England: Falmouth to Land’s End

England:  Falmouth to Land’s End

The Emerald Princess arrived off-shore from Falmouth, England this morning.  MA and I signed up for a bus tour of the countryside to the most westerly English peninsula, Land’s End. First things first, though, with room service breakfast at 7am. We joined our fellow travelers in the Princess Theater at 9am.  The crew then took us downstairs to a waiting tender craft that would take us ashore via the harbor of Falmouth, the deepest harbor in Western Europe. At the port a very comfortable bus was waiting and we met our guide, a charming British lady who knew everything about this part of England.

The first stop was a photo op at St. Michael’s Mount, an abbey built on a low tidal island off the coast.  It is accessible by foot at low tide and by boat during high tide.  It is no longer an abbey but someone’s private residence given to him by an English king after the Catholics were removed.

Our tour continued on going through an area of tin mines, rolling green hills, dairy farms, and planted crops.  It was as green as Ireland. Our guide told us about some of the local “Cornish” foods and one she described is called “pasty”.  It is very much like an empanada that is stuffed with meat and potatoes. 

We arrived at Land’s End and decided to have lunch.  Naturally we had to try the local fare which we split because the pasty is huge.  After lunch we walked around Land’s End peninsula and took some photos.  We met our group an hour later, boarded the bus, and slept most of the hour drive back to the ship. 

We had afternoon cappuccinos after getting back to the ship.  Dinner is at 8:15 and you know we don’t miss the meals!  We’ll check in tomorrow after visiting Normandy, France and the D-day Museum, something I truly look forward to doing.