Falmouth and Cornwall

I got into my less than sturdy Fiat 500 on Monday morning and started out for Cornwall.  It took about three hours to finally get into the area.  I had reservations at a B&B in Falmouth, but wanted to take a look at Truro on the way.

Forget that.  The traffic was horrendous going into town so I decided Falmouth would have to do. As I approached Falmouth there was a sign saying something like "going into Falmouth?" take this exit and park and ride.  Not knowing exactly where I was in Falmouth, I did what I was told.  I parked in a big parking lot and got on the bus that took me into the center of Falmouth.  Before I did that I asked at the ticket counter whether that was necessary and the very nice fellow suggested that Falmouth was basically closed to any more traffic.

The bus took me to Prince of Wales pier and I walked up the main street from there.  As is typical for the area in August, I guess, it was very crowded.

 The street paralleled the sea, which meant that at the cross-streets, such as they were, you got a view of the water.

There were many cute shops along the way, including quite a few that sold the Cornish delicacy pasty--pronounced past-tie.  It's kind of like a stromboli with meat--or a portable meat pie.

I walked along the main road for a while until I took a turn toward the Gyllyingvase beach--in the area where my B&B was.  I actually found it and checked in--without my bags that were still left in the car.  I asked the fellow at the desk how I got back to the B&B once I collected my car and he indicated it was a no-brainer--just follow the main road.  I know my ability to get lost in these situations so I asked him for the name of the road.  Oh, he said, the name changes so often that won't help you.

So I should have walked back the way I came, but the sea was calling me and I walked to the beach and saw the only sandy beach I had seen so far.

That's Gyllingvase beach--pronounced gill-ing-vaze.  Along the beach toward my car was this great purple railing.

And out in the sea, a number of cargo vessels, anchored.  As the sun went down, it shown off them in a very beautiful way. Unfortunately, I did not capture that with my camera.

It took me a lot longer to get back to the place where I could get on the bus and go toward my car.  But I finally did get to the car and started what was a very frustrating journey trying to find the place I just was.  I did arrive, but I immediately went back to the beach to the Gyllingvase Cafe and had a large wine--and a nice dinner.

I decided that in the morning I would travel to Penzance, just south of Falmouth.  And I'm glad I did.  It's a much less crowded area, though the pattern was still the same--a main street of shops parallel to the beach/harbor.  You can even park near the center of town.

The main shopping street appears to have more galleries that Falmouth.

There is this impressive building, now converted to shops, that is not even mentioned in the tourist literature or noted on the city map.

The place seems more refined that Falmouth.  It has a lovely museum and gallery housing the works of the Newling school of painting--an artist colony very nearby.  I went in and saw a lot of very beautiful works.

It sits on Morrab Road, which looks very civilized.

And there is also a subtropical garden on the same street.

There is something called the Wet Harbor along the coastline, which is very strange.  Obviously I was there at low tide, because it just looked like a junkyard for boats.  I assume at high tide, these are all ready to take to the sea.

From the harbor you can also see Saint Michael's Mount, which looks suspiciously like Mont San Michele in Normandy.  But the brochure says it was named after Saint Michael, who appeared there.  I have very strong doubts.  More likely, someone saw the original and wanted to copy it.

In any case, I left Penzance and stopped in a nearly town called Marazion.  There are no pictures because I never got out of my car--the place was absolutely packed and there was a huge traffic jam for people trying to get in and out of the parking lot on the edge of town.  I should have figured something was up--but I drove in anyway.  It was gorgeous--from what I could tell when I wasn't looking ahead with fear.  Talk about narrow roads!

That was my last stop in Cornwall.  I really liked it.  Maybe some day I'll get to stay longer.  But it was off to Portsmouth, on my way home to Brighton.

Portsmouth is also a harbor town, but at least from what I saw, it was pretty ordinary.  I was staying near the water and these were the only pictures I took.

The modern structure that looks like a sail appears to be over the dock and shopping center.

I got up early Wednesday morning and made my way back to Brighton.  And I have to admit, I was very glad to give Eurocar back its Fiat.