Cornwall

Cornwall is the southern-most and probably the western-most county in England. It has some of the most stunning landscapes and unspoilt country side I have seen so far. Thanks to the royal wedding, we had a 4 day weekend and made a swift decision to do a short trip to Cornwall.

This is my second time visiting this county and I was more than excited to go back to the white sandy beaches, blue-green ocean and amazing views of the Atlantic. Although New Quay is the most popular tourist destination in Cornwall, it is one of those nice cities you can stay at and drive around the rest of Cornwall. But for two people without a driving license, relying on public transport was the only option. We wanted to stay as south as possible, since most of the tourist attractions in Cornwall lie down south. Our search for a nice location boiled down to St Ives and Penzance. St Ives is a small touristic town with lots of beaches whereas Penzance is a more commercial town with good rail links from London King's Cross. We were more inclined towards St Ives after reading about its vast stretches of beautiful beaches. But our hunt for accommodation in St Ives proved futile since everyone visiting the south end of Cornwall stayed in this rather small beach town. After much searching, we managed to find an accommodation at a farm house a few miles from the Penzance city centre.

We reached Penzance and were kindly offered a ride home by Terry, the landlord of the Lower Treave farmhouse we were going to stay at. We passed just 3 or 4 farmhouses during the entire 20 minute drive and each one of them was such a gem. With their own chickens, horses, potted plants and pretty country cottages it looked like the most peaceful way to lead one's life. After settling in, we had to rush to catch the bus to Land's End.Unlike in London where trains and buses run every two minutes, in Penzance there were only 3 buses running per day! So one will have to wait at least half a day before getting on the next bus. Luckily for us the bus stop was just up the driveway. The view from the stop was so beautiful, majestic horses in the farm surrounded by greenery and mountains, I could have waited for the bus forever. We waited 10 minutes and the bus had not arrived yet. Being so used to buses being punctual by the second, we got a bit worried we might have missed our ride. But luckily we hadn't! I recommend to those using the bus service in Cornwall to sit on the top deck. We promptly did and the next stop was at Sennen Cove. From the top, the view of the cove was absolutely brilliant. The beach looked so inviting that I immediately wanted to get off the bus. But we decided to control the urge and do Lands end first.

Lands end is the southernmost tip of England with awesome views over the Atlantic ocean. A number of cycle races happen between here and John'O Groats which is the northernmost point of England. For a while we were just standing on the edge of the cliff looking at the vast blue ocean. There is an RSPB centre, more like a shack with some enthusiastic bird watchers who were more than willing to lend us one of their ultra-powerful binoculars we used to view the dilapidated lighthouse and some sea birds chilling on it. I instantly fell in love with their work and signed up for a membership program, which came with a glossy sea life book with amazing pictures of birds and sea life. From Lands end one can go on a number of picturesque coastal walks and obviously we decided to go on the one leading to Sennen Cove. Soaked the beauty of the cove while enjoying a delicious icecream topped with cornish whipped cream and fish & chips! That brought an end to our first day in Cornwall. We took the bus back to the farmhouse from the cove.

Day 2 of this trip is what I was most looking forward to. We planned a day trip to the Scilly isles. Isles of Scilly is a part of the British isles about 28 miles south of Lands end famous for its clear water beaches, big houses with well kept gardens and abundant sea life. We took the Sky bus to St Mary's island from the Lands end airport. It truly was a small bus in the sky, the smallest flight I have been on from the smallest airport ever. We were 8 passengers in total and it felt like all of were crammed into the cockpit. The island was filled with pretty houses with beautiful gardens. It was a good change from the hustle and bustle in Penzance. Everything seemed very laid back and it is an ideal retirement place literally away from the rest of the world. We took a stroll along the streets of St Mary's island. We then treated ourselves to coffee and more cornish ice cream while sitting on a sea facing bench with not a worry in the world. We then decided to go on the wildlife watching cruise to the eastern isles. It was a beautiful boat trip, made us wonder if all of the land masses scattered across the ocean were a part of England ages ago. Spotted a few birds and got off at St Martin's island wondering why we had not spotted any seals yet. After the boat left us at the island, we discovered much to our foolishness that we should have stayed on the boat to continue on the cruise. It was just the two of us on the endless white sandy beach with amazing mountain views. How often in life do we get stranded like this?! So we decided to make the most of it, had some lunch on the beachfront and played frisbee until the boat came back to the island. Since we so badly wanted to see the seals, we hopped on a glass-floored boat to go seal spotting. It was an amazing experience to see the vegetation on the sea bed and shoals of fish whizz past the boat. Finally we saw seals lazing on the rocks, every now n then a head popping out of water. I love watching wild animals in their natural habitat and this was a fantastic experience.  After the cruise, we went back to the Cornish mainland on a cruise ship which left us at Penzance train station.

