Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt



Saturday 2nd of July

09.03 After the usual breakfast arrangements in our room here at The Full Moon Backpackers (https://fmbristol.co.uk) in Bristol, I have now undressed the bed. Sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases must be left for the laundry before check-out. Today we will go by bus again. For once, we got hold of tickets from National Express, one of the few bus companies that run longer distances in this country.

09.42 It feels tough to get moving again. I don't want for anything in the world to stay longer, but the leap towards the next home is also tiring. It's a fairly common feeling during our travels.

09.49 At check-out, Christer had £40 transfered into his account. It was because we behaved so well during our stay here. The security deposit was refunded because we didn't lose anything or break anything. I wonder where the refund limit is? Now that we have walked a short distance through a cloudy Bristol, we are at the bus station, Bristol Coach Station.

10.12 It is hardly tiring to wait, but if it continues it can become boring. We were at the station in good time. That's good, but it also means it takes a while for the bus to get here and be ready.

10.33 Shortly, yes, right now, our bus will start to take us south to Exeter. The bus started in Birmingham so some fellow passengers have already been on their way for a while.

10.47 In pouring rain our bus takes us out of Bristol. The weather hasn't been the best here but it was a nice stay in one of England's larger cities.

11.45 We have stopped in Bridgwater, a town in the county of Somerset. In a place we just passed, VIP Dog Grooming is offered, in other words a dog groomer of the more luxurious kind. On the way here, we have seen a sign for the village of Cheddar, which is famous for its cheese. The cheese has been made there since the 12th century and was originally stored in caves near the village. We also passed the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare. It is the birthplace of actor John Cleese and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Speaking of music, we are currently close to Glastonbury, a place known for its music festival that started back in 1970.

Time to check out of our room at The Full Moon.

Saint Sidwell, patron saint of Exeter.

Exeter Cathedral.

Traditional houses along Cathedral Close.

Tropical atmosphere at Princesshay Shopping Centre.

South Street, Exeter.

12.11 We have now made it to Taunton, one of many nice towns we don't have time to explore more closely this summer. Taunton is the capital of Somerset and is full of people in the middle of a Saturday shopping. We stop here for a short while and soon roll on.

12.37 After passing petrol stations where diesel costs £1.99 a litre, we have now headed out onto the M5 motorway.

13.13 Just now the bus stopped at its last stop, Bampfylde Street in Exeter. Another British city awaits a visit from us. We have left Somerset and are now in Devon.

13.22 With backpacks on our backs, we are in a city full of people doing their Saturday shopping or filling sidewalks and cafes for other reasons. We are looking for somewhere where we can sit for a while and also have a coffee stop or a light lunch. Exeter is the main city here in Devon and takes its name from the river Exe. There are 131,099 inhabitants living here in the city.

13.33 Believe it or not, we have found yet another English cathedral, Exeter Cathedral, which began construction back in 1112. Sure, it's a nice building, but now I want coffee. There are also no seats here in the Cathedral Green park. We are sitting on a wall as I write this.

14.09 With the help of Google Maps, we have located a branch of Costa Coffee. This café is located in a shopping center called Princesshay. It is partly indoors and partly outdoors. In the square outside you pretend Exeter is in the tropics. There are pretend palm trees and other props.

14.16 I must have been daydreaming when it was my turn to order the coffee and the clerk had to call my attention a number of times. Now it will finally be a long-awaited coffee break. We are far from alone in here. It's full speed with a long queue at the till and children wandering around among the tables.

15.00 On the river Exe there is a yellow and a blue pedal boat. In addition, there is an easier ferry across the river. A small brown dachshund dog does not want to step or for that matter pass in front of us. The woman who owns it more or less pulls the dog out. We have walked down here to Exeter Quayside after following an old city wall, crossing a footbridge and then struggling down a steep hill to the river.

15.33 A steep downhill becomes a steep uphill in the other direction. There will be another bench break to catch our breath and to plan what we will do in the last hour before the bus journey from here.

