Cornwall: St Michael's Mount

The next day saw us driving from Plymouth to Penzance, and then on to Marazion to see St Michael's Mount. I was quite excited at the thought of visiting this unique, rocky island, which you can walk to when the tide is low. It was drizzling when we arrived, and the weather was just awful and miserable.

We wandered around a bit while debating whether we should take the short motorboat trip over to the island (the tide was in). It was so cold and I wasn't keen on climbing up the hill to see the castle. The thing that I was really hoping to do was to walk across the causeway at low tide, but obviously, one needed to be there at the right time. We finally decided to go over, and I was so excited to hear that the tide would be out in about an hour's time! Yippee!

We had so much fun walking back along the causeway; it was such a great experience. It was like this yellow brick road fully revealed at the parting of the sea! :)

Some people removed their shoes for the walk, whilst children poked around for crabs and stuff amongst the exposed seaweed and rocks- buckets and spades in tow. Even vehicles could drive on the causeway! It was quite amazing to be walking along this road with the sea at the edge; it was certainly a memorable experience for us.

By this time, the sun had broken through the clouds and the weather was warm and gorgeous. We joined the masses who decided to camp out in the sunshine and admire St Michael's Mount against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky... while sipping beer and enjoying a lovely lunch! :)

Jacket Potato with North Atlantic Prawns

Roast beef with roasted vegetables; the parsnips were simply delicious!

Pretty Plymouth

Early next morning, we went to pick up our car from the car rental company. Hubby rented a Vauxhall Astra, but they decided to offer us an upgrade because there was this other car that needed to be sent back to London (our drop-off point). The upgrade? A C180 Mercedes Benz! Ooo. We took it.

Anyway, the drive to Plymouth wasn't too bad, although traffic was heavy, it being a Bank Holiday weekend.

Plymouth turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. We really enjoyed strolling along The Hoe; taking in the fresh air and the lovely view of Plymouth Sound (it's a bay). Some of the famous landmarks in the area such as Smeaton's Tower and the Royal Citadel also made for good photo opportunities.

Smeaton's Tower

We continued walking until we came to the Barbican Maritime Village, which I thought was rather quaint and pretty. It might be a bit touristy for some, but I found it quite interesting in its own way- with little sailing boats crowding the waterways and narrow streets lined with little shops and galleries. Of course, we didn't miss the famous Mayflower Steps, said to be the place where the Pilgrim Fathers boarded the Mayflower and sailed for America in 1620.

We had Fish & Chips and pickled eggs for lunch, which was quite nice. There was one item on the menu with an unusual name.. turned out to be meatballs in gravy. Yes, I did have to ask someone at the counter to find out what it was.

That aside, we also treated ourselves to some ice-cream with clotted cream, which I thought was yummy, although hubby didn't think so. Heh.

Our last stop for the day was the Plymouth Gin Distillery, where we joined a short guided tour to find out more about its history and also how gin is made. It was quite fun learning about the different spices that go into Plymouth Gin, as we got to touch, smell and taste them.

What a lovely day! :)

A quiet day in Bristol..

My course lasted another day, so hubby spent most of the day exploring Bristol by himself. He went to see the SS Great Britain- said to be the world's first great ocean liner. Launched in 1843, it was the first ocean-going ship with an iron hull and a screw propeller. It is now an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour.

I was so glad when my course ended. More of the fun stuff in store for us! :)