St Ives - Raft competition

when i arrived in St Ives i don't know why, maybe because of the ales i previously had in the best bus stop in the world, i remember i was very cheered up. well, there was another reason for that: this crazy raft competition. this was it's name, but it was more about dressing up than being the fastest. for example my personal favourite team finished last. in fact they didn't even reach the finish line... but if u ask the audience, they were the most popular...
here each team had to pick up their 'princess' and other team's supporters were trying to hamper it. the first team is approaching the meeting point:

Siege. The weapons: flour-filled balloons. attaaaaack!! waiting for the next candidates...
well, these guys sank half-way to the final. no surprise: with this vehicle... loooosers:they were loosers too, but they were the lovely ones :)
too silly to dislike them.
anyway, St Ives is a lovely port town, and even more one of the most popular holiday resorts in the UK. and i perfectly understand why:still in the evening i traveled to Penzance, coz i had accommodation there. i took this photo from the train:
next day i had only a few hours in the morning to have a look at the town. nice-nice, nothing memorable though - at least i can't remember anything special :)
but as always i spotted interesting things and i enjoyed walking around there too. i respect buskers (especially if they can play well...):then suddenly i felt like i was in a Western film:unfortunately i only saw St. Michael's Mount from the train, but it was still impressive (castle on an island):
here i was already stitting on the train, heading towards Manchester, being excited to meet someone whom i hadn't seen for a while.

Coastal Walk: St Ives

on friday i arrived at St Ives after a long journey by train leaving Exeter early in the morning. here i reached the south-westernmost part of England. Cornwell, home of the genuine Cornish pasty. as if anything else would not be called Cornish. in fact everything is Cornish there. Cornish Coffee, Cornish shoes Cornish everything. Faride, my sweet friend from Mexico told me that she wanted to visit Cornwall and buy some Cornish pasty for her dad. the story is that according to the rumour this pasty is very popular in Mexico thanks to English seamen who once docked in a small Mexican port village. In this village people started baking these pasties and this is the village where Faride's dad was born.
St Ives is a beautiful town with great beaches. but when i arrived i was more interested in the big 'WALK'. along the coast some 6 miles, up and down. u'll see why am i saying up and down.
looking back at the town.

the path was not everywhere as well maintained as here. in fact at places it was quite hardcore. i enjoyed it a lot, of course!! :)

just like in a film. it was stunning, i wish i had had more time and less package on my back. it was a real uninhabited beach!!! a pearl. pearl harbor :)

that's a funny story. no comment

beautiful. here was i climbing up and down...


this looked mega-giga funny. i was walking along the coast, everywhere sea, stunning cliffs, beautiful flowers and little streams and then suddenly a few separated squares showed up in front of me with cows eating inside. it's not extraordinary in England at all, maybe it is not extraordinary in normal means, only for me. it was a bit surreal. or what. :)

rocks


in certain parts of the UK you have to be very careful if you start tracking. if you don't make it on time to get the final destination, you can find yourself in the middle of nowhere with no public transport, no civilization in the near, and maybe even with no mobile network coverage. that's why after 6 miles i had to turn back so that i could catch the last bus back to St Ives. the (so-called) bus stopped in front of a hotel (there was nothing else in a big distance).
this is the greatest bus stop in the world (fine Cornish ale, yummie):

Rollin' on trains

As i already mentioned, i loved traveling by train in the UK. It's not like in Hungary. the first and most obious difference is the quality and frequency (!) of services and the cleannes of coaches. and what i liked the most: it's the athmosphere that pervades the railway in England, the place where it was born. the legendary Great Western Railway is still runnig services, near Birmingham I've seen a steam locomotive that was fuelled with coal. here we are:


but to be honest, this time i wanted to present the pictures i took during my journey from Exeter to St Ives in Cornwall. i don't have to tell you that it was amazing. Cornwall is one of the most popular holiday place
i like this one. lonely tree.

a bay near Exeter.

this is one my favourite pics. one of the many favourites :)

this place was called Red Cliff. i wonder why

this is Cornwall county already.

and this is the famous Royal Albert Bridge. This bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I don't know if any of you have heard about his name, but he made a huge contribution to the developing of railway in England and thus, to the English economy and its role as a world-power. His numerous bridges are still stunning and he created the Great Western Railway that aimed at stretching railway towards Bath, Bristol and Exeter.
'Brunel's solo engineering feats started with bridges — the Royal Albert Bridge spanning the River Tamar at Saltash near Plymouth...'
'The Royal Albert Bridge was designed in 1855 for the Cornwall Railway Company, after Parliament rejected his original plan for a train ferry across the Hamoaze — the estuary of the tidal Tamar, Tavy and Lynher. The bridge consists of two main spans of 455 ft (139 m), 100 ft (30 m) above mean high spring tide, plus 17 much shorter approach spans. Opened by Prince Albert on 2 May 1859, it was completed in the year of Brunel's death.'
source: Wikipedia.org