A week of joy: our Cornish holidays

 

Decades ago, when I was a child, I loved reading books about King Arthur and Merlin. Cornwall appeared to me such an exotic faraway place. I couldn't even imagine then that years later I would be visiting and re-visiting this magic land again and again.

Just a couple of weeks ago I read a weekly column by Caitlyn Moran, who is generally acknowledged to be a great wit, where she dismisses holidays in Cornwall as "the contractual obligation of the British middle classes in summer". How sniffy and presumptious! 

I really don't care much about the middle class's ambitions and expectations. Cornwall is the place we've been visiting for the last twenty five years in all seasons, and I never get bored of it. It's the highlight of my summer, if not the whole year.

Having a family member with autism who thrives on routine and familiar places and patterns, we tend to stay in the same place for his sake. A few years ago we were too late to book a week in "our" cottage, which Sasha loves so much. Lesson learnt, he didn't enjoy staying somewhere else, and now we book our holidays over a year in advance. 

Last year it was touch and go, as we didn't know until the last moment whether the lockdown would be lifted for us to travel. This summer I also worried that something would go wrong. 

If you have a peek inside our house, we have photos and pictures of Cornwall in almost every single room (bar toilets). And it's no wonder: you want to surround yourselves with things which remind you of happy times.

The trip itself is always long and tiring, but my heart lifts up when I see the wind turbines. It's a sign that we're getting closer to our destination.

We stopped by at Tanya's (Bodmin) for a coffee takeaway, and it turned out to be an unforgettable experience. The rudeness of the lady behind the counter was epic. Since then I read reviews on TripAdvisor, and laughed aloud. We were also greeted with "What do you want?"

The cakes were displayed behind the "family-friendly" sign. Service with a snarl and suboptimal coffee guaranteed that we won't be returning to Tanya's ever again. 

We arrived at our cottage in Perranuthnoe just after 6pm. The sea view from our bedroom always gladdens my heart.

Whatever the weather, we rush to the beach as soon as we have had taken all our luggage in and had a quick cuppa. The first sight of the sea makes me beam from ear to ear and want to jump with joy like a 5-year-old. The salty air, the breeze, the sound of the waves restore my energy, and my tiredness dissolves.

We were lucky with the weather. The forecast was pretty gloomy, it was supposed to rain most of the week, but it turned out to be much much better. It only rained one day, and though it was never hot, it was lovely. The boys spent most of the time on the beach, surfing and digging themselves into the sand. Our group was bigger this time, and Eddie had a companion of his age to share all the crazy antics.

Our friend J has a great sense of humour, and is so good with camera. He was forever snapping us, like our personal paparazzi. We were larking around a lot, like kids.

Eddie had a blast with his surfing board, getting soaked through and through in the cold water. I only dared to dip my feet and didn't fancy to go in the deep.

In the evenings we often walk to the other side of the village, along the coast towards Marazion and St Michael's Mount. We call it the rocky beach, but I'm sure it has an official name. On the way there we often stop by someone's villa with an old cannon looking at the sea. 

We actually visited St Michael's Mount this year. I booked our trip online several weeks in advance. We were lucky to have a chance to walk on the causeway early in the morning towards the castle. On the way back, the tide was coming in and we travelled by boat.

Since we were booked to arrive at a specific time, I thought that would mean there would be fewer people in the castle at a given time. It was packed full. So much for social distancing. You could hardly move around some rooms without bumping into the other people. The rooms are pretty small as they are.

We visited St Michael's before, around twelve years ago, and it was as busy then, but naively I expected a more organised influx of visitors this time.

We still enjoyed climbing up the hill, looking around from above, and admiring the interior and art collection.

I just love the library at St Michael's with this cosy reading nook.

I have hundreds of photos from our trip, and looking at them makes me feel happy and a little bit nostalgic. I wish we lived closer and could visit Cornwall more often.

I've been reading in the papers and social media that the Cornish are fed up with the tourists and appear as surly and inhospitable. We didn't feel unwelcome at all (apart from Tanya's, who probably had a bad day). The Tesco driver who brought our grocery order was very polite, asked where we came from and wished us a good week.

The Cornish food company, where we also placed a food order, were an absolute delight to communicate with. The food arrived when we were still travelling to the cottage. 

Everyone in the hospitality business, was polite and professional, and what more can you ask?! 

On the way back we stopped for a quick bite in Marazion. 

If you happen to visit Marazion, do stop by the Ruby's ice cream shop. I tried a Cornish cream tea flavour, made with clotted cream, strawberries and pieces of scones, and it was a pure delight.

A trip to Penzance is a must, when you stay in this part of Cornwall. Sadly, the Admiral Benbow pub where we usually go for lunch, was closed on that day, so instead we had a meal in the cafe On the Bay, looking at the harbour. 

There were six of us with different diet and food preferences, but they catered to all our tastes: we had a gluten free meal, two vegetarian, one pescatarian and two meat-eaters. The food was fresh and tasty. And the views across the bay towards St Michael's are scenic.

The beach in Perranuthnoe is amazingly clean. Walking around, we didn't see any discarded rubbish. Many people had picnics and BBQs on the beach, but they clearly took all the rubbish with them.

One evening, as we arrived for a stroll and splash, there was a big company on the beach, with a tent and a table next to the BBQ. They had a big spread on the table with all the condiments. I chuckled appreciatively at how organised they were. 

It's not just the kids who enjoyed splashing around, the big guys were in the water as well.

When it was getting too teeth-chatteringly cold in the sea, the boys would dig themsleves in the sand to warm up.

Sash was in his element. He loves the sea, and always has had, since he was a little child and we first stayed by the sea in Italy. He jumps in the waves, flapping his arms, and doesn't care if anyone is watching. 

Years ago we used to go on horse-riding holidays in Cornwall. We stayed in the B&B in St Hilary's. The family has sold the B&B since then, but they still own the stables. The last time we've seen them was when I was pregnant with Eddie. 

We passed by the stables in the car and called them to ask if we could visit the horses. I didn't expect they would be able to offer us a slot, as it was really an impromptu call, but they were happy to offer us a slot in the morning.

The place is called Churchtown Morgans.

When I say that Sasha was ecstatic, I do not exaggerate. He was so happy to ride. And the horses are marvellous, they don't mind that he was agitated when he arrived at the stables and was jumping with joy at the sight of them. They must sense how happy he is next to them. 

It was Eddie's first time riding a horse, and he enjoyed every minute of it. He asked if we could do it again next time we go to Cornwall. I should hope so.

The summer is almost over, and the week in Cornwall will be forever etched in our memories as the week of joy and happiness.