Steep slope down to the River Exe.

The Custom House at Exeter Quay.

The Quay, Exeter.

A simple ferry across the River Exe.

Peter on a wooden bench outside Saint Sidwell's Chapel.

Exeter City FC play their home games at Saint James Park.

15.46 At Saint Sidwell's Chapel there is a small park. There are some unique beautiful wooden benches. When we passed by here before, the city's drug addicts had a big meeting here. Now it is more empty so we have photographed and tested the benches.

16.00 Another and probably far from the last football stadium in England has been seen by us. It is Saint James Park where Exeter City play their football. They are newcomers to the same league (League One) as some other teams we have mentioned on this trip, namely Ipswich Town and Peterborough United. This is a classic English arena located just a few meters from ordinary terraced houses and other residences. The stadium was inaugurated on 10 September 1904 and has a capacity of 8,219 spectators.

16.35 After a short wait at the stop on Bampfylde Street, bus 501 from National Express arrived. Now it heads south towards Torquay. We are few passengers on board this short trip.

17.27 We have arrived in Torquay. The bus dropped us and a few others off at a deserted bus station off Lymington Road. On the way into the city, it was signposted that we had now arrived at the English Riviera. Now we have to find an open kiosk or shop before we set our sights on our future home here in the city.

17.45 Here in Torquay we have been to a small convenience store and purchased ingredients for a snack and the start of a breakfast for tomorrow. Now it's up to us to get to the accommodation before the light rain increases and gets worse.

18.20 We escaped the rain but damn how hilly Torquay is. It was no easy walk from the shop at Castle Circus to Windsor Road where we will be staying. Our new home is called Aremo Room 1 (https://aremoroom.tripcombined.com). What we thought was the gate code to get in turned out to be the code to open a key box. There was the key. This is a prepaid unmanned check-in. A key and a big nice room were waiting for us.

18.12 We have a nice room but we want to see more of our temporary hometown. It is already very late and it is quite a long walk down to the city center.

19.50 On our way down towards the center and the sea, we were met by a soccer ball that came rolling along the pavement. It had been kicked there by a guy in his teens. Suddenly it veered into the street and a second later it was run over by a bus. The ball really went flat. We showed our respect and support in the loss to the owner of the now flat ball. His female friends were very amused by the whole thing. What we have seen so far in the city with its alleys and steep slopes has made me think of places like Lisbon, Malta and Gibraltar. Torquay is famous for being the hometown of author Agatha Christie and the fictional hotel Fawlty Towers. John Cleese got inspiration for the series after staying at a hotel (Gleneagles Hotel) here in Torquay. There are 51,320 inhabitants living here in this town.

Threatening clouds and many uphills in Torquay.

On the way to a new home.

Peter outside the door at Aremo Room 1.

Warning for the elderly.

Madrepore Road, Torquay.

Saturday evening in Torquay Marina.

19.53 We are sitting on a bench down by the boat harbor and enjoying a nice Saturday evening here in Torquay. It's a party in town. We have seen women in pink hats and men in blue ditto. Are hen and stag parties coming up? Further away at Lulu's Coffee, the visitors are singing loudly and seem to be celebrating something. This town is a popular spot for Brits on holiday and foreign youngsters on language trips. On the way to our accommodation, we passed a large headquarters for the language travel company EF International.

20.15 Tang Tang Restaurant (https://tangtangrestaurant.godaddysites.com), a nice Chinese restaurant, will prepare our dinners. There will be hamburger plates, no not at all, we have each ordered a noodle dish. Unfortunately, the price is so much higher if you order dishes where rice must be ordered separately. The waitress who took care of our orders has excellent school-book English. It's almost like listening comprehension on the national test in English.

20.58 The food was good and we each got a fortune cookie afterwards. After the good dinner, we walked around the center and watched drunk tourists behaving in a way that they will regret in the morning. Some have probably taken something more than alcohol as well. Now we are having a bench break in the beautiful park Princess Gardens with its palm trees and its English Riviera Wheel. Yes, there are palm trees in England, at least here on the Riviera in Torquay. It was also mentioned by hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the aforementioned TV series Faelty Towers.

