On Saturday morning the Taxi picked us up at 5.45 am and everything went supersmoothly until we arrived at Heathrow Airport. There we encountered the first problems when we went to pick up our rental car. We had been very satisfied Holiday Autos customers for 6 years or so, but due to their extremely high prices in the UK we switched to Economy Car rentals as they were much cheaper. For a reason… The first annoying thing were the hour-long waiting lines. When we finally made it to the customer desk we were informed that the All inclusive insurance we had bought didn’t cover everything and since I remembered from our last trip to Oxford that those rental companies in the UK even find the smallest little mark in the windscreen (which may or may not have been there since before) I calculated the risk that we would run into some kind of problems during the 23 day renting period as way to high to take any chances. 4,06 £ a day gone for extra coverage. How many Cornish Ice creams would that be again? Oh and the VAT had to be added on top. Ok, done. But the total is still much higher? Could it be that they added the amount that we already paid when we made the reservation? They told us to call the broker but couldn’t offer us to use their phone. International calls would be too expensive. Bulls**t, what year are we writing? But I was certainly not to call a Greek company (that’s what I found out while studying the fine print) with a Swedish cell phone from the UK. After a lot of buts and ifs and me refusing to pay the extra 75 £ she finally “got allowance by her manager to wave that amount”. You better do, as the queues already end outside the building. Lesson learned, next time it will be Holidayautos again!
3 hours after landing we were finally on our way to Cornwall. And have I told you how much we loved our new Satnav for guiding us safely through left hand traffic and 2 lane triple roundabout hell at Heathrow? I’m telling you this must have been one of the best investments we made. Like ever. In the early afternoon we arrived at our cottage in wonderful Cornwall. The only not so wonderful thing was the weather change that occurred on the day of our arrival. The cottage has a beautiful patio area overlooking the wavy hills of Cornwall, but we couldn’t use it a single time :-( Luckily the house had big panorama windows towards the patio so that we could enjoy the view even in less warm weather. Our wonderful hosts welcomed us with typically Cornish Scones with clotted cream for afternoon tea. Lovely! We basically didn’t do much more than shopping for some food and hanging out in the cosy cottage that night. Sunday started out with rain again. But as we were only there for a week, we had to take the weather as it came. We packed up the boots and rain jackets and left for the Coastal path around Tintagel Castle.
According to legend that’s the place were King Arthur was born. After having gotten really wet a couple of times during heavy showers we encountered also some sunny spells and could enjoy the beauty of the Cornish coastline.
Back in the village we had a Cornish pasty and a Cappuccino for lunch and then left for Port Isaac, a cute little fishing village. Despite the showers it was impossible to find parking which is why we didn’t bother much longer and drove back to the cottage. On Monday the weather looked even worse so that we decided to check out the Eden Project which consists of several gigantic green houses that house several hundred thousands of plants from 3 different climate zones.
There is the rainforest biome and the Mediterranean biome and huge outside gardens for the temperate zone as well. Looking at all the plants was a nice way to spend a rainy day and by the evening the weather had brightened up enough for us to check out the cute town of Fowey, stroll around a bit and have a Cornish Ice cream. On Tuesday the weather looked a bit brighter and especially the coastline really cleared up during the day. We took a couple of really long walks to check out Trevose head and Boobies bay as well as the breathtaking Bedruthan steps.
Gorgeous!!! In the evening we went to the beautiful little harbour town Padstow where we had Fish ‘n’ chips at Rick Steins and later on enjoyed the evening atmosphere with a cappuccino at the quay. What a great day! We went for another little walk to eventually shoot some nice sunset pictures but as the clouds came in we turned around, tired as we were already.
Wednesday was a typical British weather day again which means a mix of rain, showers, clouds and brilliant sunshine. In the morning we visited St Michaels Mount – the English equivalent to Mont St Michel in the Bretagne but a lot less commercialized.
We walked over to the island at low tide and visited the castle which was very interesting. As the weather worsened a bit we decided to visit a Cornish Tin mine of which the county once upon a time had many hundreds. It was very interesting to learn about the miner’s life and the processes of winning tin and other metals. There was a very extensive exhibition with a lot of useful information.
Later on we drove to Land’s end, the westernmost tip of England. The sky cleared up and we enjoyed another awesome walk along the wonderful coastline.
As hunger overcame us we made a short detour to the lovely town of St Ives for a pasty and some ice cream in the harbour area and then- after a 1,5 hour drive back- just fell into our beds around midnight after a very eventful day.
