The Pirates of Penzance Struck!

Well, the pirates of Penzance have struck and they plundered!  Gone is the sun; gone are the warm temperatures; gone, it seems, is Mindy's (aka our Garmin) ability to locate our destination; gone is any ambiance Penzance might have had; and gone are the charming little fishing villages.

We left Looe Saturday morning and drove further west.  The roads were clogged with camper vans and trailers as this is a bank holiday weekend and everyone seemed headed for the coast.  Our first stop was Mevagissey.  We both remembered it as a quaint, pretty little village.  While it continues to be a busy working harbour, perhaps our memories were playing tricks on us or we've been spoiled by Looe and Polperro as it wasn't as scenic as we'd remembered.  Of course, it has been probably over 30 years since I've been here!  The beach wasn't as lovely as ones we've seen and the village had more gray cottages than the typical white cottages seen in Cornwall.  The following are two photos of the harbour at Mevagissey.

 



Chy-An-Mor Guest House, Penzance

From there we drove to Penzance and I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't a large town with an industrial seafront.  It didn't help that "Mindy" (the nickname we have given our Garmin) got very confused and, rather than taking us directly along the seafront to our pre-booked guest house, we were taken on some very narrow back streets through the busy center of town.  At one point, we ended up at the Penzance Tennis Club and at another we were in the grounds of a large retirement home - maybe "she" was trying to get rid of us!  The good news is that our B&B is lovely - beautiful rooms (Kath's has a sea view) with lots of thoughtful amenities .

 

As our rooms weren't quite ready, we decided to drive to Mousehole, only about 5 miles away.  Once again, getting into the parking lot there was a bit tricky - I am so grateful our car isn't any wider than it is!  Sometimes, all four sensors are beeping when I drive down the narrow streets or through the even narrower gate entrances.  The following are two photos of Mousehole.   Again, you can see it doesn't have quite the charm of Looe or Polperro.



 

 

Later back in Penzance, we headed out to eat.  A couple we chatted with in the restaurant had the same impression as we did about the town.  They also thought it seems a bit depressed and could certainly use some TLC.  Lots of the buildings had paint pealing off the exteriors and a lot of the houses have rubbish in front of them.  The High Street, like some of the others we've seen, had more charity shops than actual proper shops and a lot of the other premises were for rent.  However, the people were friendly and helpful.  One thing that is clear the more we read about Cornwall is that we should have allowed more time here.  I didn't know the area was a UNESCO World Heritage Site and we don't have nearly enough time to explore some of the other villages and towns.  Oh well, next time!

 

Charming Cornish Fishing Villages

We've spent the last couple of days along England's southwest coast and will continue to do so for another four or five days.  We left Brixham Thursday morning and headed to Cornwall via Dartmouth (taking the Lower Ferry from Kingswear) and Dartmoor.  The Dartmouth Regatta was about to start and the town was very busy.  Good thing that we hadn't planned to stay here. 

Brixham Harbour

Ramp for the Dartmouth Cable Ferry

I always find the moors so charming with their wild ponies, vast openness, narrow roads and, of course, lots and lots of sheep.  This time was no exception.  We made our way to Postbridge where there are two often photographed ancient bridges.  Like Gold Hill in Dorset, this scene often finds it way into English calendars.  We actually managed to get the perfect shot just before a huge tour bus disgorged its passengers to scramble all over the rocks.  Whew! 



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The very photogenic two bridges at Postbridge on Dartmoor



The intersection where
I waited for 'green'

One of Looe's main streets!

From Dartmoor, we headed back to the coast via Plymouth crossing the Tamar Bridge into Cornwall.  Our destination was the popular fishing village of Looe and my hope was to arrive on the main road, not via the scary, very narrow and very steep lane which runs between the old Cornish cottages onto the village's main street, usually crowded with tourists.  You guessed it - that is the road we ended up on!  I'm not sure if it was scarier for me, my sister or the hundreds of pedestrians in my way!  Obviously, I didn't get any pictures of me driving it but I went back and took a few of the street and other cars so you can get an idea; the only difference being that the street was a lot busier at midday when we arrived.

Looe has a lovely harbour which is actually an estuary dividing the town into west and east.  The eastern side is the more interesting with lots of shops, restaurants and harbour activity but staying on the west is quieter and probably preferable.  Because it is a long, narrow harbour, there is a huge change in the water levels when the tide ebbs and flows.  The next two photos show how different the harbour can look at high and low tide.

