Had a fantastic day, today! Crammed in a lot of sightseeing.

In West Cornwall, there are several buses that will get you around to some places but there is at least one hop on-hop off service that has open-top, double-decker sightseeing buses that make a circuit around the western tip of Cornwall. We decided to take the bus to Land's End.

Luckily, I was able to flag down the bus at a local stop a 1/2 block from my B&B. Jo, Duncan & the boys had already boarded closer to where they are staying. Of course, we had to sit up top. Boy, was it cold & windy up there! Actually, it was a picture perfect day here in West Cornwall. Clear and sunny skies, warm, just beautiful. Even though it was chilly on the bus, it was my ears that seemed to be the most cold. I really wish I'd had a scarf or something, but managed o.k.

We saw some absolutely spectacular and stunning scenery along the way. Incredible ocean views and changing landscapes. We started out on the Atlantic Ocean side and went all the way around to the English Channel side. Be sure to check out the photos!

That poor bus driver had some pretty steep hills to climb, and lots of winding roads to maneuver. Many of the secondary roads here are very narrow and some are barely wider than one lane--more on that later. At one point, we were stopped for about 10 or 15 minutes so the driver could do some maintenance or something. We thought the bus had broken down. But soon, we were back on our way.

At times, as we drove through tiny villages, you could literally reach out and touch the 2nd story windows of some of the homes we passed. By the time we had reached Land's End, little Daniel was fast asleep in Jo's arms. She didn't want to wake him so we didn't get off the bus. We decided instead to continue on and try to see St. Michael's Mount in Marazion.

For some reason, we had to get off the bus in Penzance and wait for another bus to continue our journey. So, we had about 15 or 20 minutes to mill around the bus area and use the bathrooms. We could see St. Michael's Mount in the distance.

From Land's End to Marazion, the scenery was completely different! It was much more wooded and at times we were traveling through tunnels of trees. It was very beautiful. When we got to Marazion, we left the bus and walked to the beach. I took off my shoes and wandered out to the water. Had to get my feet wet, today. I thought the water was surprisingly warm.

We decided to walk over the causeway to St. Michael's Mount and started to cross but Jo checked the website on her phone and found that the causeway was closing right then. It closes to pedestrian traffic when the tide comes in and covers it. At that point the only way to get across is by boat. So, we just missed being able to walk across. We made our way to a boat and got shuttled over. We didn't have time to go up to the "castle", but instead sat at the outdoor cafe and had some ice cream. It was the perfect day for it.

After a while, we made our way back to the boat inlet and were shuttled back to shore where we walked around for a little while. We stopped in a little cafe and had a cream tea. It was really nice! I always thought clotted cream was really sweet, but it's almost like butter. From there, we made our way to the bus stop where we reboarded the 300 bus and headed back. Jo wanted to take me to Trencrom Hill which figures into our family history so after the bus trip, she left Duncan & the boys at home and came back to get me in the car.

It was a bit strenuous getting to the top of the hill via a footpath but it was so worth it! Wow! You could see for miles. We could see places we had been to earlier on the bus. We could see both the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. It was just spectacular! It was so peaceful up there. Back in the Iron Age it was a hill fort. All you could hear were singing birds. The air is so clean & fresh. It's just a very special place. I could have stayed there all day.

On the way down, we took a side path to see what we could see and found "Trecobben" which was the home of one of our ancestors! It was tucked away behind some foliage but I managed to snap a picture. We could see that the stone wall was original but it looked as though the house had either been rebuilt or added on to.

I'm so glad Jo knows her way around the area. The back roads are very, very narrow and, wherever you go, there are high hedges on both sides of the road. The area has a lot of brush and in most places there are stone walls on either side of the road. If the road is too narrow for two cars to pass, one must back up to a wider point, let the other car pass and then keep going. There were a couple of white-knuckle moments for me, but Jo handled the driving like the expert she is!

From there we took advantage of the long-lasting daylight to visit a couple of churches that figure into our family history. At the first one, in Ludgvan, we arrived to the beautiful sound of pealing bells. I learned that all the churches practice ringing the bells one night each week but can't ring them after 9:00 p.m.

We wandered around exploring the churchyards, looking for any headstones that might figure into our family trees. There were sections that were terribly overgrown with knee-high weeds & wildflowers. It was difficult to navigate the terrain and was hard to maintain your balance.

Before we left we decided to see if the church was locked or not. It was open so we walked on in. There was a window from the sanctuary to the belfry and we could see about 6 people up there pulling the bell ropes.

Before it got too dark, we decided to go on to the next church. But, by the time we got there the battery in my camera had died and I didn't much feel like tripping over any more weeds and buried headstones. The sun was going down anyway. After leaving, not far away, we had a beautiful view of the sunset over the ocean. Jo will e-mail the picture as I couldn't take any more.

We tried to find a grocery store in St Ives but couldn't find any place to park. I knew there was a little grocery up the road from my B&B so we went there so I could get a sandwich. That was our busy, whirlwind day in a nutshell! I am pretty sunburned wherever my skin was exposed during the bus ride. I'm sure I'll also be sore tomorrow from climbing Trencrom Hill. I haven't made any plans as yet so will just play it by ear for now. I will be on my own again tomorrow.