On Thursday we had brilliant sunshine and decided to make the best use of it while still taking it easy. We first had an awesome lunch at the Pandora Inn, a place where you can sit and eat your yummy seafood meal out on the pontoon. Unfortunately we had low tide, but you just can’t get it all. Afterwards we drove to Kynance Cove, the absolutely most beautiful part of the coast we saw! Just look at the wonderful colours!
We had a coffee and some ice cream in the café overlooking the cove and then took a 2 hour hike with a lot of stops to enjoy the breathtaking view.
On Friday we unfortunately had to learn that we hadn’t really seen a rainy day yet. The weather was dreadful, absolutely awful! We wanted to do one last walk around Bodmin Moor and were quite lucky as it was mostly dry. The Moor landscape is a bit gloomy anyway, so it was ok I guess.
As soon as we had reached the car it started pouring down though so we went home, had a hot tea, read a good book and watched a video.
On Saturday it was already time to leave Cornwall but the horrible weather made that part pretty easy. We stopped by Clarks village for a little shopping and arrived at Gill and Carls house in the afternoon. We had some Champagne and then a nice BBQ dinner inside since the weather still wasn’t nice. It was so good to see Gill and Carl again and their house was just amazing. Really cosy with an old stone wall in the lounge and a huge fire place. So nice. On Sunday we went for some sightseeing in Bath. During the day we really got some nice sunshine so that we had a very enjoyable day there.
We had lunch at Jamie Olivers Italian restaurant and afternoon tea at the pump room. Classy. The water tasted a bit yucky though, I think it was sulphur.
In the evening we drove over to Bristol where we strolled around a bit and had some Cider at a pub before we went to the seaside to get some sunset shots of the bridge.
What a nice day! On Monday we left together with Gill and Carl for Pembrokeshire in Wales. The weather sucked so badly again that we had to change plans from hiking along the coast to checking out Dillon Thomas’ boat house, which wasn’t that much to see. Afterwards we drove to Tenby. What a wonderful place!
We strolled around town until it was time for dinner at the Harbour Inn. And what an awesome dinner that was! First of all we got a table with the most lovely view over the harbour during sunset.
The service, the environment and the food were all fantastic! We enjoyed ourselves so much that night. It was almost magic!
On Tuesday it was there again, the typical British weather. We checked out Saundersfoot, Morbiere castle and Barrafundle beach where we surprised by one or another shower.
We had to skip the walk around the Lily ponds but had a lovely Cream tea instead (also that not without the shower) and after a walk around the Carrew castle a pint at the pub.
For dinner we went to Tenby again where we once again had a lovely meal but this time without the amazing atmosphere. Did I mention that It was raining again? On Wednesday morning we checked out Pembroke castle and then drove to St Davids, The smallest city of Britain with a huge Cathedral.
We strolled around a bit, had some ice cream and then it was already time to say Good bye to Gill and Carl, who had to go back to Bristol. It was such a lovely evening and just perfect to take a boat trip out to see the puffins. It was so much fun! We also saw dolphins on our way.
After the trip we continued north to Fishguard where we stayed in a B &B with a really lovely view. Fishguard itself was totally boring though, so we just went for some Indian and then went to bed. On Thursday we had some shitty weather again which is why we just stopped by at the Blue lagoon shortly and then decided to drive up to Snowdonia directly. We arrived in our lovely B&B in the early afternoon and the lady owning it had lots of great tips for us. First we had some food at a really nice Café and then took a little walk around the lake during which we …again… got really wet! Therefore we went back to the B&B for a lazy evening. On Friday the weather was even worse. We had planned to hike in the Snowdonia National Park that day but we better forgot that really fast. Instead we took a drive through the area and checked out the Swallow falls and the Welsh slate museum.
We had some Cream tea in Bedgellert and on our way back it even stopped raining so that we could take a short walk. All the rain had made the little streams run wild! It was so amazing. In the evening we went to the Betws y coed Bistro that was highly recommended. And there hadn’t been any exaggeration, it must have been one of the best meals I ever had!
On Saturday we went off to check out Conway for a little bit before it was time to head towards Manchester airport where we picked up Alain.
When we arrived at the cottage in Yorkshire it was already appropriately decorated with a Swedish flag and it was so great to see David, Chris, Debbie and Sven again! We all had a lovely evening with drinks, dinner and silly games.