The harbour at Looe

 

Fieldhead Hotel, our "home" for 2 nights

The view from the hotel

It was no problem to find our hotel which was located in Hannafore, an easy walking distance of Loo, on the west side of the harbour.  It was a bonus that the weather had changed for the better and it was sunny and clear along the coastline.  The rest of the day and the next were spent exploring both Looe and Polperro (which we visited by bus) as well as resting - me from driving and Kath because she has picked up a nasty cold.  This part of England is one of my favourite areas and I'm looking forward to exploring more of Cornwall over the next several days.  The following two photos were taken in Polperro.



Go west, go west!

The renowned Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Devon
(too bad the clouds obscure the pretty countryside)

From our initial stopover in Ampfield, we have gradually been making our way west.  After our visits to Winchester and Salisbury, we drove a bit further west to Shaftesbury, where our second cousin, Ann lives.  We met her for lunch at a little restaurant at the top of Gold Hill, a place featured in just about every English calendar.  While we managed to get some photos, it sure would have been a lot better if the sun had been out.  I paused at the top of Gold Hill as it is a place that Mom enjoyed visiting many years ago and a photo of it was on the calendar in her bedroom last November.


From Shaftesbury, we continued south and west through Blandford Forum and Lyme Regis to the little town of Seaton on the coast,  Our cute B&B was just a few yards (yes, the English are not yet in metric) from the seafront.  It was so good to smell the sea again.



Beachfront Cottage, Seaton

The Seafront, Seaton

Wednesday morning, we left Seaton and continued west.  Our host at Beachcroft Cottage had suggested we visit the villages of Beer and Branscombe.  I'd been to the latter but not the former.  They are both lovely with thatched cottages and old churches and buildings, and located on the coast.


The Seafront in Beer

The Beer High Street

The Masons Arms in Branscombe

 

                                                        

Church just outside to Branscombe





One of the wider - truly - Devon lanes!

After leaving Branscombe, we took the narrow (and I do mean narrow!) lanes of Devon to Sidmouth where I'd been many times both with Mom and her cousin Jean who lived in Budleigh Salterton then we drove the even narrower lanes through Otterton over Budleigh.  There is something exciting, albeit somewhat terrifying, stepping up to the challenge of driving these lanes.  You always pray you don't meet any big

The Seafront at Budleigh

vehicle but, because this is farm country, it is inevitable you will often come up against Land Rovers,  The trick is remembering where the last pull out is.  I must say everyone is very courteous and patient even though they are often driving these lanes over 40 mph - NOT ME!  After a quick stop at Budleigh for a photo op, we headed to Exeter to the cathedral and further west and south toward what is called "The English Riviera" -  Dawlish, Paignton, and Brixham.  Knowing several Rivieras as I do, believe me, this region in no way resembles its Italian and French namesakes!  Our hotel was just outside Brixham and we headed into the very busy fishing harbour for dinner.  Yes, I had fish and chips and Kath had mussels and chips.  Girls have got to do what girls have to do!

Pillars of the Earth

When I set this blog address up before I started my vacation, a number of people asked me about the title.  Why 'Pubs, Cathedrals and le Sud"?  Even Kathleen asked me what was this 'sud' thing; did it have something to do with laundry?  I explained it was a word commonly used to refer to the Provence area of France - where I was primarily going to be after she flies home.  The "pubs" part is pretty obvious:  both Kath and I enjoy visiting pubs and, no question, England and Ireland have more than their share to satisfy that curiosity!  That leaves "cathedrals".  As you know, my sister is an accomplished church organist and is, therefore, extremely interested in seeing the organs in churches.  So that, along with her commitment to her religion, means that going to cathedrals will be an important part of this trip for her.  Tuesday, we started this "pilgrimage', so to speak, by visiting Winchester and Salisbury cathedrals.  What I don't think she was prepared for is generally there is a charge to enter these places.  Each one she has visited so far has had a fee of at least 7 pounds.  Equal to my sister's love of churches is her reluctance to part with her money.  So, this was going to be a balancing act for her.  At Winchester Cathedral, she didn't even notice the ticket booth and just walked in as if she was with the large Italian tour group going in at the same time.  I got as far as the door and stopped.  At Salisbury, she only stepped in far enough to take some pictures.  We got no exteriors of that building.  It was raining so hard that I didn't even leave the car!  She told me that she much preferred Winchester to Salisbury when she got back.  The next day (Wednesday) we stopped at Exeter Cathedral but, again, because of the fee, she just stepped inside and took a few quick photos.  Too bad as it was an immense amount of trouble to get there - the traffic was a nightmare and the multi-story parking garage quite a challenge. Good thing I am driving a VW Golf and not the Sante Fe the Europcar agent tried to upsell me!  I would never have gotten out of there without banging it up!  I think Kath was a bit disappointed in these cathedrals and is now looking forward to Wells Cathedral, the one everyone raves about.  Heaven knows, there are going to be plenty more along our way, not to mention smaller parish churches as well.

