CORNWALL 2017: The Mevagissey Fishing Port

The same day we did the Spit Cliffs walk on a rainy afternoon (last post), we also did a walk-about in nearby Mevagissey that sunny morning.  Don't you love weather!

Mevagissey is only 6 miles SW from the St. Austell area, our homebase.

[Google image]

As we drove along the coast to get there, Pauline stopped the car to show us this view.

Now you know why Cornwall is a MUST for so many people.

Mevagissey is one of many wee fishing ports that makes Cornwall so idyllic.

It's population is only 2K.  

As you turn the corner, there she is.

We arrived while the tide was still mostly in (an important detail we're learning).

Look at how the town hugs its harbor.  It's their livelihood.

When you step back to get the bigger picture, it's a rugged livelihood.

But deep inside the harbor, you feel the coziness of it.

Dare you leave the breakwater, you pass the the massive rock formation to the open sea.

[Am still trying to find if it has a name, that rock!  Surely?!]

Did you see the wee lighthouse in the preceding collage, bottom-right image?

Once you reach it, you are "out to sea," so to speak.

The vantage point from the lighthouse that day highlighted this yellow beauty.

She's the Valhalla BH-9 trawler of the Mevagissey fleet.

How fun to look up these boats like they're people!

And how fun to see evidence that this truly is a fishing port.

While walking back from the lighthouse, guess what!

The tide was now out and we got to see the beached boats that still amaze us to no end.

So Astrid, of course, climbed down to search for treasures, of which she found many
(for her blue bag).

See what I mean about Cornwall?!  So idyllically wonderful.

Don't get me wrong...it has its own economic trials and tribulations.

BUT...it is a treasure to be found and taken care of while cherishing.

ENGLAND 2016: Cornwall's Charlestown and Fowey

I've just figured out that I AM organized, after all, and have decided to tackle the Cornwall part of our recent England trip first.

So, after Roche last post, you'll see a smattering of both Charlestown and Fowey this time, small towns on the coast near Pauline and Chris' home.

1.  Charlestown, Cornwall

Charlestown is only 6 miles from Pauline's, so it was an easy trip our first day,

after arriving by train from Bath.

It's a fishing port developed in the late 1790's and has remained relatively unchanged.

Because of that, it's been used as a filming location for both movies and TV series.

We stayed long enough to get a feel for the place, looking out to the Celtic Sea!

I wonder, of course, if Charleston, SC, in the USA, is a distant relative?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

2.  Fowey, Cornwall

The next day, after our morning visit to the Roche Rock and parish church, we spent the afternoon in Fowey (pronounced foy), this time with Chris along for the ride.

Fowey is another small town and cargo port, this time 12 miles from "home base."

The parking lot near the ferry even has spaces for boats.

It was a good start to our trip.

Fowey has been the inspiration of many authors, apparently,

with Daphne de Maurier's house across the River Fowey pointed out to us.

We wandered our way through the town, stopping whenever and wherever we wished...

ending up at the harbor.

That's where we watched the school kids catch their ferry across the river home.

It's a cozy inlet from the Celtic Sea.

But it was the parish church, dedicated to Saint Finbarr, that Pauline wanted us to see,

and where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

The earlier Norman church was rebuilt in the 1460s after the French destroyed it.

Pauline wanted us to see the green men!

You could spend hours looking at the details.
This is o l d.

But Pauline wanted us to see the other green men inside...

after I got my first impressions of the nave.

What is it about the green men in these churches????

Lisl and Philine know a lot about them...and now they've got my atrention.

Even the pulpit, constructed from a Spanish galleon's captain's cabin, has them.

Don't you want to know everything about them?

By now the stained glass windows seem ordinary by comparison.

Did I say that?

And in case we didn't know, yes, it is still an active parish church,

keeping the needs of the impoverished in mind.

As I always say, Impressions, Impressions, Impressions.

The Other Side of Ayush's Visit

What?  Well, in that last post when Ayush visited us here where we live in Gorinchem, NL, I also took lots of pics without him in them, of course.  THAT other side.  That's what this post is about as we went here-n-there around our backyard.  Just for the record, you know.