On Sunday we went for a “little stroll” to the pub, but before we arrived there we had to climb many walls, get lost, get followed by a herd of little bulls and get very muddy.
After lunch and checking out pretty Kirkby Londsdale we walked back home: for miles and miles along the road.
Finally back home it was time for a lovely BBQ and a fun night with board games.
On Monday, after a hearty English breakfast, we went to the Yorkshire Dales for a wonderful hike! I really love that area or for that matter the whole of the UK for all the lovely undisturbed views! When we came back to the cottage it was my turn with kitchen duty. I prepared Schnitzel and fried potatoes and a raspberry mousse for dessert.
On Tuesday the shitty weather had caught up with us again. We therefore went to the Aquarium at lake Windermere which was fun and then had Fish ‘n’ chips in Ambleside. It was raining on and off though, so that we decided to drive home, light the fire and bake some apple pie!
On Wednesday we had planned to go canoeing on one of the lakes and no bad weather could keep us from that. We got into some really warm wilderness survival clothes, bound together both of our canoes to make kind of raft that could withstand the waves better and off we went! Going through the waves was actually so much fun that we sometimes intentionally went towards the “dangerous” middle of the lake. And it wasn’t like we were unprepared: we even had some hot tea against the cold.
Our picnic had to be improvised a bit in the rain but as you can see David even brought a burner for our Creme brulées.
After lunch we took a short hike to the waterfalls and then went back home for a cozy evening with roasted Marshmallows, the ”Mamma Mia” DVD and Uno games.
On Thursday we visited Fountain Abbey and got pretty silly for a while. As silly as we used to be 11 years ago during our Erasmus year. We had so much fun!
Also completely in the Erasmus spirit we visited the Black Sheep Brewery, a small place where the brewing seems to be more like a craft still.
Yes and here comes just a pic of our glass recycling by the end of the week (without comments). Also the Erasmus spirit I guess, even though the quality of the wines might have improved a bit over the years.…
On Friday was our last day at the cottage and therefore we just HAD to go out for a last hike despite the rain. Let me just say we made the best of it again!
On Saturday it was already time to leave but not without making plans for next time already. We are thinking about Tuscany as the weather there probably will be much kinder to us.
We spent one last night at Davids place in Leeds with a good last Fish ‘n’ Chips dinner before it was time for us to head down to London on Sunday morning
After a last of Davids big English breakfasts we hit the road to London on Sunday around lunch time. The drive went smoothly and so did the rental car return at Heathrow. I was really prepared that they would find something that the extra insurance wouldn’t cover. But no, everything was fine. We took the tube to our Hotel in Kensington and just took it easy that evening. On Monday it was rainy and grey so that we decided to do a Museum Day at the Science Museum. I’m not a big Science freak but the Museum was really interesting even for folks like me. J loved it of course and could have spent 3 more days there. In the evening we walked around the Notting Hill neighborhood a bit and went back to the hotel fairly early. On Tuesday the weather looked much better; perfect for some really good sight-seeing! We started at the Tower, crossed the Thames over Tower Bridge and walked along the Southern bank towards the London Eye.
The last 2 times when we had been to London we had skipped the London Eye because of the long queues but this time we were in no hurry and decided to take a ride. The view is of course amazing, but the cost for the ride as well.
We crossed the Thames again and walked towards Trafalgar Square passing the Houses of Parliament. Come time for dinner we went to Chinatown where we had a great meal before we went to see the Musical “Sister Act” for which we had gotten cheap tickets. It wasn’t overwhelming but the atmosphere was great and London is ALWAYS good for a night at the theatre.
On Wednesday we did some more sight-seeing and shopping, went to the Buckingham Palace, Covent Garden and to the famous Brick Lane in the East end for a good curry. In the evening we met Gill again who was in town for some sort of training. First we had a few drinks at a bar followed by a really good Thai meal. At night we went back to the Houses of Parliament in the hope to get some good night-time shots.
Also Thursday was spent with more sight-seeing, good food and a fun night at the Comedy Store.
On Friday it was time to pack and say Good Bye. After a stressful day with the Stanstead Express on Strike and exceeded baggage weight discovered by Ryanair we arrived at my parents late that night.
Oh my, that sound like a wonderful holiday!!
We want to do a England holiday next year if we manage and I got some great ideas from your entry! Thanks for that.
By: Steffi on November 11, 2009
at 9:39 am
My pleasure! I love organizing holidays! Just be prepared for some rain in England!
By: nussi on November 11, 2009
at 9:49 am