Saturday, August 13, 2011

England Trip: Day 1

So, I had some free time in between my Disney trip and my (supposed) Louisiana/Mississippi trip so I took off to Europe again. :) I flew on KLM (partner of Delta). Unfortunately I had to sit in the middle in the center aisle but I got to fly into Amsterdam, which was really cool. Wish I could have stayed...There are just TOO MANY places to go!
As soon as I got into London, I immediately headed to Paddington Station on the Heathrow Express and got my ticket for the Penzance train station. 89 British pounds was about $150 so it was quite a bit but with gasoline prices and car rentals up it was a better deal.
A seven hour train ride later I got to Penzance (Southwest coast of England) and arrived at the Abbey Hotel from my travel bible, 1000 Things to See Before You Die. It was an amazing hotel! And seeing as I booked the day before and day of I was very lucky to get one of their 7 rooms.
My room was on the third floor of the house and getting my 45lb suitcase up those staircases SUCKED! But it was well worth it for the views and the cute, two-bed room.
What an AMAZING view of the Penzance Harbor from my room the first night.
And a GREAT view of St Michael's Mount...
After a shower and resting a bit from my (almost 30 hour journey) I set out to walk around Penzance. Saw their beautiful church right across the street from the hotel. Well, more around the corner...
They were having their Pirate Festival that weekend so I got to see them setting up for it.
Then I walked around the waterfront/boardwalk. Magical!!
Just a view of what I was seeing as walking around the city of Penzance...
The streets :)
Since I was going to be at The Abbey Hotel for 3 nights I picked up some snacks and drinks since they had nothing in the room or at the hotel (more of a bed and breakfast).
And as I was wandering around I stopped in at The Turks Head pub which was the oldest pub in Penzance.
Had a glass of wine and an amazing crab and cheese pastry thing (there's a name for it but I forgot, oops). It wasn't a crab cake.....darn it, oh well. Even though the edges were burned it was good.

Then I headed back to the room early to relax from a long day of traveling and to get ready and make a plan for the next day!