So, remember the train station in Geldermalsen where we picked Ayush up?

It was full of goodies...like the Star of David, for one.

The snail weathervane was on a house in the neighborhood nearby.

When we crossed the big Merwede river by car ferry to the Loevestein castle,

we spotted a cow in the thicket and a ram guarding the gate.

That's what I mean by "goodies."

Inside the castle there were plenty of photo ops.

These places cater to photographers!

Once in Woudrichem, next door to the castle...more goodies.

In fact, while Astrid and Ayush were climbing up to the top of the windmill,

I stayed below with the sheep, watching them graze nearby.

Over hill, over dale....

Woudrichem has one of my favorite Dutch harbors.  It never disappoints.

The next day, when we took our Gorinchem citadel walk...more goodies.

Even the English narrowboat was in our inner harbor, a frequent visitor throughout the year.

To finish the weekend at Kinderdijk was the crowning touch, of course.

How can one place have so many faces, so many sides....

You know me. I can never get enough...or too much...of these goodnesses everywhere we go.

By now you should recognize all of it, but it's never the same two times in a row.

For those of you who also follow me at my Shutterchance photo blog,

do you ever guess which of the images I show here will end up there with a few more tweaks?

HA!  Just asking!  :)

Ostend, Belgium, End of November 2014

FINALLY, here's the last post of that wonderful trip to Belgium at the end of November over a month ago!  It was my goal to finish it all before I go into the hospital on Thursday for a left-knee replacement.  (But more on that later.)

It so happens that Astrid received an email while we were in Atlanta in October, giving us an offer too good to refuse:  4 days, 3 nights at a city-center hotel in Ostend, Belgium, full breakfast included, for €154 total.  Not per night.  Total.  After reading the fine print and seeing nothing askew with the offer, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO ASK US TWICE.

Ostend is on the North Sea coast (remember the tram ride?).  It's a 15-minute train ride to Bruges, where we saw the Christmas market and the Snow & Ice Sculpture festival.  We arrived on Friday, December 28th, and left the following Monday, December 1st.

We loved being situated in the center of the city in a very cozy hotel and room.

Just a block away was the magical Winterijs wonderland, first day of its 2014 opening.

And since it was lunchtime, what better place to go native.

Brats with onions!

Then, we were on a mission to see as much of the city center as possible before nightfall.

We knew the rest of the weekend was "taken."

In hopes it would still be open, we first headed off to Ostend's main church,

with it's separate St. Peter's Tower across the street from 1478.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a Roman Catholic neo-gothic church from 1899.

 And, yes, it was open!

It was the perfect time of the day to be there, with the sun prisms dancing around the stained glass.

When we went back outside, the sun caught this one spot of the rose window.

It was magical.

 Across the harbor from the church, a short walk away, was the train station.

I LOVE European train stations and boat harbors.

When you can get both together in the same photos, it feels better than perfect.

The next day, Saturday, when we took the train to Bruges, I got some close-ups.

 As we walked inland along the harbor, we came to the Zeilschip Mercator,

once a training ship for the Belgian merchant fleet, now a floating museum.

  If we can't take a joke, right?!

With the sun setting by late afternoon, we headed to the Albert I Promenade to catch it.

Sitting on a bench from 5-5:30, this is what we saw.

A brave surfer nearby was also catching the sun...and waves.

You always see things a bit differently at night, of course.

Back where we started from, even the Winterijs pavilion had perked up.

Ostend is a delightful city at any time of the year, I'm sure.

But we loved being there at the holiday time.

 As we often say, we were "short of eyes."

After all, Belgium is our neighbor to the south of us, just a 30-minute drive to the border.

We should probably go there more often!!!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

About that knee replacement:  After a volleyball accident in 1971, I have finally cried "UNCLE!"  I can hardly wait to get a new knee, even though I know I have a long row to hoe once it's done.  They say it's the most complicated of orthopedic surgeries but also one of the most successful.  So I am highly optimistic and expect nothing but the best.

Wish us both (poor Astrid!) much success, please and thank you.

And of course, I'll catch you up as soon as possible (after my 5-day hospital stay).