Mount St. Michael, Menack

On HF Holidays, you arrive on a Saturday, hike Sunday and Monday, have a rest day on Tuesday, and hike Wednesday through Friday. On my rest day, I was going to write postcards, go to the post office, visit the Tate St. Ives and read for a bit--something I never have time to do at home.

I was snuggled into a chair in a bright part of the lounge, about to write yesterday's post, when Chris, Catherine and Robert absolutely insisted I join them on their day out. We bought a 5 pound bus pass and traveled to Land's End and back. First we went to Mount St. Michael.

It reminded me of the yellow brick road leading to Oz.

It was a wet and windy day and, as the day progressed, got wetter and windier.

I have no regrets about joining this merry band but we spent much of the day cold and wet. From left, Robert, me, Catherine and Chris.

Here is the mount from Marazion, the nearest town:

And a lovely Marazion building.

We stood in the rain having tea and buns because there was no space in the one cafe that was open.

Our first bus trip was from St. Ives to Marazion, second from Marazion to Porthcurno, from which we walked up a steep hill in driving rain to Menack Theater. The view from the theater:

Because my main focus today was to stay warm, I did not attempt to learn about the remarkable woman, Rowena Cade, who built it. From Wiki:

"The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade, who moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point for £100." Here is the theatre:

The rain was lashing us as we hopped down to the bottom and back up to the top of the theatre. At the bottom of the theatre are concrete seats listing plays performed at the theatre.

Gardens of succulents are interspersed with the seating.

We sat in a shelter for a little while to get out of the rain. Then traipsed back down the hill to the bus stop. We missed the bus back to St. Ives so took the bus to Land's End--basically going clockwise on the loop instead of counterclockwise. We got off at Land's End and took a bus going counterclockwise, saving us a bit of time.

The buses are not heated so it was difficult to generate the body heat needed to keep from getting really cold. Even though Land's End to Penzance and then Penzance to St. Ives isn't far, Cornish roads are very narrow and buses have to stop a lot to accommodate oncoming traffic. So it is a very slow, shivery drive. Back to the hotel, hot shower, some time under a duvet, then dinner, a music quiz, and finally the last set in Serena Williams' match at Wimbledon. She lost--it was hard to watch her battling it out in a three hour-plus match, which ended after 10 pm. She's an amazing athlete--mentally and physically. And was gracious in her loss to someone half her age.

June 28