21.21 Before going home to Aremo, we have invested in evening beer of slightly better quality. The shopkeeper at Premier was a beer fan and was happy to tell us about the local beers. He claimed he had tried all of them. He was not as accommodating to the Spanish teenagers who tried to buy alcohol and cigarettes using a mobile phone photo of a Spanish ID. There will be a lot of this this summer, said the tired man. Now we will walk home.

22.00 We are back in our room. Two cups of coffee are waiting for us. On the TV it's BBC News. There is talk of upcoming problems with the flight this summer.

Mallock Memorial Clock Tower.

Holy Trinity Church, Torquay.

Peter is visiting Tang Tang Restaurant.

Christer has received his dinner.

Princess Gardens, Torquay.

Evening beer in the room.

22.21 The evening coffee is perfect right now. It's nice to unwind after a long, eventful day and start planning for the next one. Another nice tradition this summer is to follow our friend Roberth's bicycle adventure through Sweden. Every night a new entertaining video will be watched via Facebook. Today, he and his school friend Björn Staaff have been on an bike trip in Karlstad and its surroundings.

23.44 It's late but not yet bedtime. One ritual remains. It's time to consume two local beers from the Hunters Brewery microbrewery in nearby Newton Abbot. For me it will be Pheasant Plucker, an Amber Bitter and for Christer The Royal Hunt, a Premium Bitter.


Sunday 3rd of July

08.40 The night here in Torquay has taken good care of our bodies. In these bodies there are few traces of yesterday's uphill walks. We have had a very good and spacious room here at Aremo Room 1. We wonder if the owners are possibly from Poland? In any case, you could get the booking confirmation in two languages, English and Polish.

09.57 We are happy that we decided to travel with train today. The original plan of a bus back to Exeter and then onward travel by a special tourist bus through the moors of Dartmoor would have been interesting but at what cost? We also saw no such bus when we were in Exeter yesterday.

10.45 Why haven't we learned from our past mistakes? Why didn't we redeem our train tickets already last night? When we try to do this today, it is significantly more expensive and, moreover, the booking website is messed up.

11.20 We didn't buy any tickets. We will do it via a ticket machine instead. We have left the accommodation Aremo behind us. We're on our way and we're walking, walking and walking. It feels like we're walking steadily downhill. We are on our way to the railway station.

11.32 We chose the wrong way at an intersection and ended up on the wrong side of the King's Gardens park. Just turn around and go the right way.

11.46 Hip hip hooray, the railway station was finally found. In addition, we found a ticket machine with the same prices on the tickets as on the internet. Now I'm sitting on a large wooden flower pot by the platform. Someone whistles the intro to "Favourite things".

11.59 Now we have our backpacks on our knees, on our thighs. The first trip is thankfully short. It is not worth the trouble to put the bags on a shelf when we are going to change trains shortly. Goodbye nice Torquay!

We say thank you and goodbye to our room in Torquay.

On the platform waiting for the train.

We roll out of Torquay.

Changing trains at Newton Abbot.

We have just got off the train in Plymouth.

Silhouettes of some men associated with Plymouth.
These include Ben McBean, Robert Scott and Charles Darwin.

12.16 We enjoy a bench break on the platform in Newton Abbot. Here we will change from a smaller local train to a faster train that will take us west. It has become time to wait for the train to Plymouth. Newton Abbot is a small town with a population of 27,187 which is famous for its racecourse, Newton Abbot Racecourse.

12.28 We have changed to a better bench. It is better mainly because it is on the right track. Today the weather is also much better.

12.39 Lifting the backpack onto the luggage rack brings to mind weightlifting and impact. Up a bit, change the grip and bang on, up it goes!

13.02 Great Western Railway takes us comfortably west. We have just passed Totnes, a small town known for its New Age culture and bohemian lifestyle.

