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kmusserIn retrospect probably my favorite day of the trip, lots of stunning coastal scenery. Details under the cut. Michele's pictures.
We do manage to get a fairly early start today, which is good because we have quite a bit of driving to do. We are headed towards the end of the Cornwall peninsula, with our first stop being St Michael’s Mount, a castle built on a tidal island. We arrive near low tide so can just walk across to it and then a somewhat strenuous hike up to the castle itself. I think what’s most impressive here is the setting, beautiful views all around. The castle is pretty typical late medieval castle, nice, but nothing all that special, and we didn’t see any giants. They do however have a map room that I probably could’ve spent a few hours in, a bunch of 15th-18th century maps of Cornwall. I’m particularly amused that the narrow, unnamed farm lane that our cottage is on is clearly visible on a mid 1700’s map. I might post more about the maps later. Also, check out the nifty outdoor map on the side of one the buildings - I approve. We also have lunch here where I try out the obligatory clotted cream - tasty stuff that is something between butter and yogurt and I’m sure is bad for you.
Next we head into Penzance with the intent of checking out a meadery. And we find out meadery means something different in Cornwall than it does in the rest of the world - here it is not a place that produces mead, but rather a restaurant/pub that serves mead - and they don’t open till 6. So we do a brief walk along the harbor and then go for a nearby winery/cidery. This we do fine, and while their wines aren’t all that great, their cider is most excellent so we buy a few.
We have a little more time left in the day than we were expecting at this point - so we go over to St Agnes, an area with oceanside cliffs with more mining ruins that’s supposed to have some lovely hikes. Wow does it deliver, we park at a small beach, where there are crazy people surfing. Michele isn’t up to hiking up another mountain so stays to watch the tide come in (which is pretty cool, it’s no Bay of Fundy here, but the tides are rather significant). I hike up the cliff to get some stunning coastal views and there are indeed more mining ruins, again just sort of sprinkled across the landscape. Also I love the British - here I am in the middle of nowhere, on top of a cliff, and there’s a bench, obviously set up for watching the sunset. I’m surprised it didn’t have a little machine for dispensing tea as well.
Dinner is at the guidebook recommend Driftwood Spars, also in St Agnes, we almost gave up trying to find it when we see a sign for up pointing us down a narrow road (they are big on the narrow roads here) and there it is, with a dinning room with ocean views. We have more tasty foods, I have shark, which I don’t think I’ve ever had before. A nice close for our last night in Cornwall, tomorrow it’ll be off for Wiltshire.
We do manage to get a fairly early start today, which is good because we have quite a bit of driving to do. We are headed towards the end of the Cornwall peninsula, with our first stop being St Michael’s Mount, a castle built on a tidal island. We arrive near low tide so can just walk across to it and then a somewhat strenuous hike up to the castle itself. I think what’s most impressive here is the setting, beautiful views all around. The castle is pretty typical late medieval castle, nice, but nothing all that special, and we didn’t see any giants. They do however have a map room that I probably could’ve spent a few hours in, a bunch of 15th-18th century maps of Cornwall. I’m particularly amused that the narrow, unnamed farm lane that our cottage is on is clearly visible on a mid 1700’s map. I might post more about the maps later. Also, check out the nifty outdoor map on the side of one the buildings - I approve. We also have lunch here where I try out the obligatory clotted cream - tasty stuff that is something between butter and yogurt and I’m sure is bad for you.
Next we head into Penzance with the intent of checking out a meadery. And we find out meadery means something different in Cornwall than it does in the rest of the world - here it is not a place that produces mead, but rather a restaurant/pub that serves mead - and they don’t open till 6. So we do a brief walk along the harbor and then go for a nearby winery/cidery. This we do fine, and while their wines aren’t all that great, their cider is most excellent so we buy a few.
We have a little more time left in the day than we were expecting at this point - so we go over to St Agnes, an area with oceanside cliffs with more mining ruins that’s supposed to have some lovely hikes. Wow does it deliver, we park at a small beach, where there are crazy people surfing. Michele isn’t up to hiking up another mountain so stays to watch the tide come in (which is pretty cool, it’s no Bay of Fundy here, but the tides are rather significant). I hike up the cliff to get some stunning coastal views and there are indeed more mining ruins, again just sort of sprinkled across the landscape. Also I love the British - here I am in the middle of nowhere, on top of a cliff, and there’s a bench, obviously set up for watching the sunset. I’m surprised it didn’t have a little machine for dispensing tea as well.
Dinner is at the guidebook recommend Driftwood Spars, also in St Agnes, we almost gave up trying to find it when we see a sign for up pointing us down a narrow road (they are big on the narrow roads here) and there it is, with a dinning room with ocean views. We have more tasty foods, I have shark, which I don’t think I’ve ever had before. A nice close for our last night in Cornwall, tomorrow it’ll be off for Wiltshire.