Winchester Cathedral

The interior of Salisbury Cathedral



More of inside Salisbury Cathedral

The Baptismal Font - Kath thought it was too modern looking

 

Exeter Cathedral





A Change of Scene - and Weather!

So, today was the start of a change of scenery.  I headed out of London and started out began about a five weeks' road trip before I return to the city, this time with my sister.  And, the weather has changed - for the much worse.  It was pouring rain when I left the Maida Vale flat for Paddington.  Yuck!  This is exactly the kind of weather Kathleen thought England was going to have when she arrived - and it has become her self-fulfilling prophesy!  We met up at Heathrow around 1 p.m. and, after we got our rented car, we headed off.  The good news is my newly acquired Garmin works over here; the bad news I didn't react quickly enough when I was told to turn and, just when we thought we were headed for the M25 and on our way south, we found ourselves at the Heathrow Terminal 3 passenger pick-up and drop-off.  After about 20 minutes, we got all that sorted out and got on the M25 - often referred to as London's biggest parking lot.  The traffic wasn't too bad - although the pouring rain didn't make driving easy, especially for someone just getting used to having the major part of the car on her left rather than her right!  We managed to get on the M3 (the motorway going to Southampton).  Oh yes, then there is the shift when you realize the 50 showing on the speedometer is actually in miles per hour and not kilometres!  There's a 1.6 that comes into the equation; I just have to make sure I convert the correct way!  At least the Garmin got us to the little village of Ampfield, outside of Winchester and then there was the biggest change of the day.  The Shard, Gherkin and Walkie-Talkie of modern London have been replaced with a lovely thatched country pub and the very nice hotel attached to it.  Sometimes change is very good!

Notting Hill Flashback

Everyone remembers the movie Notting Hill (1999) starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.  Shortly after its release, I visited my cousin Paul who was then living close to Notting Hill in Holland Park.  So, that movie sort of became my personal vacation video - we shopped in the street market that Hugh Grant wanders through, I bought a map in the travel book shop (yes, there really was one!), we wandered the streets around Paul's flat where many of the residential scenes were filmed, we peeked into the garden from the movie's last scene, we had dinner at the Savoy Grill, and we took photos of that famous apartment with the black door.  And, I actually saw the movie in a Notting Hill cinema. 

Saturday, Kerry wanted to see Notting Hill so, despite the heat and humidity in London which were almost unbearable - 29' in this city is way too hot, we decided to head there.  That gave me a perfect opportunity to take a walk down memory lane, so to speak (actually those lanes were Portobello and Lansdowne Roads). 

We arrived at the top of Portobello Road to encounter hoards, throngs, crowds, masses of people - whatever hyperbole you want to use when you are somewhere where there are simply just way too many people.  Undeterred, we started our stroll down the hill past the "antique" stalls - some more authentic than others - and food markets and shops.  It quickly became clear that it was way too uncomfortable to last long being buffeted (actually more like being pushed and shoved) by all the tourists and locals who had the same idea as us!  Some things have changed since the movie:  the travel book shop has closed (but Books for Cooks is still there just across the street) so we stopped there;  the Wellington Arms sure could use a coat of paint; and, speaking of paint, the apartment's black door is now blue.  However, the residential streets around Notting Hill and Holland Park are as charming as ever.  We even stopped for a peek at the Lansdowne Road flat where Paul used to live.  The exterior has been totally renovated. 

One of the many shops along Portobello Road

And, this was before we got to the really crowded part!

I love this cookbook shop located across the street
from where the travel book shop used to be.

The famous apartment now with a blue door. 
Note the tourists still photographing it 

You have got to love the sign and how everyone is obeying it!

