2007 big vacation: Day 5 - Penzance 2007

Wednesday, the midpoint of the trip, we chose to take it easier and recover a bit from our exertions and adventures. Sleeping in, cooking breakfast in the lovely tiny kitchen of Egyptian House with its fine view of Mounts Bay, and then eventually getting ourselves organized enough to walk over to the library to use the wifi connection in order to post some travel news. Turned out they don't have a wifi connection (this can be found at two cafes in town), but Joe wisely brought his thumb drive and so we had no problem transferring the text I'd already written.

After the library we strolled down toward the bay through a pretty park and then along the promenade to the first likely looking lunch spot which turned out to be the Yacht Inn. Perfectly fine, though rather entertaining in the other clientele. There was a table of 8 old age pensioners - all women but one - who made us smile with the evident long-standing friendships evidenced by their joshing each other through their meal. There were three very quiet people at a table by the window. And then there was a table with half a dozen younger people a couple of whom were in wheelchairs. Soon after we were seated one man burst out in wild laughter. Wild, loud, almost manic, but clearly happy laughter. Everyone in the room jumped or flinched. And then he announced loudly "I like to laugh!". A few minutes went by and then he, most unnervingly, did it again. From what we overheard from the other folks (staff and the others at his table) it's a symptom of his MS. Joe & I hadn't encountered this one before. This went on for 10 or 15 minutes and then one of the waitresses rolled him over from the restaurant half of the inn into the bar, from which he was muffled enough to merely create the effect of a jolly party next door. We all breathed a sigh of relief and enjoyed our lunches much more after that. Strange how uncomfortable we can be made by transgressions in routines of accepted behavior.

I had a lovely trio of Cornish fishes, probably caught by one of the boats we passed in Newlyn walking the previous day, and Joe had a roast beef sandwich with outstanding horseradish sauce. Quite tasty and I was very glad to have had the chance to so efficiently sample different local fishes.

After lunch we walked back up Chapel Street by way of a stroll in the cemetery of the church whose tower provides the kitchen clock for the Egyptian House. Lovely old gravestones, many from the early 19th century. Beautiful typography and decorative flourishes, and of course the lovely lichen which decorates any stone in the southwest of England given time.

We enjoyed more lazy time - me doing a jigsaw puzzle and listening to some podcasts on my iPod, Joe reading magazines and listening to music on his - before meeting Ryan, a friend of a friend, who is stationed not far from Penzance. We had a drink down the road at the Turk's Head and then a very tasty dinner at Coco's. Joe had salmon & smoked haddock fish cakes with homemade tartare sauce, I had some very tasty homemade ravioli involving mushrooms, and Ryan had a simply gorgeous - and great smelling! - dish of mussels in (I think) a lemongrass broth. Despite the inherent awkwardness of hanging out with someone you've never met before, we had a really lovely evening with Ryan. It was very nice of him to drive down and help us enjoy our Penzance stay.

After dinner, we were only a few doors - and 45+ spiraling steps! - from our little flat at the top of the house. We enjoyed a little more quiet time by the faux coal fire in the sitting room before retiring to bed for another chapter of The Twenty-One Balloons and deep sleep.