13.34 Several of us disembarked in Plymouth, the westernmost stop in the county of Devon. After passing the silhouettes of local figures such as Charles Darwin and Sir Robert Scott, we are now in the Armada Way Greenery park. One of the silhouettes depicts Marine Ben McBean who was injured in Afghanistan, forced to amputate an arm and a leg but still managed two marathons and a visit to Mount Everest. Sir Robert Scott was born here in Plymouth and is remembered for coming second to the South Pole and together with his four expedition members perished on the return journey. Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury but used Plymouth as a base and starting point for his travels.

14.01 There were plans to go for lunch to an underground cafe that looked cool but we didn't know much about. On the way there we saw Costa Coffee instead and yes, in short, here we are now instead. Once again we order coffee and our filling baps which come with sausages or bacon.

14.50 Copthorne Hotel and room 235 is the next place to sleep for us. We have checked in but are not going to sleep now. The hotel is nicer on the inside than on the outside. From the outside it looks like a big gray boulder.

Another visit to Costa Coffee.

Copthorne Hotel, Plymouth.

Plymouth Guildhall.

Minster Church of Saint Andrew, Plymouth.

Plymouth Naval Memorial.

The victims of the world wars are honoured.

16.10 These beds, these hotel beds. They entice and they induce a weariness and a hotel room coma. We are content to just lie still here. But it doesn't work. We've only seen a street and a hotel here in Plymouth so far. The rest of the city and the sea we shall see before we return to this room.

16.47 The time has come to move. There is actually a bit more to see today. Plymouth is called Britain's Ocean City and is an important port city. The city lies on the estuaries of both the rivers Plym and Tamar and is historically the border between Celtic-speaking Cornwall and the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex. Plymouth has 241,494 inhabitants and one of the world's largest naval bases. It is also one of many cities that the Germans bombed during World War II. It is noticeable that a lot is new here.

17.07 Mr Lundstedt and Mr Johansson have seen and photographed the city hall Plymouth Guildhall and the nearby Saint Andrew's church. Now the walk continues towards the sea. There are spacious streets in the city and quiet because it is Sunday.

17.18 Now we have arrived at the large green area known as Plymouth Hoe or Hoe Park. It is located between the city center and the sea. We'll see what we do next.

17.27 A seagull just landed on part of the giant memorial here in the park. This is also a memorial to the victims of the world wars. Here it is mostly focused on the fallen soldiers of the fleet. The monument is called the Plymouth Naval Memorial. The entire park area is filled with various monuments from wars and sea voyages. Sir Francis Drake, who was the first British man to travel around the world, is also celebrated here, and he also fought against the Spanish armada at Cádiz, a city we visited about six months ago. Here near the sea there is also the beautiful red and white Smeaton's Tower, an old lighthouse from the 18th century.

17.59 While we were looking at the big Tinside pool and the even bigger sea, we saw a couple eating ice cream. Pretty soon we also saw the rolling kiosk, the ice cream van, where they probably bought them. There we also bought an ice cream each. These have now been eaten. We are now sitting on a bench in front of yet another statue.

Various activities in Hoe Park.

Smeaton's Tower.

Brittany Ferries travel between Plymouth and Brittany in France.

Tinside Lido has a perfect location.

Peter buys ice cream.

View towards the Royal Citadel, Plymouth.

18.19 We sat for quite some time on the same bench and enjoyed the nice view, company of birds and watched people passing by.

18.54 We first went below the citadel (Royal Citadel) and are now in the marina, the boat harbour. It has a central role in England's maritime history. Many famous people have started their journeys from here. The harbor is full of plaques informing about it. In 1572 it was Sir Francis Drake who set sail for the Pacific Ocean. In 1577, the same Drake began his circumnavigation of the world. In 1620 it was time for the ship Mayflower with 102 pilgrims to set off for North America. James Cook and Sir Walter Raleigh also started their voyages here. In addition, as previously mentioned, Charles Darwin went from here when he was out on research trips in the 19th century.

