Easter weekend we had Good Friday and Easter Monday off, so we decided to head down to Corwall. We took a train to Plymouth, then rented a car to drive around Cornwall ourselves since public transit isn't as good down there. Rob was an amazing driver once again and navigated us through some super crazy narrow and steep roads. In the picture below, you can see to the side an extra few feet to make 2 cars be able to squeeze through. It was insane!
Our first stop was in Port Isaac also known as Port Wenn from the BBC show Doc Martin which we love and which prompted this trip in the first place! It was so picturesque and fun to see the town just like it is in the show.
Us in front of the Doc's house
The school and Large's Restaurant
The tide was out but was fast coming in when we left. It was fun to see the fishermen come in with their fresh catch of the day.
I like how Ben has a rock in his mouth in this one...oops!
There was even a lovely little playground over-looking the ocean. In the picture below, you can see Tintagel Head - the island-looking bit of land that's jutting out of the coastline. That's where we stayed that night.
The roads were even crazier and narrower and steeper getting to Tintagel than they had been before. We breathed a big sigh of relief when we got to our hotel finally!
We stayed in the Camelot Castle Hotel for the night. It was beautifully restored and fun for the kids to stay in a castle.
We had a lovely four-poster bed and two twin beds
The view from our bedroom window.
The next morning we packed up and headed out for a hike to Tintagel Castle. It was exactly like I had been dreaming. The weather was nice, and the views of the amazingly blue water were incredible! It was so magical...no wonder this is where legend says King Arthur was born.
Pirate Grace
A bit of the old castle wall.
You can see to the left of Ruby a bridge then the castle ruins to the right. It was a long and steep hike up many steps to the ruins!
The ruins were really neat. We got to traipse around the headland looking for treasure boxes for their Easter program.
We were successful in finding the King's crown and getting a huge chocolate coin as a prize!
With the King who told stories in the ruins.
After exploring the headland we went back down the stairs and up a set of even more treacherous and steep stairs to the mainland part of the castle ruins. There they had set up a tilt yard for young knights in training to practice their jousting on their hobbyhorses. The girls had a fun go at it and did a great job.
After exploring that part of the castle for a bit longer we heard that it was time for the battle to begin so back to the tilt yard/battlefield we went. The children were all armed with foam swords and told not to hit each others' heads and were lined up on either side of the battlefield and with whoops and war-cries ran at the opposing team to start the battle. It was hilarious to watch and really just like most battle scenes from movies I've seen.
It was fun until Ruby got a knock on the head and decided she was done.
After having a bite in Tintagel, we drove down to Marazion, next to Penzance to our "Beach House" we were going to be staying in.
Here's the cottage "Tresco." It's 300 years old and was so interesting. Walking up the stairs and into our room was a bit unsettling for my stomach as the floor was very uneven and dropped away.
This picture of the top step was taken levelly - the stair, however, isn't! Each doorway was a different height and Rob took quite a bit of skin off his noggin while we were there.
The electricity works on a pound meter - basically you have to feed the meter to keep your electric up!
Left: The shower unit. You had to pull a cord to turn it on, then press the button for water then pull the cord to turn it off again. Right: the bathroom door lock....pretty secure ;)
Marazion is so tiny and cute. It has a tiny grocery/anything-you-need store and 2 restaurants and a few take away fish and chips or pasty places.
That's Rob in the car in our teensy, tiny alleyway. The driveway is up there on the left and was crazy to get in to. It took up a half hour the first time with me hollering helps to him and then we found out it was impossible to get into the spot without scraping the undercarriage of the car. Oops. This alleyway was so narrow that there was a horizontal clearance sign. Totally nuts.
The cottage also had an outhouse that had been modernized.
One reason why we chose Marazion was that it was in Mount's Bay across from St. Michael's Mount, and island in the bay.
It was cold, but the kids had a fantastic time searching for shells and building castles.
There is a causeway that appears as the tide goes out so that you can actually drive out to the island. You can see the causeway appearing in the photo above out to the little island.
