2007 big vacation: Day 6 - Penzance 2007

Our last full day in Cornwall, so we decided to have another big outing. However, the predicted windy weather and our slightly tired knees argued against another big jaunt along the coast walk, so we took the late morning bus to Porthcurno. To our delight it was a double-decker so we were able to get a different perspective on the route from Penzance to Lamorna. Cornwall is incredibly gorgeous and the weather turned out to beautiful albeit a bit cold & breezy. The views from the top of the bus were fantastic and we had a great time on the ride.

In Porthcurno we immediately headed up the hill to the Minack Theatre for lunch in their glass-fronted, cliffside cafe overlooking both the theatre carved into the cliff and the beautiful sandy-beached, turquoise-oceaned cove beside it. A pasty and a bowl of soup later we were fortified for clambering around the theatre, a quick spin through the exhibition on its creator Rowena Cade, and then down a rather nerve-rackingly steep set of steps to the cove. Such gorgeous views though!

Sadly, the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum was closed due to having just switched to their "Sunday/Monday only" winter hours. We wandered around a little outside it but there's nothing much to see on the exterior. As we were realizing that we saw one of the little local buses - about the size of the Emery-Go-Round shuttle I sometimes take to work from the BART station came past the stop below the museum and started trundling up the hill to stop by the Minack. We hurried down to the stop and hopped on it on its way back out of the village figuring that even though it was bound for Land's End and St. Just, those towns are well enough served by buses that we'd find our way home to Penzance somehow. That turned out to be a fantastic choice. From the bus we had great views of the area - fields with stone hedgerows and the rough Cornish coastline - and got to enjoy a quick tour with an expert local driver who made sure we connected up with the correct connection to Penzance.

Land's End itself is a terrible split personality: an incredibly beautiful scenic area and an unbelievable eyesore of a tourist destination facility complete with cheesy promotional signs smack dab in the middle of it. The sight of this grotesque commercial monstrosity made us queasy and we were glad to quickly leave it behind us. The rest of the ride was just delightful, enjoying both the scenery and the glimpse into local life as residents got on and off the bus.

We would definitely recommend Penzance as a base of operations for a Cornwall vacation, reaching it by train and using local transit and walking to get to nearby sights. We could have stayed twice as long and still had things we wanted to do that we didn't get to.

After our outing we enjoyed another quiet evening by the fire, broken only by a short stroll down the block to dine at the Turk's Head. We were quite astonished by the really excellent food! I wasn't expecting anything extraordinary when I ordered but my roasted chicken salad was outstanding - best dish of the trip including our time in London - with a fine subtle mix of flavors and excellent presentation. Frankly, I was so dazzled by it I was a bit sad it was our last night in Penzance. I almost ordered a second, but I realized that was my taste buds not my stomach talking. Joe had something more traditional - bangers & mash maybe? - but as he's currently snoring away in a happy nap while I write this, I'll let him add his bit in a comment later. I do remember he quite liked his beer which had the catchy name of Betty Stog.

Sadly, it was time after dinner to pack, tidy up, and head to bed for our last night at the lovely Egyptian House. Our first Landmark Trust visit together - but very probably not our last!