Towards the Edge of the World

Ate fish and chips with vinegar by the beach.

That is the first thing Lauch and I did, after getting off the train from London and checking in to our cute little B & B in Plymouth. It was run by a friendly English lady and a man with what might have been an Italian accent. He laughed when we asked if he knew of a good fish and chip shop and so did we when we realised that there are, oh, only a zillion fish and chip shops in Plymouth.




Plymouth is a port town that was important a long time ago. The Germans also thought it was important and bombed the crap out of it during the war - resulting in Plymouth becoming a very '50s looking seaside town with a tiny teeny special historical part left, known as the Barbican. Within the one (I kid you not) street that has been restored to its fabulous Tudorish style, there is a little alleyway that leads to a Victorian garden, complete with neat English hedges and a fountain. Just so you know.

One other thing about Plymouth is that you can visit the spot at the harbour where the pilgrims boarded the ship known as the Mayflower, bound for America in 1620.



A short drive from Plymouth is Polzeath and the Atlantic House Hotel. This is where my parents met. According to my mum's friend, Cathy, she met my mum while they were both washing their clothes in the sea in Teneriffe. They got to talking and Cathy invited my mum to come and stay in Cornwall, England. So my mum turns up in Cornwall a few months later and meets dad while they are both working at the Atlantic House Hotel and the rest is history.

The other thing is that Cathy's daughter, Charlotte, and I have been penpals (in the handwritten, REAL LETTERS IN THE MAIL sense) since we were nine years old. And at the Atlantic House Hotel, last Saturday, we met in real for the very first time. As Charlotte said, there was a feeling of knowing each other quite well, which was strange, having never met before.




The photos above are from St Ives, which I now rate as the most beautiful place in England. St Ives is an old fishing village and it is filled with galleries and tourists and fudge, icecream and Cornish pasty shops. I ate a vegie Cornish pasty (not bad) and some Alpine chocolate icecream that was made in Cornwall. In St Ives, there is a branch of the Tate Gallery and what does that say about how fabulous a place it is.




Lauch and I decided that it would be a bit lame if we went to Cornwall but didn't go to Land's End - the western most part of England. At Land's End, there are some very beautiful cliffs and a view of the Atlantic.

And. There is. A SHOPPING CENTRE! Which also contains an exhibition of Dr Who memorabilia and stuff. Mm hmm. Something for everyone at Land's End.

After ignoring the shopping centre, Lauch and I stopped at Penzance to check for pirates. At the Admiral Benbow Inn we found where the pirates had been - there is a secret tunnel under the pub where a famous band of pirates used to smuggle in their treasures from the port. They supposedly kept watch for Revenue men from the roof of the stables out the back.

Late Monday afternoon we ate our last icecreams and said our goodbyes to the hovering seagulls of Plymouth. Lauchlin and I reluctantly dragged our sun-drenched and relaxed selves on the train back to London. Only to find that it is indeed sunny in London too. Bring on summer!