Falling short of our planned itinerary we started the morning with a catch up maneuver. Our accommodation last night did not include breakfast so we left early and drove to Padstow to stroll through the village and eat. The sun rising across the harbor illuminated the shop fronts and the boats giving them a warm glow. Mike and I were savoring our first warm, sunny morning in England as we searched for an open restaurant. The best of a few choices was the Rick Stein cafe. Rick Stein is a household word in this part of the world. He owns a number of restaurants in Padstow employing 450 residents, and then there are the cookbooks, hotel, and television shows. This small cafe has windows across the front, white walls, light wood tables and chairs with clean, simple lines. Around all the edges of the room there are bench seats with a multitude of pillows covered in stripes of red and pink. Very bright and cozy.
Our first walk along the sea was the Pentire Headland, a short and gentle sloping walk from the outskirts of Newquay. Blue water, blue sky, and a large, rocky outcropping perfect for a photo. A bench was strategically placed for a camera stand. Set up, focused, shutter release delayed, ran to place, no click. Repeated, same result. Repeated holding camera, success, except I wasn't in the picture. Several people offered to take the photo but we were having too much fun looking ridiculous. Final results are here.
Now a brief intermission for observations by the non Brit half of this partnership. Parking everywhere on the English Coast is "Pay and Display". I mean everywhere! Every attraction and every village, no matter how small. It is completely sensible when you see the curving, hilly roads that are often narrower than a single lane but we have to remember to be equipped with a pocketful of coins. Surfing is a popular sport along the Cornwall coast. There were dozens of surfers clad in wet suits waiting with great patience as the larger waves were few and far between today. Cycling here is for the intrepid. There doesn't seem to be a straight road Cornwall, few are wide enough for two cars much less a bike lane, and some hills have grades of 17% to 20%. This could explain why we have only seen three women cycling among dozens of men.
Our second hike of the day was along the hill top at Chapel Porth. Looking out to sea at the highest point, we were standing among the ruins of one of the many tin mines in this area. The National Trust now owns the land and maintains the trails.
St. Ives is quite a large coastal town filled with the kind of tat shops that Mike and I avoid. We did some wandering of the streets but spend most of our time at the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. She was a 20th century sculptor whose home and studio was turned into this museum. The garden was grown into a dense cover that allows the pieces, many quite large, to each have their own setting. It also kept the showers from reaching us while we admired her work.
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