19.21 It has started to be time for dinner. The planned Chinese dinner restaurant New Sizzling China turned out to be yet another take home variety, aka take-away. Now we are instead at the Indian-Nepalese restaurant Pahuna (https://www.pahuna.co.uk). There will be food from Nepal.

20.31 It was a really good dinner but then it was hard or impossible to find an open kiosk or supermarket to buy tomorrow's breakfast. We have circled several laps in the center without finding anything other than a small kiosk with a sleeping alcoholic outside of it. Also, it only seems to have drinks.

21.01 Finally, the Tesco Express store appeared after we searched on Google Maps. Also, it's close to the hotel, perfect. Purchases were made and now we will have a nice evening in our room. It's important enjoying the few nights we stay in real hotel rooms this summer.

A begging bird does magic tricks.

Various boats in Plymouth harbour.

From here the Mayflower departed with its pilgrims in 1620.

Sutton Harbour, Plymouth.

We will have dinner here this Sunday.

Christer is waiting for Nepalese food.

22.05 While Christer does what he's good at, buying upcoming train tickets, I do what I'm good at, preparing coffee. One day must be summarized and the next planned together with a cup of evening coffee. It is important. Neither of us have any trouble falling asleep, no matter how much coffee we drink or how late it is.

22.17 Everything went well. Now I owe a number of pounds for the train tickets. Christer is completely without debts.

23.51 The day ends with evening beers bought at Tesco and watching Roberth's current video on Facebook from, among other places, Åmål in Dalsland. Imagine that it has been two years since we were there, in the middle of a pandemic that we saw no end to. Our Swedish car trips were after all backup alternatives to other trips we could not complete, but they had something special that our other trips did not have. There is something special about traveling around in your own vehicle, a freedom you don't experience on other trips. A new week will soon begin. Good night!


Monday 4th of July

08.47 It was a bit of a sleep-in morning today. Sometimes such things are needed and today we had the opportunity.

09.35 The radio news from BBC Radio Devon talks about various traffic problems and a high number of Covid-infected people in Plymouth, where we are at the moment. Just wondering how long this thing with Covid19 will be in the news? Other viruses that have infected people are not included in the news reporting.

11.16 We are feeling a bit half lazy. Too much peace and quiet dulls the drive you need during a trip. In any case, we made good use of the room and held out almost until check-out time.

11.33 We checked out of the Copthorne Hotel and now we are taking it easy for a while again. There will be a bench break before we walk the short distance to the railway station. We had initially planned to take a walk to Central Park and Home Park, the football stadium where Plymouth Argyle play but we realized that what looked like a short walk on the map was probably quite a long distance after all.

12.00 On a track inside the station, our train was waiting for us. We have been asked again and again by someone if we happen to have a pound or more left over for a ticket. We didn't have anything like that to offer. We have no cash at all. In the weather app in Christer's mobile, it says that we are in Pennycomequick. Yes, that's actually the name of the neighborhood around the station area.

12.29 We are on our way. Once again we travel with Great Western Railways (GWR). On the tracks towards Saltash railway station we crossed the River Tamar. A large road bridge ran parallel. We are now in Cornwall. The car bridge is called the Tamar Bridge and the railway bridge is called The Royal Albert Bridge.

13.44 After continuing the train journey, we disembarked in the small town of Saint Austell. Cornwall is not a cheap place to stay. We are going to sleep here in Saint Austell because it is simply too expensive to stay in other Cornish destinations. After a short walk we came to the cozy little Treacle's Café & Sandwich Bar on Alexandra Road. Here we have ordered coffee to drink and in a more solid, chewable form, Panini and a New York Sandwich.

A morning in the room at the Copthorne Hotel.

Tamar Bridge is the border between Cornwall and Devon.

We got off the train in Saint Austell.

Treacle's Cafe and Sandwich Bar, Saint Austell.

Christer is waiting for his lunch order at Treacle's.