Lansdowne Road where some of the movie was filmed.

Entrance to the flat where Paul used to live.




Lunch at The Mitre - sorry about my hair.  I was sticky hot!

It didn't take long for us to decide that perhaps wandering around in the heat and crowds wasn't such a smart idea so we headed for the gastro-pub called The Mitre on Holland Park Avenue (an area reportedly with such residents as Robbie Williams, Simon Cowell and Richard Branson).  We enjoyed our lunch, especially the multiple glasses of ice cubes the server kept bringing us to keep our water and rose wine cool! 

We headed back to the Maida Vale flat to "regroup" before Kerry and I headed to the Aldwych Theatre in the West End to see Beautiful The Carol King Musical - which, as it turned out took me on trip down a completely different memory lane with all of her music from the early 60's through to her Tapestry album from 1972.  Kerry and I both had tears in our eyes listening to the songs that brought back so many memories.  It was a fabulous show and totally deserves the Tony and Grammy Awards it received.    The day finished back at John and Pedro's with foie gras and brioche toast served with champagne.  Tough day!

The Three Amigos

 

 

 

One of the reasons I came to the UK five days ahead of my sister was that a friend from Toronto was going to be in London this week with her husband who is attending a conference.  So, when she asked a bunch of us back in February if we wanted to meet her here, of course I said yes and so did Kerry who was going to be in France.  Kerry flew in from Nantes Thursday and Friday the three of us met by the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus and spent most of the day wandering around London.  After a quick coffee to plan our day, we set off.  As an aside, I was sad to see that the Criterion Restaurant on the Circus had closed.  It was one of my favourite places in London.  We took the Tube to Embankment station by the Thames.  From there we walked to up Covent Garden where we wandered through the stalls.

        

Next, we strolled along the Thames and walked over a pedestrian bridge to the south side.  We were lucky as it was a warm (almost hot) day with scattered clouds. From the bridge, we got great views of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye.

The Southside had a summer festival atmosphere:  lots of ice cream stands, a carousel, Pimm's takeaways (really!), free cider, a fashion shoot, sand sculptures, and buskers.  It was fun just to soak it all in - until we decided we needed lunch after all that walking.  We found a lovely terrace table at a restaurant called Sea Container.  The clubhouse sandwich was fabulous and the bottle of French rose with ice exactly what we needed before we set off to the Tate Modern.  We just had to ignore the prices (around $10 for a bottle of still water and the sandwich was about $25).

 



  
The Tate Modern is housed in a former power station - not that pretty from the outside but the lack of windows seem to make it perfect for what it has been "repurposed" to.  Now, I readily admit I know absolutely nothing about modern art.  So, before even entering the gallery, I knew much of it was going to be lost on me.  I did remember what my friend Gail had told me when we were at the Maeght Foundation in St. Paul de Fence:  "You don't have to understand it; you just have to feel it".  Good thing Maria and especially Kerry appreciate this sort of thing or I would have no idea about it at all.  After seeing many of the exhibits, the Picassos actually started to look "normal" to me so that gives you some idea.  I took quite a few photos and below are a few of them.  One thing London is wonderful about is that all its museums are free which is a terrific way to expose people to art, history.

The Tate Modern

This work represents the restrictive nature of art galleries and the way they exhibit artists' creations



The terra cotta circle represents the span of the artist's arms and
the thing above it is the height of the artist's head.  Therefore,
this is self-portrait.  WTF? 

f

See, the Picasso looks normal!

 After about 1 1/2 hours at the gallery, we walked over the Millennium Bridge towards St. Paul's admiring the varied skyline of old and very modern buildings - the latter having nicknames:  the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie, the Gherkin, and the Cheese Grater!  What fun!

St. Paul's Cathedral

The "Walkie-Talkie" and the "Cheese Grater"

By the time we crossed the bridge, we were pretty much done.  We stopped for a juice (yes, truly!), said good bye to Maria and headed back to the Warwick Ave.Tube station.  We did stop to share a prosciutto and melon starter and have a couple of glasses of rose overlooking the canal before we headed back to the apartment.  I was so tired; I could not believe it!  However, it was my first day without having an afternoon nap!  Pedro and John headed off to a masquerade party.  Kerry and I just foraged for a light dinner and then I went to bed.  What!  Only 17,000 steps today?  It sure felt like a lot more!

View from our table at Café Laville close to John and Pedro's