Day 3, Part II, Touring the UK, St. Ives

Thought I would repost the picture of the map, so you can see where we are in our trip.  We're over nighting in Tavistock for 2 nights.   You can see St. Michael's Mount on the map that was part of the previous post for Day 3.

This was our Itinerary for Day 3: The plan for the day, be on the coach at 8 am, stop around 9:15 at the Jamica Inn, move onto Marazion for a picture stop of St. Michael's Mount, move onto St. Ives and have lunch; and be back at the hotel around 5.  Our tour director generally had this posted somewhere the evening before so we could plan a bit, but sometimes he didn't put it out until we were at breakfast, and sometimes he only had a copy on the bus...which wasn't as helpful.

So Day 3, Part II.  We proceeded from our photo op of St. Michael's Mount to the old fishing town of St. Ives, which isn't on the map, but is in Cornwall on the coast of The Celtic Sea.  Historically it was a seaport and fishing town.  It's turned into a hot spot for vacationers.  It boasts art galleries, good food, high-end accommodations, and is suppose to be the place to be.  

My friend, Jane and I were not impressed and felt it was overly crowded, dirty and really nothing specific to see.  I suppose if you were staying there and wanted to go boating, or fishing, or simply laying on the crowded beach in the sun; you might enjoy it.

We waited a long time to get a table for the standard fish n chips at one of the first restaurants we came to that didn't look as busy or crowded as others. 

The food was good, and we had a seat by the open area so could do lots of people watching and see the water.

Lunch took so long, we had very little time left so only window shopped as we made our way back to the car park to meet up with our fellow travelers.

On the uphill trek to the carpark we spotted this lovely Celtic Cross Memorial.

As you can see, it's to honor the men from St. Ives who fought in both World War I and World War II.

You get a feel for the narrow streets, and types of buildings in a rather hilly town as we were driving out of Cornwall making our way back to The Bedford Hotel in Tavistock.

This would be our 2nd night in this old castle looking old hotel.  We were pleased to see they had fixed the electrical problem and we had lights and were able to charge our phones.  The evening was our own, no group dinner this night.  We took some time to get things in order so that we could have our luggage out at 7 am the next morning before departing Tavistock.  We walked across the street to a courtyard area and had wood fired pizza and a glass of wine for dinner at Church Lane Pizza.  Once back in the hotel, we headed to the bar to order a nightcap to take to the room.  We ordered Manhattan's, but they didn't know how to make them.  However, the young gal was willing to make it per my directions.  It was quite tasty.

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Day 3 Touring The UK, Bodmin Moor, Jamaica Inn, St. Michael's Mount (Part I)

The plan for the day, be on the coach at 8 am, stop around 9:15 at the Jamica Inn, move onto Marazion for a picture stop of St. Michael's Mount, move onto St. Ives and have lunch; and be back at the hotel around 5.  Our tour director generally had this posted somewhere the evening before so we could plan a bit, but sometimes he didn't put it out until we were at breakfast, and sometimes he only had a copy on the bus...which wasn't as helpful.

Our itinerary had a bit more info:  Travel through the unspoiled beauty of Bodmin Moor: stop for photo's at Jamaica Inn, built in 1750 and immortalized in Daphne du Maurier's tale of daring smugglers.  Visit the coastal village of Marazion to see the romantic outline of St. Michael's Mount, an island topped by a spectacular castle.  In the old fishing town of St. Ives, take a walking tour to see it's cobbled streets, quaint cottages, art galleries, and surrounding sandy beaches.  Enjoy time to explore before returning to a free evening in Tavistock.

This was the view from our hotel window,(The Bedford Hotel) you can see how old the buildings are, and how foggy it was off in the distance.  We were staying in Tavistock.  Our hotel was without air conditioning, which is not uncommon in Europe.  It was also without an elevator, also not uncommon in Europe.  Both of those conditions caused several in our group some issues.  In my previous post I mentioned we were without electric our first night there and showed a picture of the hotel.

Our first stop was the Jamaica Inn.  You can see it was indeed old (built in 1750).  The beauty of Bodmin Moor that we were to enjoy on the way was a bust due to the fog and rain off and on.

The Inn had several rooms, folks looked around and some got a coffee, others of us made a bathroom stop and looked around in the gift shop.

Joss was the inkeeper, and the leader of a gang of smugglers who worked the Cornish Coastline.  The author Daphne du Maurier actually stayed at the inn and used it as her inspiration when she wrote the novel, Jamaica Inn in 1936.  Alfred Hitchcock directed a film staring Maureen  O'Hara, a period piece set in the 1815 time frame.  There was also a TV series staring Jane Seymour in 1983.  Apparently the TV series followed the novel more closely.  All I can find is Joss Merlyn was stabbed and found by his niece Mary.

I peered out at our coach before pulling up my hood on my rain coat, as it was raining a bit.  Another cute red phone box.

Before getting back on the coach, I wanted at least one picture of Bodmin Moor; but as you can see with the fog, our views were limited.

Not sure I would describe the view of St. Michael's Mount as "romantic".  But maybe if we could have seen the Castle on top?

From their webpage: what we weren't able to see.  This photo was taken during low tide, when you can walk to the island.  There are things to explore, places to shop and eat.  You need a ticket to tour the castle.

A view at night of the castle lighted.  You can get tickets for boat rides during the day or evening to get to the island during high tide.  The St. Aubyn Family gave the land to the National Trust in 1954, thought they have a 999 year lease to stay and live in the Castle and maintain the visitors business.  Our stop was about 15 minutes, long enough to attempt pictures and a few found time to use the restroom facilities.  People were quickly back on the coach due to the rain.

I'm breaking this day up for 2 posts, due to the number of pictures.  Please pop back in .

PLEASE leave me a comment when you come visit, so I know you were here. Your visits and comments are very special to me. AND remember, leave your name and url and not your profile link. Name and url takes me right to your blog post so I can reciprocate the visit.