Saturday afternoon we had to go into town for some groceries but the kids just wanted to walk on the beach. We thought "hey, we can combine the two activities and walk along the beach to Penzance for our stuff." Sounds good right, turned out to be the worst decision we made the whole trip. The clouds rolled in and it got really cold and the kids were freezing and tired and refused to walk despite there being no way to get home or to the store.
We found a sea star on the way which was really cool!
We finally made it to where Google Maps said a McDonald's was and it wasn't there. The girls were d.o.n.e. by that time and I carried Ben, and Rob carried Ruby and Grace had to walk but refused. But we saw McDonald's wrappers, so we were hopeful. Finally, just before we got to the store we saw the blessed golden arches and had what was probably the best meal we've ever had at that fine establishment. We got our groceries too and took the taxi home.
The next day was Easter Sunday and it was rainy and chilly. We had a little KinderEgg hunt and chocolate bunnies and then headed the half hour to church. It was a very friendly but tiny ward. The girls loved that they got more Easter candy in Primary than they had gotten at home :). That afternoon we walked over the causeway to St. Michael's Mount.
It was quite the hike up to the castle which is still lived in by the family that owns it. It was really beautiful with amazing views of Marazion and Penzance, even through the fog.
The girls were a little upset about the rain because it meant that we couldn't spend as much time on the beach as they had hoped for, but it was still a really fun trip!
I think signs are funny throughout different parts of the world.
We headed home on Monday, leaving more than double the amount of time we needed to drive to the station in Plymouth and catch our train. We
left 3 hours to eat, get our rental car back to the agency (an hour and a half
drive from Marazion where we were staying) and get on our train at 2:33 pm. We
set out but soon ran into some traffic. Google Maps assured us that our drive
would take only an hour and 45 minutes due to the traffic, so we breathed a
sigh of relief and stopped for a quick (30 minutes!) lunch at McDonalds and got
back on the road to heavier traffic.
With still 2 hours left before our train departure, Google Maps said we
had just barely enough time to spare to get to our train. Then the traffic came
to a stand still and the electronic sign over the freeway said that the freeway
that we were on was closed and the time feature on the maps started ticking up
and not down! We silently prayed that we would make it, but were not very
hopeful that we would. We inched along and finally got off the freeway with 17
minutes (according to Google) to get to the station, drop the kids and me and
our stuff off and get the car turned in and Rob back to the train. So he
dropped us off and I got us onto the train, thinking that Rob wouldn’t make it
back, but he did! It was a tender mercy that even though we were stressed out
and thinking at least he would miss our train, Heavenly Father was watching out
for us and we made it. We
changed trains in Reading, but due to our Plymouth train being stopped for a few minutes
we had a very short 5 minute connection time. We ran to our next train and made
it by the skin of our teeth, but not in a handicapped carriage that would be
more comfortable for the hour long journey. So we moved all of our stuff and
the kids and I up to the next carriage, a handicapped one and at the next stop,
Rob hopped off the train with a sleeping Benji in his buggy and ran down to the
next doors, but the doors wouldn’t open! He was barely too late and the doors locked and he got left
to wait until the next train, 30 minutes time from then. He had my purse with
him in the buggy so I had no money and I had his train ticket so he couldn’t
get out of the turnstiles at the station. The plan was that we would wait for
him in the station and all leave the station together with the proper tickets.
Meanwhile, a conductor was asking for Rob’s ticket and didn’t believe his story
and was going to make him pay for a new one but his debit card was rejected and
the conductor had to go make an announcement, but promised to be back and
collect payment. He did return, but had a change of heart and after confirming
that I would be there in the station so he could get out with a proper ticket,
let him go! Another tender mercy from Heavenly Father! We finally were reunited
and got home safely after a hugely stressful, but faith-confirming day.
It was a crazy way to end our trip, but we had a fantastic holiday in Cornwall! I can't wait to go back and do more hiking there!
