Hamster Dancin' Around the World

Is margo bringing penny home to aust? Miss Nettie wants to hamster host.
At least I think thats what she said. It may have Been hamster toast.

dadpad


not nice!

From Bath we took a train to Exeter. We sat opposite 2 ladies who were talking about the English cricket team - I think they worked for the English Cricket Board. Margo was making some odd remarks under her breath about them wasting their time trying to do anything with the Poms, as she called them. Apparently there's some sort of contest coming up. Harmison to third slip was mentioned - not sure what that means!

We collected a car and headed for Cornwall in the rain! We arrived in Mullion and found the hotel: Mounts Bay Guesthouse.

We wandered about locally that afternoon and evening; found a nice art gallery, then went back to the hotel to relax.


The next day, there was a surprise on waking up. Margo made me look out the window immediately:


We headed for Porthleven, which margo had heard much about:



We also watched a man unload a big basket of crabs, and toss back those that were too small:



At Porthleven we tried our first Cornish Pastie - quite good but more than both of us could eat:

We also went to the Lizard, apparently the southernmost point in Britain.


The first lighthouse in Cornwall was built here - the coast is very rugged and rocky. This is what's here now:


This is a hand operated fog-horn - in case of power failures. I tried pretty hard, but couldn't make a sound come out of it:


I was looking for the lizards, but there aren't any. Lis ard is apparently a Cornish word for high places...bit disappointed

On this day we also went around to Marazion and St Michael's Mount. This was a monastery but is now a castle on an island just off the coast. You can walk to it at low tide - there's a paved path which gets covered over when the tide comes in.

The next day it was gloomy again, but we kept going - to Mousehole - pronounced Mow-zll.
This was another little fishing village with a harbour wall. We parked on the wall. Our car is the second one from the left:

This was a nice little village - with narrow winding streets, and some great galleries. Margo almost spent quite a bit of money at one - but I dragged her away - her luggage weight was already a problem.

No mice here, either!

After Mow-zll we went further around the coast to the Minack Theatre. This was a fascinating place, an outdoor theatre built into the side of a cliff down towards the water's edge.



After here, we had a quick peek at Land's End, which looked rubbish - as the landlord at Mullion had told us.
We then drove back and had an interesting meal at the Italian restaurant.

Love the pic of Penny and the fog horn!!!!!!!!

The next day, Friday, was to be a big one - St Ives, Padstow, Tintagel, and then to Izzie's place (I had been there before, but margo hadn't)

We were on the road early, but the driving rain made it almost impossible to see. We skirted St Ives, which looked interesting, but didn't go into town, and then on to Padstow (where margo has planned lunch at the Rick Stein cafe). The parking and crowd situation was hideous, and combined with the awful weather, we decided to give it a miss, too. As we drove a bit further north the weather worsened (this is what made Izzie say margo's name was really Noah - wherever she went there were floods!)

In the finish we abandoned the drive to Tintagel and headed for Izzie's place and something warm and dry. We were met by Izzie and the man of the house, 2 cats and 2 dogs, and settled down for a nice cup of tea and a chat.

There are no photos at all of this day!

Isn't Sboy a sweetie! Shame about missing out on a great fish dinner at Rick Stein's.

The next day we were driving to London, but first has a look at an old church and country house at Lewtrenchard.


I'm checking out the congregation (Izzie and margo only) from the pulpit!


I then assisted with the navigation (along with that bossy GPS, Sandra):


We arrived in London, and margo checked us in. Izzie went on to Barry's place and margo and I went out to meet some other friends.

The next day, we went over to Barry's place, where I caught up with the Fredster again (here keeping Barry away from me!):


We then went to this fantastic concert for the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables. Here I am with the programme:


This was SPECTACULAR show - the best I've ever seen. Lots of photos were taken, but margo's are all crap (she says!).

We tootled around London for a few days, ate some food, did some sightseeing, in the rain, and then margo's friend Angela joined us, and we visited Buckingham Palace:

Apaprently, we were there just in time for the Changing of the Guard, but we didn't know this (unprepared tourists we were!). Here are some soldiers marching. Look at those hats - are they really bearskin?:


And here are some mounted ones:


We headed back towards Piccadilly (great name) for lunch and some more shopping, then came back and collected the luggage (grown a bit heavier since we arrived!) said goodbye to Angela, went out to see some friends again near the airport and then headed for Oz.

Now I'm back in margo's place in Sydney, resting and waiting for my next assignment! At least it's warm and sunny here. And margo is still sorting through over 700 photos (in shades of grey).

I should have been in bed ages ago but your pics kept me wanting more.Super smashing great report of Penny's antics.

Love that Penny in the Pulpit! Also the guards on the horses. And much else. I enjoy rainy/grey photos as much as sunny ones, especially the sunny ones with sort of faux coloring back when I used to take my film to the local drugstore for processing.

I was going to comment on that one too... she's so teeny! But looks very determined!

Some lovely storytelling along with lovely pictures, thank you!

hahahaha! love Fredster protecting Bazza from Penny!

Great photos and story-telling Penny. You're an awesome gal. We so enjoyed your visit here - you keep everyone on their toes.

Thanks, all.

Considering it rained every day but one, I'm glad the pics came out at all!

How do you cope with such a dismal climate?

You mean the Flying Squirrel - he's a killer, isn't he?

Rick Stein has a restaurant about 4 hours south of Sydney, but we have trouble organising ourselves to get that far, even when we're down the coast (so only 2 hours away). Too far to drive home after an evening meal - with beverages.

This picture is priceless.

what that Boid said... + this has to be the best Penny Pic ever.... bloody brilliant!




ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... you gotta appreciate the good days... days like today... as the sun rose, splitting the trees, super stunnning leaf colours and fleurs... peace...a day in the life of the yellow rose... that's my world

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“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” Elliot Erwin.... did he read my mind

Penny, do me a favour, "WAKE MARGO UP... IT'S WORK TIME!!!!"

<so very good to talk tonight Margo - always a pleasure, you do make me laugh girl, a LOT >

<"oh bugger"... Murhpy is mooooouse hunting >

QUIET!!!

I'm trying to sleep at work!

BOOOOOOOOOOOi