Settling down to catch up on The Great British Bake Off (Yay! It's back!) means I can write all about the lovely time in Cornwall I had last week. Along with Alex and his parents we had our first holiday as a foursome in the lovely coastal town of Mevagissey in the southern part of Cornwall.
As it was our first one I was nervous that it was going to be a bit stressful and intense, but thankfully I was wrong! Despite having a 7 hour drive there, and an 8 hour one back because traffic is a nightmare and Cornwall is rather a long way away, I came away feeling entirely relaxed. I think it says many a good thing about a holiday that, even though it was book-ended by spending far too long in queues and trying to find ways to avoid the motorways, I still left feeling rather chilled. At first I couldn't quite put my finger on why this was the case, I wanted to figure it out so I can replicate it, but now I've decided it's because I knew what to expect and that's the beauty of a 'staycation'.
When abroad I struggle to completely and utterly relax because I have a great sense of 'I may never come back - must do EVERYTHING', and things don't fully work how I'm used to which can always scupper plans. However, I know how England functions, and there's a relaxing comfort to that simplicity. Also, though Cornwall is a long drive away, it being in England means I don't have the fear of never being able to do things that we may have missed so I'm far more content with a calm schedule.
The full days we had were spent visiting the Eden Project, Mevagissey's museums, the Lost Gardens of Helligan, Tintagel, Padstow, Truro and Falmouth. I would advise anyone going to Cornwall to visit all of the same places, they each had their own entertainment and charm.
The Eden Project is a place I visited the only other time I've been to Cornwall many a year ago, and if I lived closer to it I'd go regularly. When we were there the weather wasn't that great, but the mixture of indoor and outdoor areas at the Eden Project made sure that high winds and a spot of rain didn't negatively impact the day at all. We all had a lovely afternoon meandering through a fake Mediterranean forest, then a fake rainforest before finding a friendly bumble then heading home!
In keeping with the garden theme, we also visited the Lost Gardens of Helligan which were only a 5 minute drive away. The Gardens are essentially the grounds of a Victorian country house that was neglected for many a year before being rediscovered. The house has now been split into flats and sold off so can't be seen, but that doesn't matter really, the gardens are lovely and vast enough to take up a good portion of a free afternoon.
Another 'lost house' we visited was the ruins of the castle of Tintagel, the supposed home of King Arthur. Alex's dad was ready to tell me King Arthur wasn't real, but I point blank refuse to accept it and adored picking out which nearby cave would have been Merlin's magic home. I grew up on Disney, it's perfectly allowed. The ruins themselves weren't overly spectacular I'll be honest, but the views were stunning.
After history and naturing ourselves out, it was time for city visits. We went to Truro and Falmouth, pretty standard cities with all you'd expect such as cathedrals and museums. Both are definitely worth a visit for a potter. Padstow is also worth it for a stop off, there is very little there, but there is the National Lobster Hatchery! I adopted a lobster and named it Livin' La Vida Lobster. Obvs.
Now to prepare for the next adventure - my masters in Leicester!
As it was our first one I was nervous that it was going to be a bit stressful and intense, but thankfully I was wrong! Despite having a 7 hour drive there, and an 8 hour one back because traffic is a nightmare and Cornwall is rather a long way away, I came away feeling entirely relaxed. I think it says many a good thing about a holiday that, even though it was book-ended by spending far too long in queues and trying to find ways to avoid the motorways, I still left feeling rather chilled. At first I couldn't quite put my finger on why this was the case, I wanted to figure it out so I can replicate it, but now I've decided it's because I knew what to expect and that's the beauty of a 'staycation'.
When abroad I struggle to completely and utterly relax because I have a great sense of 'I may never come back - must do EVERYTHING', and things don't fully work how I'm used to which can always scupper plans. However, I know how England functions, and there's a relaxing comfort to that simplicity. Also, though Cornwall is a long drive away, it being in England means I don't have the fear of never being able to do things that we may have missed so I'm far more content with a calm schedule.
The full days we had were spent visiting the Eden Project, Mevagissey's museums, the Lost Gardens of Helligan, Tintagel, Padstow, Truro and Falmouth. I would advise anyone going to Cornwall to visit all of the same places, they each had their own entertainment and charm.
The Eden Project is a place I visited the only other time I've been to Cornwall many a year ago, and if I lived closer to it I'd go regularly. When we were there the weather wasn't that great, but the mixture of indoor and outdoor areas at the Eden Project made sure that high winds and a spot of rain didn't negatively impact the day at all. We all had a lovely afternoon meandering through a fake Mediterranean forest, then a fake rainforest before finding a friendly bumble then heading home!
In keeping with the garden theme, we also visited the Lost Gardens of Helligan which were only a 5 minute drive away. The Gardens are essentially the grounds of a Victorian country house that was neglected for many a year before being rediscovered. The house has now been split into flats and sold off so can't be seen, but that doesn't matter really, the gardens are lovely and vast enough to take up a good portion of a free afternoon.
Another 'lost house' we visited was the ruins of the castle of Tintagel, the supposed home of King Arthur. Alex's dad was ready to tell me King Arthur wasn't real, but I point blank refuse to accept it and adored picking out which nearby cave would have been Merlin's magic home. I grew up on Disney, it's perfectly allowed. The ruins themselves weren't overly spectacular I'll be honest, but the views were stunning.
After history and naturing ourselves out, it was time for city visits. We went to Truro and Falmouth, pretty standard cities with all you'd expect such as cathedrals and museums. Both are definitely worth a visit for a potter. Padstow is also worth it for a stop off, there is very little there, but there is the National Lobster Hatchery! I adopted a lobster and named it Livin' La Vida Lobster. Obvs.
Now to prepare for the next adventure - my masters in Leicester!
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