Supplemental Post # 9

Breakfast with the whole Gang of Five, passed out cards, so long to Hotel Penzance until Tuesday. Picked up the car, a VW Golf complete w/ GPS, at EuropCar. It’s a good size, not too big but what was I thinking not to get an automatic shift?!

I was OK with the roads except the very narrow ones. At some point I turned on to a back road to Helford (setting of Frenchman’s Creek, highly recommended) and just plain chickened out. Now at least I have a sense of the countryside around Mawgan and Treverry.

I ended up heading for Falmouth. The Tourist Information Centre in Penzance gave me a Falmouth town map but was unable to book outlying accommodation such as in Helford. Perhaps just as well considering the roads! On reflection, I could have consulted the Rough Guide and made some calls.

Naturally I parked as soon as I could in Falmouth and walked straight to the TIC down on Prince of Wales Pier. They booked me into Trevaylor Guest House, where I could not be happier. I have parking, a sea view room, windows that open and a firm bed. The walk down to the town centre is not bad. After the last week, I hardly felt the little bit of up hill coming back home.

A funny thing happened in the TIC. I immediately recognized a man who was talking to the staff as the volunteer at Cape Cornwall Watch from last Tuesday. The lady he was speaking with is his wife. Small world.

I’m getting the lay of the land, but trying to stay flexible because of the changeable weather. It will probably be partly sunny tomorrow and crap on Sunday, so I should probably get on the road early that day to make it over to Looe. I would like to go to the Maritime Museum and also take the little ferry over to Flushing. That seems like plenty.
The Lizard was socked in this morning and I was nervous with the car, so I didn’t really try to sight see there. I’ll see what I can do on Tuesday.

Falmouth has lots of tat and some very nice shops. It’s a working port, which I love. It’s cheerful; I’d call it raffish. It’s also an art centre of sorts, some galleries with nice things. Ahem. I’m just planning to get a few cards and call it good.

I had a half pint of Sharpe’s Kicker in the Quayside Inn (comfortable and friendly), took a few photos, walked around, got a few supplies from Tesco, and bought a pasty from the Cornish Miner to eat on the walk back up the hill. It was hot, beautifully layered with potatoes, swede and meat and had a lovely flaky crust. I was ready for an early night, but I must just stay awake to a decent hour. The weather forecast is cold, though not for rain as yet.