The other cool Cornwall seaside places - Penzance, Mousehole, St Ives and Newquay

After the big day on Mount St Michael I headed off around the coast to St Ives where I was staying that night. I drove slowly  around the bay from Marazon through Penzance but did not find a place to park, so carried on. The tourist in me was sad, but I was a pilgrim so let it go and looked ahead to what might be next. To be honest, as I go back through this time I have to remind myself I was a pilgrim and to embrace the experiences as a pilgrim, not as a tourist. There were things I would have done as a tourist. But I chose another way of being in this time, and that led to other experiences I might not have had. People tell me Penzance is a lovely place. If I go back I might check it out. I might even meet some pirates - or not!

I stole this off the Mousehole website

The drive was lovely, and eventually led me to the lovely little village of Mousehole (pronounced 'Mowzel'). Lovely to look at. Somewhat scary to drive down into on the narrow streets wondering what lie ahead. Would I get stuck? Would i need to turn around. 

Eventually I spotted a park, and in my relief didn't take a lot of notice where it was - at the end of the oldest piers in Corwall. In my joy I had failed to note that there was a harbour entrance right next to the park. I had mistakenly thought I could drive on around and out. I drove along the pier, parked and then noticed the gap. I would have to go back. No worry, I could do a three point turn, until someone parked next to me. I was stuffed. So I spent a few minutes enjoying the day, the beautiful little village, and then carefully backed back along that pier. There was not a lot of room for error. 

It took some time. I was shaky when I got to safety. I think I then found the proper car park, but I had had enough, and full of trepidation drove back up out of Mousehole. It is beautiful. But my nerves could stand no more and it was time to carry on to St Ives, around the coast, past Lands End. 

 

view from my hotel window

St. Ives is uber touristy. so many people. Not nearly enough car parks. I booked a room in an old hotel overlooking the beach. What you can see in my photo but not in theirs is the wall and railway line between me and the beach. I booked the hotel because they had parking and I could walk into town. But I arrived too late and had to go join the others waiting for people on the train to arrive and free up a space in the car park. The next day I felt lazy and went and got my car to load my bags before exploring St Ives some more. So dumb. So lazy. So dumb! I never did find another park and eventually gave up and left St Ives Tate for others to enjoy. It didn't even occur to me until I was writing this to ask the hotel if I could park in their car park until lunch time. My morning of exploring was lost to slowly driving in crowded streets and a growing sense of annoyance and doom.

But, again, I was not a tourist. Rather than worrying about what might have been, I can learn from that and embrace what was. So my time here was shorter than I had planned, but I had a nice time wandering the streets the night before and yet again finding a wonderful place to eat. One of the joys of my time in Cornwall was finding great food. And taking time to walk around and just enjoy being in that place. I would have liked more time, but it was not to be. Other pilgrim ways awaited.

 

My last two nights were in North Cornwall, in Newquay. Weirdly - although this is a sign of how tired I was, I did not look at the map they gave me. So I did not discover the area on the beachfront down the road until I was driving out and was forced to drive down there in the one way system. I had nearly walked there the night before, but about 10 steps too soon I decided there was nothing more and that there were no good places to eat and I had returned to the same pub I had eaten in the night before. Which was fine. In fact I enjoyed both nights in this pub. They served good food, and local beer. The first night I had their summer fruit crumble which was great, and watched the final of "The 100" cricket competition.. The second night I experienced their pub quiz - which seemed to be more about drinks breaks than actual quizzing - unlike ours. I was also surprised I could not answer a single question. Turns out I know nothing about English pop culture. Anyhow,  I had had a really big day and turning back was an OK thing to do. But a part of me thinks, I wish I had taken those extra steps.

I was staying at Tolcarne beach. My hotel is one of those you can see on the road. It did have lots of parking. Breakfast was really good. My hand washed clothes dried. It was a great place to stay. On my last morning I got up early and walked the beach. It is hard to appreciate other beaches when you live in the Mount. I tend to be a bit snobby and look down on others. But it was nice to experience this English beach with real sand, and the beach huts and all that goes with it. 

I loved all these seaside villages, even the ones that scared the whats it out of me. I loved their piers and harbours and the deep sense of history. I appreciated that chance to walk about and to learn a little of this deeply Celtic place. It is in England, but also feels slightly out. Cornish flags flew all over the place. The spelling of names is Celtic. It brought a sense of peace. I was exhausted when I left. Thank you. But there is more yet to reflect on.