Off to the land of pirates and pasties!

Quickie post today before we head out and start to explore Kernow.  Its just past sunrise and I’m writing this looking out over a stunning view of Morgan Porth beach from the balcony of our second floor room in the uber-fancy Scarlet hotel.  I have fresh cup of coffee in hand, am nibbling on a homemade complementary cranberry hobnob and the sun is shining.  SUNNY, I TELL YOU!!!  Not raining!!!!  So far, Cornwall, I’m digging my return.

We had decided to fly down to Cornwall, rather than drive for 7hrs to get here.  I know to most Americans, used to the vast distances of the continental US, a drive of such magnitude is barely worth mentioning – but to all Brits, that is a fooking Long Way.  Anything over 2hrs here requires careful thought and much debate about The Ideal Route to get there – usually involving at some point a discussion of the roadworks on the M25 and how shocking it is they are STILL ongoing after they have been there for YEARS.  We decided to skip all that and instead avail ourselves of the 55 min flight from Gatwick down to Newquay, courtesy of the slightly confusingly named Eastern Airways.  

nom nom nom

The gang came over to our hotel at 11am for one last hand of “Oh Hell” (I think we got them hooked) before Thomas and Engie bid their farewells and headed back to Coventry to do a flight (he’s training to be a pilot).  As we didn’t need to leave the hotel until at least 1.30pm, we stayed and had an absolutely spectacular Proper Sunday Roast Dinner.  It was SOOOOO good!!! It was also another first for ManpanionTM and he enjoyed his roast chicken version immensely! (I was too excited by the prospect of Yorkshire puddings and gravy and couldn’t decide between the beef, chicken or pork – so decided to have a slice of each!)

After saying farewell to Dad (we’ll be back again soon!), it was an easy 90min drive down to Gatwick.  I had pre-booked us into Long Stay parking (easy, no ticket required – the gate recognized the car’s number plate) and had also booked us a Douche Pass to speed us through the Security Lanes.  It was actually called Premium Security on the website, but we all know what it’s really called, right?  It took less than 5 minutes to get through the security screening which was brilliant (I don’t travel through Gatwick much, so had no idea what to expect).   To round out our Bougie Travel in Style at Gatwick experience, I had also booked us into the Number 1 Lounge in the South Terminal. ” Complete with a fully tended bar, quiet library and range of comfortable designer seating areas” it actually was pretty nice and the pink bubbles were perfectly serviceable.  We did have a couple of hours to kill as we’d arrived earlier than even I’d planned (and I build in a fair amount of float time just to be on the safe side) but ManpanionTM did some work and I battled with the wi-fi (“security risk! your connection is not private!”) to try and update my blog, before giving up and watching Superman and Lois on the lounge screen, on mute.  Based on the subtitles and all the emoting that was going on, I think its probably best that way.

Proptastic

Eventually, it was time to make our way to the gate and to board our little prop plane for the short flight to Newquay.  I haven’t been back to Cornwall in over 30yrs and when I was last here, the airport was still RAF St Mawgan – definitely not a commercial airport.  Rick Stein had not yet taken over Padstow and it certainly was NOT yet known as the Cornish Riviera!   I wasn’t sure what to expect of Eastern Airways – but it was an actual proper airline with emergency exits, wheels, wings and everything.  It was quintessentially Cornish, however, as we got chatting to the cabin crew lady (we were sat right at the front so had that obligatory, slightly awkward conversation that comes from sitting opposite a stranger whose knees are almost butting up against yours) – turns out one of the other cabin crew’s daughter works at the reception of the Scarlet Hotel!   And she knew one of the passengers seated a couple rows behind us – he worked in Newquay airport.  Growing up in a small town in Cornwall, it used to take you an hour to pop down to the shops for a pint of milk, as you would be guaranteed to run into someone you knew, multiple times, requiring polite conversation about the weather at least.

Pretty patchwork fields

The plane was bigger than I had been expecting – certainly bigger than some of the planes I’ve taken on regional internal flights in the US.  This one had decent size overhead bins and there were about 60 passengers (the cabin lady did an actual headcount, which I thought was adorable).  Even though the flight was so short, there was enough time for an inflight service of a cup of tea and a pack of mini Cheddars (or you could have had shortbread).  US airlines – take note!  A packet of mini-Cheddars is a FAR superior inflight snack than a shitty tiny bag of pretzels.  I had the window seat so spent the flight trying to see if I recognized places as we flew over them – the captain was clearly bored with flying this same route, day in, day out as he hadn’t bothered to tell us the flight plan (the ONE time I’m actually interested in our flight path!).  Apparently, according to our cabin crew, he liked turbulence as it made it a bit more “spicy” for him and more interesting – without it, the whole thing just felt like driving a car to him and a bit of a chore – eek!  I think we might have flown over Delabole – unless there is another giant quarry somewhere in Cornwall??

Newquay airport

And just like that, we were already in our descent.  It was about 7.30pm by this point and the sun was starting to get low in the sky, so the land below was looking gorgeous.  Our landing was soft and we were through the portakabin that was Newquay airport with our bags and driver in tow in less than 10 minutes!  

The Scarlet Hotel was only a 10min drive away, so we made it to the hotel before 8pm, well in time to enjoy sunset from our balcony, then the bar, then the restaurant (does anyone else run round a new hotel looking for that perfect spot to watch the sunset from?).  The food was pretty good but what was a standout was the wine.  CORNISH WINE!!!  When exactly did that become a thing??  I was deeply skeptical and so we had an impromptu taste test – we ordered one glass of a bog standard Chablis and one glass of Polgoon Sauvignon Blanc. We asked the sommelier not to tell us which one was which so that we could try and guess – and also not be biased by our doubts.  One glass held a wine that was deep yellow color, the other held a wine that was so pale it was almost colorless.  I already knew which was which just from that – but I was then pleasantly surprised when the super pale wine turned out to be delicious!  Well done, Cornish vintmakers – I stand corrected!  Also – as a bonus – according to ManpanionTM, Cornish wine prevents scurvy – so there’s that too.

View of sunset from our balcony at the Scarlet Hotel

Overall, this place is niiiice and a great start to our trip – the view from our balcony is outstanding, so its a shame we’ll only be here for just over 12hrs!  Tomorrow, we go back to the airport to pick up our rental car (manual this time) and really get this nostalgia tour going.  Its going to be a slightly surreal experience for me – how much will I remember? How much will be completely unfamiliar?

What should I do with ManpanionTM?  What will give him that memorable Cornish experience?  Obviously we are going to stop by Camelford where I grew up, but other than that – do I take him for a robust walk on Roughtor? Is he ready to hike up Brown Willy?  I do have some thoughts (thank you, Daniel) so we’ll see how the next few days unfold!  Its’s gonna be fun!!