The next day we decided to take it easy and visited just the Minack theatre and the adjacent Porthcurno beach. The weather wasn't so great and it was a bit of a struggle getting back to the farmhouse. We decided to stay in the rest of the day. On the final day of our trip, we went around the garden and the rest of the farmhouse and left to the train station after a nice goodbye to Jill and Terry! But we sure made a mental note to come back to Cornwall when one of us gets a driving license. Overall cornwall is an extremely beautiful place to visit during the summer. I suggest 3-4 days as being just enough to get the most out of the county. For anyone with a car, I also recommend visiting the Eden project on the way back to London.

Venezia

My first blog is coming in months after my trip to Venice. Recollecting the 5 magical days spent at the most magical, not to mention the most romantic place I have been to so far is in itself a wonderful experience. It is one of those places you hear and read about your entire life, see songs and scenes in movies shot there and to actually visit such a place in my lifetime got me so thoroughly excited.

Venice with its narrow winding streets, studded with extravagant mask shops, moisture-locked walls with an occasional multi-coloured flower basket, numerous bridges to cross the waterways where you spot ever so often a gondola carrying tourists, small gelato shops with gelato in every colour you could imagine, street vendors selling counterfeit Gucci and LV bags, high-end brand outlets in the smallest of street corners and every now n then a couple sharing an umbrella in the rain makes me want to pay yet another visit to this Italian marvel. I know for one that I cannot do justice to the magic this place has in store through this blog. But nevertheless I am going to continue writing my experience!

After much struggle getting to the London Gatwick airport and making the entire flight wait for the two of us, we boarded the British airways flight bound to Venice. It was as though the flight took off the second we got on. Never rely on the London metro when you have an early morning flight was a lesson learnt the hard way. The 2-hour journey was not enough to stop panting from all the running we did that morning. But as the flight was descending, the view of the airport situated right next to the sea was breathtaking. The minute we stepped out of the airport, we were greeted by a stunning view that was worth everything we went through that morning. The water-view was never ending, sure I have seen never ending water bodies before, but the thought that a boat was now going to take us to Venice and that we were going to be surrounded by only water for the next week was so very exciting. I had read beforehand that there were no cars on the Venezian mainland and water was the only means of transport. We took the Ali-laguna boat service to get to the mainland. It was my first time seeing traffic lights in the water and every lamp post had an oil bird perched on it! The first view of the city got me clicking away pictures by the tens. A line of faded pink and blue houses with their doors opening to the water and situated right next to a bridge under which sea water flows into a canal leading to the city was the first view I got of the city. It was just so pretty that I almost started jumping in my seat. Everyone on the boat with us were tourists just like us and I wasn't the only behaving mental!

We got off the boat at San Marco, which is the main boat stop for the city and started hunting for our hotel. The first street we stepped into was flooded and at any other time I would've hated the sight of so much slush. But to learn the fact that at high tide the city gets flooded added to the touristy charm of the place. We waded through the water with the luggage and managed to find our hotel. We stayed at hotel Gorizia A La Valigia. Nothing fancy but the perfect choice for someone looking for a neat, decent size room to crash at the end of a tiring day. It was not a great day to begin the trip as it was constantly drizzling and by the time we settled in, my childishness had settled as well and my dislike for rains started kicking in. Nevertheless we made an effort to leave the hotel and explore the city a little. To our surprise the hotel reception was now empty with all the furniture shifted elsewhere. We were shocked to hear that water had entered the hotel and even more shocked to find the staff not so shocked! We learned that this was the norm in Venice.

A two minute walk from our hotel led us to Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square). The entire piazza was flooded and tourists had to walk on raised wooden platforms arranged to avoid walking in the water. The piazza was well-lit and looked beautiful though the water did not let us do more than just stand around and watch, while making plans for the next day in the head hoping tomorrow is going to be sunny and not so wet. We then decided to go to a pizzeria near the Rialto bridge for dinner. It was a nice candle-light dinner right next to the grand canal with the Rialto bridge as the backdrop. You pay more for the view and the experience than for the food itself, but it is definitely worth it. This romantic dinner ended our first few hours in Venice.

The next morning I woke up with much anticipation of a bright sunny day. But to my despair it turned out to be yet another cold and rainy day. Considering we had only 5 full days in the city, we got dressed, stepped out and headed straight to the piazza. The piazza is always a busy place with tourists, street vendors selling cheap t-shirts, souvenirs and bird food for people interested in feeding the  gazillions of pigeons and gulls inhabiting the area. Unlike yesterday, today we got to see the inside of the basilica as the water had cleared and the queue was not bad. The basilica itself was very beautiful with brilliant ceiling paintings, although I do not quite remember the names of the artists. Personally I am more in love with landscapes than I am with paintings and history!

We then climbed up the 12th century bell tower at the piazza least expecting anything but a few telescopes with 10 heads behind each one of them. But to our surprise, the tower gave a fantastic top view of the city which I highly recommend to everyone visiting Venice. The wind on top was freezing cold, but I enjoyed seeing Lido, Murano, Burano islands (though I couldn't tell which land mass was which island!), the top of the basilica and the innumerable ships, private and vaporetti boats dotting the endless stretch of water from the top.

