This morning I grabbed my raincoat and my flip flops and boarded the bus to Penzance and bought a two day unlimited bus pass so I can venture around western Cornwall. I changed buses in Penzance (made it by literally 5 seconds!) and went to Mousehole (which you would think would be pronounced 'Mousehole', but is pronounced 'Mowzle' - weird!).
I wandered around Mousehole. It was so gorgeous! Absolutely deserted because it was only 9am, but the sun was shining and not a cloud was in the sky. I wandered the streets and sat for a while and took in the view. Then I started following the coastal walking trail towards Penzance....at least I thought I did. I ended up scaling rocky cliff faces for about half an hour until I found a path that led back to the actual track, which turned out to be not used very often and overrun with prickly bushes!! But I made it eventually. I walked along to Penzance. It was so beautiful and you could see Saint Michael's Mount (the English version of Mont St Michel!) in the distance. I walked partly on the track and partly on the beach.
Once I was in Penzance I had a look in some shops, but no pirates were to be found! I had an ice cream because the weather was so lovely, but then I'm typical British fashion it poured with rain for about 30 seconds and then stopped. Just to keep us on our toes!!
I kept walking around the path and ended up in Marazion, where Saint Michael's Mount is. Along the way it was so windy, lots of people were windsurfing. Unfortunately this meant that when I arrived, no boats were running across to the island as it was too dangerous :( I was so looking forward to the castle, as I've heard it's nicer than the one I went to in April in France because it's a lot less touristy. And it's been in the hands of the National Trust since 1954, so I wouldn't have had to pay! Bugger. But the nice NT lady gave me her phone number and told me to text her tmro so she can let me know if it's open then. If it is I might see if I can fit it in. It was beautiful to look at anyway, at least it was still sunny!
I hopped back on a bus to St Ives. The funny thing about the bus pass I bought was that it advertised "open top" buses to enjoy all summer long. Until this point I hadn't been on an open bus in Cornwall, but this bus was. "Oh, I'll sit up the top!" I said to myself. What a fantastic way to spend a summer's day, right? WRONG. It was horrendous!!!!! Haha. I have never experienced such violent wind in my laugh. All I could do was sit there and laugh! There were small children nearly being blown out of their seats, little old ladies with hoods over their heads trying to hold onto their shopping, and teenagers screaming. If it didn't hurt so much it would have been even more hilarious!
Somehow we didn't get blown off and arrived back, and I decided to do something most unlike me, go and lie on the beach. I'm becoming a Pom. It was 16 and sunny today so I thought it would be a great idea to don my bikini and shorts and lie on the beach. And you know what? It was really comfortable! I hate lying on the beach at home because I feel like I'm going to melt away, but this was the perfect mix of sun and cool air. I had a bit of a dip up to my hips (I have photographic evidence to prove it - the water was colllllllld!) then read my book. I didn't bring my phone or watch so had nothing to bother me, and it was absolutely wonderful! I heard the church bells ringing at one point, must've been the end of Neringa's friend's wedding :) Headed back to the hostel and it turned out I read for almost 2.5 hours.
Now I've had a shower and am lying in bed watching movies (first up I'm finishing 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' which I watched part of in Stratford) and getting some things done. My mozzie bites are still as angry looking as ever so I figure chilling out some more might help get rid of them for Croatia next week. I hope so anyway!!!!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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