We will stay two nights at The Duke of Cornwall.

14.38 Both Christer and I are satisfied with our sandwiches. It was a cozy little cafe where many people choose to have lunch. Now we have walked one more intersection and we are in room 2 of The Duke of Cornwall (https://www.thedukeofcornwallinn.co.uk). There is a pub on the ground floor and rooms are rented out on the upper floor. It is the same concept as our first accommodation in Chelmsford. We are happy to finally be able to stay here. When we were in London, Christer had a long communication with the owner who claimed that Christer's card was invalid and that the reservation was in danger of being cancelled. We solved it by prepaying everything instead.

15.11 We are still satisfied and happy. We still don't feel the drive to go out, but eventually we'll see the town more closely.

16.01 We are stranded in the room that has a shower in one corner. Over the years we have had similar rooms in Košice, Slovakia and Milan in Italy. It is doubtful how good it is for a room to have the shower inside it.

16.27 We have to take care of something. If we don't go out yet, we can at least take some clothes and wash them.

17.15 We have been thinking and remembering previous years, times when we had a big load of laundry and it got damp in the whole room. Now, in any case, we will take an afternoon walk to the center to see what we can find there.

17.30 Our choice of route out of the room was wrong. Instead of finding the exit out into the street ended up in the pub with some sad souls who sat in complete silence and held a glass of beer each.

17.56 Here in the center of Saint Austell, not much is happening. The most disturbing thing is that some seagulls are screaming hysterically in front of the bench where we sat. In fact, almost everything is closed even though it's a weekday and it's not even 6pm. However, there is more action here than there is often at home in Bjästa and Örnsköldsvik. Saint Austell is named after an ancient Cornish saint, Saint Austol. He was active in the 5th century. There are 25,981 inhabitants living in this town.

East Hill, Saint Austell.

Peter in Saint Austell.

The artwork Earth Goddess.

Some seagulls scream out their boredom.

Cornwall clothing in a shop window.

Holy Trinity Church, Saint Austell.

18.22 Having finished looking at the small compact center of Saint Austell, we are now in Cemetery Park, a park area near the railway station. There is not much life among the old tombstones that are also found here. Some of these are over 200 years old. On the platform some distance away from us, the conductor waves and the dark green train moves on towards an unknown destination.

18.43 There is no ticket machine at the railway station, at least not one that we can find. We will buy tickets online this evening instead. We need the tickets for tomorrow's trip when we will see more of Cornwall.

18.55 We are now on a long walk which will also include a visit to a supermarket.

19.27 It went well to collect something for breakfast at the ASDA supermarket. It's called Superstore and it was really big. There you can find most things you need. Christer has also bought safety pins. He needs to strengthen one of the straps for the bag he carries around on his back. There was some confusion by the cash register. The cashier came up with a phrase I didn't understand. Could it have been some kind of bonus card question or what? Who knows?

20.10 Ordering take-away from the Chinese restaurant Fortune House near the pub did not work. They didn't accept cards. Instead they suggested we should go to the ATM at ASDA to withdraw money. We had just been there and thought it was a bad idea. Instead we went to Spice (https://www.spicestaustell.com), also a take-away restaurant. They offer food from India and Bangladesh. The nice man behind the counter accepted card payment and is currently preparing our dinners.

20.27 The man in the restaurant was chatty and curious. He wanted to know a lot about Sweden, e.g. if there were indian take away restaurants there too. Now we have carried the food up to the room and are going to arrange the furniture so that we can eat it in a civilized way as well.

Problems near ASDA Superstore.

You can watch fish while you wait for your food at Spice.

The evening's simple dinner is eaten in the room.

21.03 There was a lot of food and it was really good. Unfortunately, part of the dining experience is also sitting in a restaurant and eating on plates. This is probably why we find it difficult to think that takeaway food is a success, regardless of how good it tastes. Now we have a little more to do. We will wash the dishes and do some other things. In any case, the plastic containers must be rinsed out thoroughly.

