We took the night train down to Cornwall on Thursday, arriving into St Ives on Friday morning in plenty of time to pick a prime location to watch the solar eclipse. I had gone armed with a couple of pieces of A4 paper one with a pinhole carefully placed in the middle but on the day it was a big fat fail and was swiftly consigned to the bin. There were plenty of people around each with their own methods of viewing including colanders, special glasses and a welding mask, all with varying degrees of success.
It got extremely cold when it reached it's peak so we used this as a good excuse to nip off and get a cuppa.
I couldn't get a decent shot of the eclipse but I was fascinated by the way the light played on the sea and wet sand
We were staying at the Pedn Olva hotel and had paid a premium for a room with a balcony, it was nice to have somewhere to sit out and the view was glorious. Overlooking Porthminster Beach it is a view I could be happy to enjoy everyday.
view from the balcony at the Pedn Olva
Pretty much every time we go away one of us will have forgotten to pack something, this time it was my turn, I had forgotten my PJs. A quick trip to the Cath Kidstonshop found a smashing pair in their half price sale.
http://www.cathkidston.com/under-%C2%A350/kingswood-rose-long-pj-set-1013235
If we were writing a tick list of things to do at the seaside it would look something like this
- walk on the beach
- cream tea
- fish and chips
- play on the penny slots
- watch the sun go down
- take lots of photos
- walk along the pier
and I am happy to say we ticked off the lot
On Sunday morning I was blessed by one of the local seagull population, right down the sleeve of my coat. Obviously we rushed to the nearest newsagent to buy a lottery ticket! However, it doesn't seemed to have brought any good luck so far!
Sunday night we eagerly boarded the sleeper train dropped our bags off in our berth and headed for the buffet car. We were chatting away when we realised that the time had passed for us to depart but there was no sign of us going anywhere. With that a member of staff announced that there was a problem with the radio system in cab that meant it was not being tracked properly, clearly a serious issue and it couldn't be repaired quickly. the sleeper train was not going to run that night. A replacement service was to be run but it was just a normal train and would not offer the sleeping berths, it would arrive into Paddington around 5 o'clock but unlike the sleeper train we would not be able to stay on board. The majority of passengers were happy to go with this but it was not suitable for us as our connecting train was not until much later so the staff organised a hotel for us.
Sleeping berths on the Night Riviera
The following morning we took a revised route opting to avoid changing in London and chose to change at Birmingham instead. This was a decision we regretted a few hours later as a goods train had derail outside of Birmingham causing a number of trains to be cancelled, re-routed or delayed. We eventually got back to Nottingham at 6 o'clock, 25 hours after leaving St Ives. I could do with another weekend away to get over my weekend away!
What would be on your list of things to do at the seaside? Are there any places you always visit in St Ives?
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