Weekend at Cornwall & Devon (Part 2)

dAy 2 (sAt, 27 Oct)

The best part of B&B's is the second B...Breakfast! And check out what we had! A full English fry-up :) oooo...fruit, eggs, sausages, bacon, baked beans, hash browns, tomatoes, mushrooms, and toast mmmm :)


What a great start to the day haha!

We drove around to some of the smaller towns around the area, and then headed for Marazion to take a peek at St Michael's Mount - an island that you can walk to at low tide. There's a small village and harbour, and also a hilltop castle! We weren't quite sure what time it was going to be low tide. The B&B owner guessed it would be around 12pm, but as we were there around 10am, we were just hoping for the best. And guess what! It was low tide! Thank God! :)

It was such great fun to walk across, and wander about a bit :) The path there was lined on either side with endless mounds of seaweed, the waves were gently lapping in, people kite-surfing in the distance (we later found out that the world champion for kite-surfing is from Cornwall! Maybe he was there!)...overall a very peaceful and lovely walk over :)











It was a pity that the 'Lord' who owns the castle does not open it to visiters on Saturdays, so we didn't get to explore the castle and catch a bird's eye view of the area. But it was still lovely to have been there :) I've always enjoyed walking across to islands which are accessible only at low tide. Just feels extra special :)

St Ives was our next stop. Another town with narrow winding roads. Actually it seems that all the towns around the area have narrow winding roads. Sometimes you really wonder how two cars are going to make it across at the same time. But somehow we always manage. It was a bustling town, crowded with people shopping, eating, playing on the beach, etc.










We had some really fantastic fish and chips there. I think it was even more shiok because we were cold, but the food was piping hot!

But that wasn't it. We really had a food extravagenza there.


After fish n chips, we had a lamb and mint Cornish pasty. And ohhh...mmm..this one was incredible! So much better than the one we had the day before. It really truly melts in your mouth, and the lamb was so juicy and tender, complemented by the lovely subtle mint sauce. Yum yum :P












Then! We had Cornish ice-cream, topped with clotted cream! A great way to end the snacking meal we had :) (see Jon grabbing another spoonful even though I was taking a photo!)

And! We bought cream tea for tea later in the afternoon :) Cream tea is the specialty of Cornwall & Devon. It consists of scones, with clotted cream (like butter but creamier and yummier), and some jam. And it is heavenly!

Here's an interesting sight at St Ives - purple cauliflower! I've never seen them before :) Have u?










We arrived in good time at Padstow but it was rather foggy again. However, it cleared up quite quickly, such that we had lovely views across the river when we went for a walk around town.
Padstow is a quaint harbour town, and the residents seem to have a similar pastime - bringing their dogs for a walk in the nearby park at sunset. There were sooooo many dogs (and owners of course). Its such a relaxed lifestyle, almost retirement like..although I think I wouldn't choose to retire there cos I'll be bored stiff :) But it really was quite sweet to see owners bonding with their dogs :)










An interesting little tidbit. Padstow had been nicknamed by locals as Pad-stein cos of Rick Stein's seafood/restaurant 'empire' there. Rick Stein is a celebrated chef, and he almost single-handedly placed Padstow on the foodie-map of England. He has a famous seafood restaurant there that some people travel across England to try! In fact another couple we met there had done just that :) They were really Rick Stein fans. They told us that Rick Stein's seafood is really great, his fish and chips are the best, his pasties are excellent, they try his recipes at home, etc, etc. Whoa..Anyway, when we got there the restaurant was fully booked.


A few more interesting sights:
How much is that doggie in the window?










And a clever restaurant name - "The Quayside Fryer" :)












Well we ended up having dinner of scampi at a cosy pub :) By that time we were so full from snacking all day long, we shared one portion between the two of us. And even that was a lot!









Another cosy walk back to the B&B, which was housed in a residential area. It's the kind of B&B that seems to have come about cos the kids moved out, there were extra rooms, and the extra cash would be handy. Afterall, so many people come to see Rick :)


- End of Day 2-