St. Ives & Mousehole

St. Ives

As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives.
Said he, ‘I think it’s much more fun
Than getting stuck with only one.’
Roald Dahl

Every single guide to Cornwall recommends a visit to St. Ives. We could not ignore that. We spent a lovely afternoon there strolling along the winding streets and the seaside. St. Ives is really nice but it’s not quaint — there are a lot of people and noisy crumb-snatching seagulls. We bought some pastries and sat on a bench at the waterfront to eat them and relax for a while. Unfortunately, a woman on the bench next to us came up with a not very bright idea of feeding seagulls. The birds from everywhere started to descend around her bench and tried to snatch the food from her hands. This ruined our appetite and we went off to find another place to relax. Finally, we found a funky restaurant and ate there.

It is interesting that around 5 in the afternoon, when we were there, most of the life in the town was concentrated on the waterfront. Stores on the nearby streets were all getting closed and the streets were mostly empty.

Mousehole

Another highly recommended town/village to visit in Cornwall is Mousehole. We went there in the late afternoon. It was quiet and tranquil with a lovely harbor, but we did not see much else.