Memories of Cornwall

When it comes to sunsets, Cornwall is surely the envy of the other counties. And in the previous week we've seen a lot of glorious sunsets along the beautiful coastline. The sun gradually slipping behind the horizon is one of the most fascinating sights, and I never tire of it.

Our trip to Cornwall was booked last year. We tend to stay in the same cottage in the village of Perranuthnoe, where all the properties get snapped a year in advance. We love the closeness to the sea, the cottage itself is very comfortable, and our elder son revels in the familiarity of the place.

This is the view of the sea and the village from one of the bedroom windows. You lie on the bed, and drift to sleep with the skies getting darker and darker, and the occasional lights from the distant trawler. Though this year, I had to pull down the blinds, as they have installed the sensor lights by the front door just below the windows, which kept blinking like a disco through the night. Must have been feral cats, foxes or bats, I've never seen anything live moving, whenever I peeked in the night.

We didn't know until the last moment whether this trip would even happen, what with Covid, and all the travel arrangements with social distancing and the joy of masks. I've been fretting for the last few weeks, keeping my fingers crossed, that we could make it.
Staying in Cornwall for a week is a highlight of my year. I don't want to go to the hot climes of the Mediterranean for a break, I'm happy breathing the salty air of the Cornish coastline.

I wonder if this cutie was one of our night visitors, who kept triggering the sensor lights?!

Which souvenirs do you bring home from your trips? I always bring a bag of rocks and pebbles, polished by the sea. I found this lovely pebble on the first night of our stay in Cornwall, and just knew I had to bring it home with me. Now I have to decide where to place it in our garden.
And there's Eddie photo-bombing me from behind the patio doors.

I have easily taken about a thousand photos in Cornwall, but don't worry, I won't bombard you with all of them. I've picked 15, which bring happy memories and make me want to go back to the sea.

Usually I'm behind the camera, so that I don't have many photos of myself, but I asked Eddie to take a few snaps. This is the SoyaConcept top I bought just before our trip. If you read my Photo diary posts, you might remember when I mentioned that I loved that top in the shop window display. It was just perfect for cooler Cornish evenings by the sea.

My boys love the seaside as much as I do. Eddie was so happy, frolicking and rollicking in the waves.
The beach was the busiest I've ever seen it, and we've been staying in this village for about 10 years.
It must be all the visitors who would usually go abroad for summer holidays, but had to change their plans due to Covid.

The village we stay in doesn't have any grocery shops, sadly, so you need to order food online or go to a nearby town (Marazion or Penzance). I've been watching the Tesco slots like a hawk, and managed to book one flexi-slot at 12.01am, when all the hourly slots were snapped immediately.

We also had a food delivery from The Cornish Food Box Company. I cannot recommend them highly enough. They work with more than 250 local producers and farmers. Everything in our order was fresh and high quality. I wish I've taken a photo of the delivery when it arrived, but my guys were starving, and I started cooking our lunch as soon as the food arrived.

Among many other things, I have ordered a traditional saffron cake and scones, with the delicious Trewithen Dairy clotted cream and wonderfully fragrant Strawberry & rose petal jam from Gathered.
I loved that jam, it was like the essence of summer.

In the evenings we like to walk to the rocky beach, well, we call it that, I don't know what's the official name for it. You walk to the left from the village, along the coastal path towards Marazion and St Michael's Mount. There is an old cannon and a rusty anchor by one of the villas on the way. They keep the gates open for people to have a look around and take photos.

For the last few years Eddie and I have a jumping photo taken. It has become a tradition. This is not the best snap, but Sash was getting restless, and we didn't have much time for getting a better shot. Well, we tried. It was windy, and my hair was getting in my face.
This is one of the "embarrassing parent's" photos. I wonder when Eddie would reach a point when he refuses to jump with me?

This is our Sash in a relaxed mood. He wasn't always relaxed, I think the crowds on the beach have made him more anxious. He loves walking to the rocky beach, as there are hardly any people there, and he can spend ages standing next to the waves, looking at St Michael's Mount.

Playing in the sand is a must, when you're on the beach.

You wait and wait for your holidays for a whole year, and then the week whizzes past, fast like a bullet. And it's time to say Good bye to your favourite spot in the world, and travel home.
We wanted to extend our Cornish adventure, and on the way back visited two of the iconic Cornish landmarks - Land's End and Tintagel.

Land's End was quite busy. We walked around, looking at the cliffs, covered in herbs and blooms. I've read there are over 80 kinds of moss on the rocks there. I've never seen such an abundance of monbretia in the wild, presuming that it was a garden plant.
We bought some substandard rock (as in confectionery), which was too soggy soft, and a postcard with a stamp to send to the grandparents in Italy.

We should have checked out Tintagel website before deciding to visit it, as of course, everything is pre-booked in advance these days. But it would have been unrealistic for us, and with the ever-unreliable Cornish weather, plans could always go awry.

The village itself was a hell of a crowded space. Social distancing was non-existent, there were queues and crowds everywhere, and I didn't feel comfortable visiting any of the shops or cafes.

You could still walk down the path to see the remains of the castle and Merlin's cave from the side.
When I saw the new slate bridge over the gorge, I was kind of glad we didn't have tickets.
There is no way I would want to walk on it. I'm not good with heights at all, and even looking at the footbridge from below gave me heart palpitations.

I always wanted to visit Tintagel. It has strong links to the legends of King Arthur and Merlin.
Maybe one day, I will revisit it properly, but only walking on the lower bridge.

We said Good Bye to Cornwall, and now have our photos and memories to go back to. I miss Cornwall already.