23.05 Christer has had evening coffee and so have I. It wasn't entirely unexpected. In addition, we have seen Roberth's video from today's adventure in Dalsland. Today he has biked from Åmål through Dalsland and ended up at a hotel room in Vänersborg. Regarding our own adventures, the ticket purchase didn´t work online. We'll have to solve it tomorrow instead.

23.38 We are looking forward to seeing more of Cornwall tomorrow. There is nothing wrong with Saint Austell, but it is not this town that attracts so many tourists to the south-west corner of England.


Tuesday 5th of July

08.20 We have woken up here upstairs in our pub. It was then fine to shower in the shower cubicle in one corner of the room. Does the day continue as positively? We hope so. Today we will have time to see more of Cornwall, at least two more towns than the one we are in now.

08.55 We did not go quite right on our way out of the accommodation this time either. Again we ended up near the pub section. We must learn to take the right way out. It can't be that hard. I handed over the trash bag from the takeout yesterday and was wondering where I could throw it. We then thought about whether the word I chose (toss) is the right word to use in that context. English has so many words for everything.

09.01 We are leaving The Duke of Cornwall right now but will return tonight. Now we walk towards the railway station.

09.29 So we sit here and wait with newly purchased train tickets. There was a ticket machine at the train station but it was on the north side of the tracks, not the south side where we looked yesterday. The sun is shining today but it's not really warm.

10.06 We will soon make our first station stop on the journey west towards Penzance. We are on our way to Truro.

10.54 Once we arrived in Penzance, a town in the far west of Cornwall, we went to the nearby bus station and bought a return ticket to the neighbouring town of St Ives. The sea breaks out here beside us. Roberth continues cycling through Sweden. Right now he is in Lilla Edet, Västergötland. The bus company we will travel with is First Bus. This particular bus service is called the Lizard because it has routes to and from The Lizard peninsula south of us.

At the station in Saint Austell, ready to travel west.

St Ives, Cornwall.

View from The Malakoff.

Porthminster Beach, St Ives.

St Ives Harbour.

A questionably placed phone booth.

11.15 Our journey crosses the farthest tip of West Cornwall. So we are on our way to one of the most popular destinations in Cornwall, the beautiful little town of St Ives. It used to be a fishing village but has since turned into a tourist resort where many artists have moved. There are 18,479 residents living in St Ives.

11.33 It was an advanced process for the bus to turn around in the limited space at the bus station. Helpers were needed to direct the whole thing and the traffic on the street was at a standstill during the turn. There is a beautiful sea view from the bench we sat on at The Malakoff viewpoint.

12.05 We have walked down into the center along the narrow streets. The pavements are full of people and vehicles have difficulty getting through. Right now we are looking for a suitable cafe. We'll see if we can find something with room for us in this crowd.

12.13 We had intended to try local pastries at The Cornish Bakery but they had no seating, just a counter facing the street. We are looking further.

12.25 Coasters Tea Shop on St Andrew's Street looks like a small shop but it's actually a small cafe that plays reggae music. There will be coffee and scones here. The reason why there was room for us here is probably that many passers-by did not understand that it is a café.

12.56 That was exactly what we needed. There weren't large quantities but the service was excellent and friendly. Now we have found another bench with a beautiful view.

13.12 On the other side of the town center is the area called The Island. It consists of green grass areas, a chapel and a small mountain. Here we are now seated on a bench and see St Ives below us. Down on the small sandy beach of Porthgwidden Beach, people are scattered at various shelters from the wind. Birds of various species and sizes dominate the airspace.

13.40 In front of us there below is a large beach and the sea. Below us is a stone bench. Behind us is a chapel, St Nicholas Chapel. It's windy up here on the mountain but the view is fantastic. After seeing this we feel pretty done with St Ives. Soon all that remains is a leisurely walk back to the bus stop.