We then took a walk around the Doge's place. It wasn't until my last day in Venice that I noticed the Bridge of sighs behind the ghastly billboard covering half of Doge's palace. I have cursed that billboard everyday of my stay in Venice, since it managed to spoil every picture that I took of the bridge or of the palace! It would really make a big difference to not have that blue billboard sprawling along the entire side wall of the palace covering the entire bridge of sighs. History has it that the bridge was used to transport prisoners from one cell to the other and they used to sigh every time they caught a glimpse of the beautiful city outside, hence the obvious name.

A stroll along the sea at the other end of the piazza reveals the mainland and the Venetian islands in all their glory. The evening is the best time to soak the beauty of the city since it is so well-lit and looks so idyllic. I felt like I had to capture everything my eye could see. But pictures just cant do justice to what the eye beholds. One thing about Venice that I truly admire is, although the entire city floats on water, the water is still such a beautiful blue and green colour and most of the water is still litter-free. I have read people write about how the Venetian canals are used as sewage ducts and now I am sure those people have not visited Venice in their lifetime. For lunch that day, we went to a very warm and cozy Italian restaurant. The spaghetti in white sauce that I had is the best I have had so far. My search for an equivalent of that in London is yet to prove fruitful.

The next day was the best day of our trip. It was a very sunny beautiful day and this made us so cheerful. We planned to take the Vaporetti routes 1 and 2. Vaporetti is the public transport in Venice, much like the metro trains are in London. The frequency is good and it is a cheaper way of seeing the city than taking a private water taxi which is over-hyped and over-priced. The vaporetti routes 1 and 2 are well-known among tourists since they cover the entire city and the view you get of the Rialto bridge and the Venetian houses from them is nothing like what you see from the land. I promptly went to the front of the boat and it was a brilliant experience. I completely felt like I was shown around the city on a private tour. I fell more in love with the city after these boat trips. Some of my favourite pictures of Venice were taken on these boat rides. On these rides we discovered the more modern part of the city with the Mestre train station and decided to take a tour of it. Luckily we found a buffet place which was called "Buffet" serving good Italian food for a fraction of the price. I suggest this part of the city as a getaway for anyone overwhelmed by the old buildings and too much water as it is more modern and fast paced with buses and not just boats everywhere! On the Vaporetti, there were announcements at every stop in both Italian and English. I loved the way the Italian woman stressed the "R" in words, so much that even days after the trip we kept repeating "Rrrrriyalto" (Rialto) and "Murrrrano" (Murano)!

The next day we went on our boat trips to the islands of Burano, Murano and Lido. Burano is a pretty island with chocolate box houses and glass-ware shops. The entire island is dissected into two by a canal running the middle. Murano is symbolic of the world-famous Murano glass artifacts. On this island, we went to a glass factory where a skillful designer demoed how they make such exquisite art pieces. From here we made our trip towards Lido island. Once on Lido, we were so pleasantly surprised since the island seemed very modern with nice cafes and modern hotels. The Venetian mainland definitely is stuck in history and that is what makes Venice such a gem. But Lido is a good option for anyone wanting to stay on the modern side and travel to the mainland just for the day to soak in the oldness of the city. Since the time we discovered "buffet", we had all our meals there.

Anyone reading this never-ending blog would imagine if we ever did the trademark-of-Venice Gondola ride. Before leaving for the trip, we had decided we wouldn't do it, since it is not worth the money, we see all that on the Vaporetti etc etc etc. But once there, we could not resist but jump into the bandwagon of I-have-been-to-Venice-And-I-Have-Done-The-Gondola-Ride! We sucked it up and paid quite a large sum for a ride along the Grand Canal. The gondola ride, though expensive is nothing like the Vapoterri. It is a one of a kind experience and I am happy I did it. We took around 112245345000 photos on it, off it, with it, with the gondolier, of the gondolier, without the gondolier, of the gondola, of us, of Rialto, us with the Rialto, gondolier with the Rialto and on n on n on! We then wandered about in the fruit and sea food market, saw a variety of fruits and fish (duh???), bought a number of souvenirs, enough to make our home feel like a Venetian souvenir shop and it was then time to pack up and leave to the airport on the Ali-laguna.

Although I was ready to get back home, away from the slow romantic city of Venice to the fast life in London, Venice is nothing like what I have heard so many people say, that it is over-hyped and it is not as romantic etc etc. In my opinion, Venice is a gem of a city tucked away in the middle of nowhere capable of bringing out the romantic even in the most un-romantic person there is! I absolutely loved Venice and would rave about its beauty forever and ever.

Travel Tip: Visiting a city like Venice with someone you truly love makes it more than just a city on your must-visit-before-I-die list!