Day 12 at Polperro and Plymouth

It was a good dinner at the Malaysian last night and even though we got a good sleep, it was a little bit hard to bounce out of bed in the morning. A big breakfast was followed by a foot tour of Truro and we really wanted to see the cathedral. The stained glass designed by one of the bishops, tells the story of Christianity from the time of Christ to the present. The sun was just starting to peep through the clouds and the sky turn a brilliant blue as we left Truro. We asked the navigator the shortest route between Truro and the holiday town of Polperro. It led us through every impossibly narrow and out of the way “road” in Cornwall. The hedges were so high that it was like driving through green tunnels for hours. Our car only barely scraped though and when we met an ongoing car one of us has to dive off the road and hug the hedge. Though this was meant to be a major route, there was grass growing in the middle of the road in some places. Portperro was quaint and lovely. It was filled with visitors. We had to leave the car .75km outside town and walk in. We bought pasties and juice and carried them down to the fishing port. I had a Stilton and beef pasty. John, always a traditionalist, opted for lamb and vegetable. Right next to the houses a river runs. It must be a devil of a thing to negotiate if the locals have had a few. We thought we earned an ice cream after our return to the car. The weather was so good. it was in the low 20s so we shed our jackets for the walk. Then it was off to Plymouth. This time we changed the settings on the GPS, but it still confused us when it took us to the ferry. We crossed the river by ferry and continued on our way. Plymouth was where Sir Francis Drake left to undertake his circumnavigation of the globe. Basically he was a pirate but after pleasing Queen Elizabeth with his antics and the wealth he returned with, his reputation was cleaned up and he was presented as a hero. We stayed at the Drake B and B and after changing shoes went on a quick walking tour of Plymouth. We walked through the Hoe, which is a grassy park that overlooks the bay. The bay is a working port with both pleasure craft and shipping sharing the space. The harbor has many historic areas including the Barbarian, the citadel. We saw the area where the Pilgrim Fathers boarded the Mayflower for the journey to the Americas. It was also the place where 600 000 English men and women embarked on migrations to Australia, New Zealand and Canada in search of a better life. We walked through the Elizabethan historic area and found several buildings from the period, Then it was back to the hotel to blog, rest and prepare for dinner. We booked at the River Cottage. I will be so happy if the rock star chef Hugh is in tonight. As I sit her listening to jazz on the ipad and preparing to go out i feel very privelaged. The news from home is good. Perry has got through to a second round interview with Norton Rose and he has learnt how to negotiate the supermarket. Ginny has spent a hellish week getting her VCE students ready to submit their folios for final assessment and she has balanced this with dog sitting for neighbours. Helen has barely been home, taking on work 6 days a week! Britt has used our absence to complete all the writing projects she accepted last week and has set up a networking lunch with a well connected colleague. Hope you are all well. catch you tomorrow. Lily