14.07 The Tinner is what it says on the bus in front of us. The bus company is First Bus Kernow. Kernow is Cornwall in the Celtic language Cornish, an extinct language that has been revived and started to be used again by some people. Now we drive away. Despite everything cozy in St Ives, it feels good to go to something new.

Activities in St Ives Harbour.

Coasters Café, St Ives.

Christer has a light meal, coffee with scones.

Saint Ia´s Parish Church.

Porthgwidden Beach is popular.

Porthmeor Beach, St Ives.

14.37 We are back in Penzance, the town we visited for a few minutes in the morning. This will be another place to explore before we go home again. Penzance is a historic port town in westernmost Cornwall and throughout history has been associated with pirates. Today, 20,808 residents live here.

14.45 We have started walking from the bus station along Penzance Harbour. We were overtaken by a man in a permobile who then did not get much further due to a too narrow pavement and intense car traffic on the street. It is afternoon and low tide. Various boats are in mud and the sea water has hidden somewhere else.

15.09 Along Chapel Street, a cozy street, is the Admiral Benbow pub. It is also the name of the inn in Robert Louis Stevenson's book Treasure Island. According to unconfirmed information, the author got inspiration for the book after a visit here in 1880. Various pirates, smugglers and other interesting people have visited this building since 1695.

15.43 Now we know where we can have dinner. In addition, we also know when they open. Now, for the time being, we are down at the Penzance Promenade at Western Promenade Road. With us we have drinks, bread and chocolate purchased at the CO-OP store in Queens Square.

16.04 Things are happening even though we are just sitting here. A woman has asked us if it costs anything to park next door. We had no idea. An elderly gentleman walked by with a book by Ian Rankin in one hand and the occasional person has quickly jogged past us.

17.04 We changed our dinner plans. Waiting for a restaurant to open and then going home later felt difficult. Instead we go home to Saint Austell to hopefully find something edible there.

Christer on a mountain in St Ives.

There is a real low tide in St Ives.

Wharf Road, Penzance.

Chapel Street, Penzance.

Admiral Benbow has been welcoming visitors since 1695.

Penzance Promenade.

18.35 Traveling by train is quick and easy. When we arrived at Saint Austell we walked along new streets and finally came to a complicated double roundabout where the A390 passes. Here it will be a simple dinner at KFC on Pentewan Road. After it is eaten we will take a long walk towards our temporary home at The Duke of Cornwall.

19.37 We are home after an efficient day. Before going up to the room, we ordered and paid for a classic English breakfast tomorrow. We also had plans to try local beer in the pub but our bellies were full of KFC chicken and the atmosphere in the pub was not so inspiring. There may be beer at a later date.

20.20 Today it was the final parts in the trial surrounding the Malin murder in my home area. It was in November 1996 that 16-year-old Malin Lindström was murdered in Husum north of Örnsköldsvik. The prosecutor is asking for a minimum of 6 years in prison. The defense attorney recommends release. Pending the verdict, the defendant must remain in custody. I see that as a coming conviction.

22.16 First there was evening coffee together with the latest video from Roberth's bicycle trip. Today he traveled from Vänersborg to Kungälv. Then we channel-zipped among various Jewish, Muslim and Sikh channels. Right now we're watching classic CNN. We have learned that UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak have resigned. This is because of the turmoil surrounding the appointment of Chris Pincher who has been accused of sexual harassment. Pincher himself resigned a week ago.

23.24 Another day comes to an end. Tomorrow we say thank you and goodbye to The Duke of Cornwall and Saint Austell. We look forward to a solid breakfast tomorrow morning before we travel on.

Jubilee Pool in Penzance.

A war monument and the Atlantic Ocean.

Bilingual sign (English and Cornish) in Penzance.

Christer is having dinner (Mighty bucket for one) at KFC in Saint Austell.


VIDEOS


You can see 63 photos from July 2 in this photoalbum.
You can see 76 photos from July 3 in this photoalbum.
You can see 30 photos from July 4 in this photoalbum.
You can see 73 photos from July 5 in this photoalbum.


CONTINUE


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