Saturday, October 07, 2006

Pasties, Scrumpy, Fudge and Clotted Cream

Back from a wonderful holiday in Cornwall - Lelant, just outside of St Ives for anyone who knows the area. It was lovely - I'd even go so far as to say its one of the best holidays I've ever had. Here's a quick round-up of what happened

Friday: epic train journey. Arrived in the dark and had to scramble around looking for the key which had been strategically hidden.

Saturday: went for a walk to explore the local area. Saw a dead badger on the pavement, which was very traumatic as it was the first time I'd seen a real badger before. OH tried to pretend it was just asleep so I wouldn't be so upset but he wasn't very convincing and to be fair it did have its legs stuck up in the area. Nearly got hit by a golf ball when walking to the beach - the coastal path cutting dangerously through the links golf course. OH cooked a lasagne for tea - he's been promising to do this since we moved in together 6 and a bit years ago.

Sunday: Went to St Ives for the afternoon. St Ives is lovely - it really doesn't look like somewhere in England - kind of Mediterranean looking. Ate the first pasty of the trip which I can understand why they would have been popular with workers like fishermen and miners as they really do fill you up for the day, but now I could happily go the rest of my life without eating another one.

Monday: Took the bus to Penzance, had a quick look a round before getting the bus to Lands End. Saw the Merry Maidens stone circle thing from the bus - didn't know anything about this before and didn't realise it was something of note until a woman asked to get off the bus there - it was another hour until the return bus so we wondered what she found to do there for all that time. Lands End was pretty dramatic but not really much to do there unless you shell out money for the tacked on attractions. We didn't - instead we ate another pasty, took some photos and then returned to Penzance on an open top bus! In October, an open top bus is a matter of endurance (or stupidity) but fortunately we made it back to Penzance before it rained.

Tuesday: Another long walk and then another trip to St Ives. Unimpressed by the Barbara Hepworth museum - £4.75 entry fee seemed rather steeped - have decided I'm not that keen on sculpture as an art form. Dined in the pub opposite our cottage - had far too much as I gave in to the bread & butter pudding.

Wednesday: Went to Truro for the day, still feeling bloated from the night before's feast. Wandered aimlessly around, resisting the temptation to go into Topshop.

Thursday: another trip to St Ives, had the obligatory cream tea, walked most of the way back along the coastal path.

Friday: epic journey in reverse. Very sad to be going as I'd quite settled into village life.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I love St Ives, I went there last year and it was so beautiful.

Did you wear the owl?

K

SandDancer said...

I did indeed wear the owl! The first time though was with a black top and the OH said I looked like a new age witch.

Anonymous said...

Pah, what does he know :)

Anonymous said...

Ohh Sand Dancer, you've made me feel all homesick :( lol

Truro is one of my favourite places in the whole world, I'm from a town 10 miles away called Falmouth.

I'm glad you had such a lovely holiday, and found our folk to be hospitable ;)

Pasties, now I don't actually like them myself, but am a staunch defender of the tradition Cornish pasty. I get mighty peeved at the imposters that are sold across the UK.

The merry maidens, Men and Tol and Lanyon Quoit are famous in Cornwall as being mystical acient sites!

Also: buses, you were lucky you only had to wait an hour. Where I'm from, they only run every 3 hours hehe.

Seriously, though, sounds as if you had a fantastic time, and you're a braver woman than I travelling on a open top bus in October ;)