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.

VENICE 2017: Murano

As you see, I'm moving along as soon as I get a new batch of images done, determined to get through the Venice-Verona trip as quickly as possible.  The method to my madness is partly because we have a short trip to Cornwall, England, coming up next week for 5 days.  Not that I'll finish Venice by then, of course...but you get the picture!

Almost everyone who makes it to Venice tries to also make the fast hop-over by vaporetto to Murano, just 3.5 km away in the Venetian lagoon.

Others will also make it further to Burano the same day, which I did in a past life.  

You can do both in one day...but I'm glad this time we didn't.
(We did Burano 2 days later, which I've already shown you here.)

As I recall, there are 4 stops in Murano for the vaporetto waterbuses.

Since Murano is known for its glass, you can't miss it whichever stop you use, I'm sure.

Everywhere you go, storefront windows are displaying their goods.

And glass factories are hoping you will watch their glassblowing shows.

Murano is one of those touristy places, depending on YOU as their customers.

WE, however, know all about glassblowing from the Netherlands and had no interest in glass.

Or so we thought!

Suddenly, Astrid wondered if she could find a snail for her DIL who collects them.

So into one store we went...and because we did indeed buy a snail,

we became privy to their behind-the-scenes showrooms,

as well as to our own private show of their resident glassblower.

Lucky us.  And totally unexpected.

But as I said, we were not there for Murano's glass.

We were on a mission...

a little bit further along the main canal,

past the bell tower of San Giacomo and it's blue glass sculpture,

past this, that, and the other small bridges,

to the BIG bridge, they said.  THIS one, with good views along the canal.

Then we saw it:  the Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato, founded in the 7th century.

This was more important to us than all the glass in the world.

We were not disappointed!

It's known for its Veneto-Byzantine columns,

and its mosaic  floor, dating from 1140, incorporating fragments of ancient glass 

from the island's foundries.

It's a Gothic ship's keel roof.

You know me by now; I love all the wood.

I'm sure everything means something, inside and out.

(Like listening is more important than seeing or speaking?)

Notice how such places always work up an appetite!

All of that in the morning and then it was time to set off again for the afternoon...

to the cemetery on the island we had passed coming in, San Michele.

But first, some passing scenes as we left Murano and its landmark lighthouse from 1934...

and other churches we did not visit, like the Santa Maria degli Angeli (top row),

and the San Pietro Martire (bottom row).

Another morning of being "short of eyes."  HA!

Let's hear it for the guys...and gals!

The Alkmaar Trip: From Callantsoog Down the North Sea Coast

As you recall, this was a seize-the-weather over-nighter to see Alkmaar (last post) and then spend the night in Callantsoog, before heading back south along the coast towards home the next day. 

Once again, here's the map of North Holland province to get your bearings.

As you see, Callantsoog is right on the North Sea, a tourist town.

After settling into our hotel, we went off to the beach before it got too dark.

It was very cold and windy, just like you'd expect Dutch weather to be on the coast in March.

Eline (PT) had told me to not walk in the sand because it'd wreak havoc on my knee.

So I was a good girl and watched Astrid do her shenanigans.

The next morning we drove to see the iconic Reformed church in the center of town...

...before heading out on our way south along the coast.

Lucky for us to see these Scottish Highlander beauties basking in the morning sun.

Ten miles later we arrived in Camperduin, where Astrid spent many camping days as a child.

It was almost 50 years ago when she was last there with her family, so a lot had changed.

The Kies Voor Water (Choose for Water) was a voting prop for recent Dutch elections.

Nearby the campground, we drove into the town of Schoorl to see the sand dune

where Astrid and her brother spent hours climbing up and rolling down.

Anything idyllic along the way, like this wee church, got captured.

 Did I mention that North Holland is tulip-bulb country?

At this time all the bulbs are still underground, getting ready to be harvested for sale.

Tulip bulbs are sold all over the world from these fields.  Maybe you have some in your own yard?!

Some of the fields will grow the bulbs to full bloom within a month from now.

Maybe we'll go back to see them.....

Our last destination of the trip was Egmond aan Zee to see the lighthouse.

As we walked through town, we had fun seeing all the boats...on dry land.

The housewife of the two windows said every time they travel,

they collect another boat for their window displays.

At the end of her street, there it was:  the J.C.J. van Speijk Lighthouse. 

We don't see many lighthouses in the Netherlands, so this was a treat not to be missed.

And then, just outside of Alkmaar, before we hit the fast track home...

we happened upon this system of WWII bunkers built by Hitler's men

to combat any British planes flying in from the North Sea during the war.

Don't get me started on these bunkers all over Europe, reminders of a grim time in history.

Instead, let's think about how when Life hands us some lemons,

we can choose to make lemonade!

And that sounds like a good note to end such a splendid trip, don't you think?
Carpe Diem!

Our 2013 American Trip: Tybee Island, Georgia

After our all-day tour of Savannah, Georgia, the day before (last post), we woke up to a gloriously sunny Wednesday for our half-day trip to Tybee Island, before heading back to Bob and Peggy's, south of Atlanta.

Tybee Island is all of 2.7 sq. miles with a population of approximately 3K people just 18 miles east of downtown Savannah.  And because we visited during the off-season, in the middle of the week, we had it almost all to ourselves!

I just LOVE boardwalks down to the beach, don't you?!

And yes, that's the Atlantic Ocean.

What is it that calls us to the sea?

 As long as I can remember, "big water" has beckoned me.

Was it living in Michigan near the Big Lakes?

It's partly the beachcombing, of course.

Treasures of the sea.

After filling up our lungs with salt air that first stop, we drove to the lighthouse, first built in 1736.

What is it about lighthouses??!!

See how it just gets better and better.

Across the parking lot from the lighthouse is the Tybee Museum from 1961.

Though we didn't pay to go in, I especially liked all the flags, going back to the Spanish Period, 1520-1605.

There's even a Pirates flag at this Battery Garland of Fort Screven!

Behind the museum we walked down to the beach on this part of the island.

A charm of a different color!
(that's Astrid's pelican weathervane, which I totally missed!)

 I had the chance to try out the focal range on my new 24-1200mm PowerShot camera,

getting all these birds at close to the 1200mm maximun.  Pure craziness!
(Don't worry is that means nothing to you...they were very far away, that's all.)

I love that the beaches have these photogenic swings, don't you!

 AND a gazebo, where Bob and Peggy relaxed while Astrid and I beachcombed.

Walking back to the car...what a view!

Our last order of business before heading back home was the Crab Shack.

Bob had done the research and knew it was THE place to eat for lunch, chosen GA's best.

"Where the elite eat in their bare feet."

He heard no complaints from the peanut gallery!

Astrid and I shared the Sampler for one person and had more than enough to eat.

Remember, this was 2 weeks before Halloween!

And they can seat over 600 people during peak season.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

That was that...our 3-day, 2-night trip to Savannah and Tybee Island, thanks to Bob and Peggy.  Every time we spend time with them they have finished another part of the house they built from scratch.

The entire ground/walk-out basement floor is an apartment where we stay when we're there.

We could LIVE there, easily.  HA!

Even Roscoe, their adopted dog, feels at home there.

(all above images were taken by Astrid except the one of Roscoe, top-left, on the way to boarding)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Before signing off on this trip, here are some flowers from Savannah with the new camera.

I really am quite pleased with the results.

Even the macros have pleasantly surprised me...though I want to do a lot more tweaking.  

Lots of stops and whistles to figure out!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Next up...New York City, where we spent our first 5 days with Robin!