream ice cream in a cone. Generally, Cornish cream can stand on its own, but I actually found this ice cream lacking. It didn't have that full-flavoured, creamy sweetness that I usually expect from Cornish cream. It barely had a flavour at all. I was pretty disappointed, especially since the ice cream is meant to be homemade with Cornish cream. However, Grant got a chocolate nut sundae, which he rated as slightly above average, thanks to the addition of clotted cream on top (replacing the whipped cream you might get in North America). I had had Cornish clotted cream ice cream when I was living in Slough by Kelly's of Cornwall and it was amazing. If you are in Cornwall, you could look out for any kind of takeaway place selling Kelly's - or grab a tub from a local Tesco. Honestly, Kelly's is delicious. Anyway, I'll give you links to both Willy Waller's and Kelly's, in case you want to taste for yourself:

Willy Waller's - http://www.willywallers.co.uk/
Kelly's - http://www.kellysofcornwall.co.uk/

Where to stay

Easy PZ Backpackers: This was definitely one of the best hostels I've been to. It was inside a house and the bedrooms were cosy with lockers for each bed. I enjoyed it there mainly due the homey atmosphere permeating the hostel. This is thanks to the lovely interior decorating as well as the friendliness of the staff. There is also a well-organised kitchen with breakfast foods free for eating in the morning. And finally, the location and the price are both great. A very short walk from the train station and centre of town and not too far from the beach and Saint Michael's Mount. The price was £20 per person per night. (http://www.easypz.info/)





That's all for now...It seems like this post is almost as much about the things I didn't get a chance to do as it is about the things I did. As I said at the beginning, I would have loved to stay at least for a week, but it is what it is.
Anyway, next time - Wales! xox

London Calling (again)

Well, last week was a busy week! My parents came to visit, so, of course, we had to do some exploring.  Anyway, since we were so busy last week, I didn't get a chance to post, so it'll have to be this week instead!

Since London is just a quick train ride from Slough, that is where we started our week. We would have a car the rest of the week, and we definitely did not want to drive in London - there's really no point, the tube goes everywhere... Besides, traffic is crowded and unpredictable, drivers are impatient - not a good environment for a tourist used to driving on the OTHER side of the road!

Quick tip: if you are going to be traveling around London, get a travelcard or an oyster card (the contactless payment card for London transport) onto which you can load a travelcard. You get unlimited travel in London. If you are traveling from outside of London, for instance from Slough, you can get a combined return train ticket and travelcard. It is a great deal and costs only a few pounds more than the return ticket itself. One or two rides on the underground is DEFINITELY worth it, more than that and it's a total bargain. 

Trafalgar Square

Our first priority, thanks to my artist mom, was the National Portrait Gallery, which is behind the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square (http://www.npg.org.uk/). It's a pretty cool place to visit if you are interested in portraiture - there's so many different styles from across the centuries for you to absorb. It's also interesting if you are fascinated by the stories about people. There are a lot of portraits of celebrities, historical as well as contemporary, and each one includes a brief story about the subject of the painting. It's a smallish gallery - compared to the National Gallery - but there's a lot to see and read. We spent a couple hours there. If you're not so interested in portraiture or people, but you do like art, I recommend the National Gallery (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/).

National Gallery - Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the National Portrait Gallery, but it's right behind this one. Take the tube to Charing Cross and you will see this gallery on exiting. Walk down the street to the right of the National Gallery and you will find a door to the NPG.

We had planned on taking a boat to Kew Gardens, but once we had finished at the gallery and eaten, we had missed the last boat. So, instead of going to Kew, we headed on a boat tour down the Thames with a different company. The tour was probably about an hour and a half altogether, which seemed pretty short. However, there is an option to "hop-on, hop-off" which we didn't take, since we had already visited most of the sights on a previous trip to England, but I imagine it's a pretty good option. We did that with one of the City Tour buses last trip and it really is pretty convenient - especially if you don't know London very well. Of course, the advantage of the boat tour is that you don't run into traffic and you get great views! (Link for both the bus and boat tours:  http://www.citycruises.com/sightseeing.aspx)

One of the many wonderful views from the boat

Victoria and Albert Museum

Because we hadn't made it to Kew, we didn't have a plan for after the boat tour, so I suggested the Victoria and Albert Museum (http://www.vam.ac.uk/), which I had loved when I visited a few months ago. It was only open for another hour and a half but we decided to go for a quick visit. The V&A Museum was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It's a design and art based museum, showcasing all different types of design, from ceramics to ironwork, furniture, architecture, fashion and any other design-related subjects you can think of. Since the opening of the museum, it seems as if the collections have just grown like crazy. There are millions of objects and artifacts, spanning continents and millennia, all spread through about 145 different galleries. It is now the world's largest museum of its kind. Though it is huge and impossible to see everything in one full day, never mind a mere hour, it was definitely worth the short visit and my parents enjoyed what little they saw.

Quick tip: the wonderful thing about London is that all the galleries and museums are free. If you're not sure about one or you're running low on time, just pop in and check it out. If you leave after a couple minutes, there's really no loss to you... or you might find a new favourite to return to another day. 

After a pint and pub food, we headed home for the night.

Good food in London:

Waiting in line at Leon

• Poppies Fish and Chips - delicious, though a bit on the greasy side. Portions were huge and we ate two regular size Haddock & Chips between the three of us. We visited the Spitalfields location, but there is another one in Camden. http://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk/
• Leon - Before visiting a Leon restaurant, my mom and I owned 3 of their cookbooks between the two of us. Their cookbooks are sold at Homesense in Canada, but, as far as I know, there aren't any Leon restaurants in Canada. The recipes in their cookbooks always turn out well, so we thought we should probably give the restaurant itself a try. It's a chain of restaurants with the logo "Naturally Fast Food." There are about 20 locations throughout London, so chances are you can find one nearby, especially in Central London. It was excellent and healthy, but some of the recipes I had tried at home tasted very different. Both tasted delicious just... different. It is worth giving Leon a try if you would like a quick, delicious lunch or dinner in London http://leonrestaurants.co.uk/

Until next time,

xx from London