Continued from Part 1…
After a long sleep and a lie-in, we went down for breakfast in the hotel for 8am, had to book our time in due to COVID but we could’ve probably slept for another hour. Breakfast was lovely, but our waitress wasn’t very good with complicated orders so I was missing a sausage and Helen was missing a mushroom. Nice and tasty though!
First stop was Plymouth. We aimed to get to the National Marine Aquarium for opening at 10am, but got there at 10:30 thanks to our lazy lie-in and an hour-long drive. Despite it raining on the way there, the weather was lovely when we arrived, blue skies and warm with a gentle breeze. The view out onto the harbour and the ocean was gorgeous.
We beat the queues to the aquarium and seemed to get there before 2 classes of schoolchildren which was lucky, so we stayed ahead of them while touring around. From this angle, the aquarium looks great, but if you approach from the other direction it looks like a dank warehouse.
Inside, the first creatures to greet us were octopuses… Octopii? One of the big ones came out of his hiding place to say hello. There were some very brightly coloured ones, and a few that paid me a lot of attention. They were all enjoying darting around though, so it was difficult to get a non-blurry picture of them. I did my best.
After the aquarium we started walking along the waterfront and around the Barbican, where we were ducking into pretty much every gallery and funky little shop. It’s a really nice area for art, and we lost track of time staring at paintings. We bought a little glass sculpture for the house and a bag for Helen, then started getting hungry for lunch.
We had planned to go across town to the Royal William Yard, but we really liked the look of a small restaurant called the Blues Bar and Grill, so we stopped there instead. They were playing some great music. It was like an independent version of the Hard Rock Cafe. As we walked in they were playing Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. I’d forgotten the band name, so asked the owner to remind me, and he instantly reeled off the album it was on and the year it was released as well. The man obviously knows his music!
The food was absolutely amazing too, I had a Philly Cheese Steak Baguette and Helen had a Caesar Salad. Possibly one of the best lunches we’ve ever had out. This one is very highly recommended!
Fed and watered, we walked back along the waterfront to the car to get to our next destination: Restormel Castle. The whole drive there it poured with rain, but then stopped just before we arrived, we felt quite lucky with our timings.
We parked up where we thought was the end of the road then walked the rest of the way up a steep hill. Despite the sign posts saying “private road” and “footpath to castle”, there was in fact a car park at the top of the hill, but it was a good bit of exercise for us anyway.
The castle itself was beautiful. Only a small part remained, but it was still fairly big with a deep and wide moat. Interestingly there are no records of the construction of the castle or the castle itself at all until 1256, when it was already a well-established stronghold in the area.
As usual, I took a 360 degree photosphere of the castle from the inside. It didn’t turn out great though due to the Sun being low in the sky.
The ruins form a slightly misshapen circle which is why some of these photos look slightly off-centre. There’s access to the upper level all the way round, which give stunning views of the surrounding countryside. Helen went ahead of me, so see if you can spot her waving in some of the pictures! It’s the Bedford version of “Where’s Wally”!
When I got back down to the ground level, our luck with the weather ran out, and it started pouring down with rain. Helen had a handy mac with her, but I’d stupidly turned up in just a T-shirt, so unfortunately got drenched while taking my last few photos. Worth it though, it’s a beautiful castle with some great features. The kitchen still showed charred/soot-stained stonework up the chimney.
I took a walk around the outside of the castle, thinking “I’m already soaking wet, I may as well get a few more nice pictures”, and I’m glad I did. It’s a very picturesque castle.
I met back up with Helen near the entrance again just as the rain cleared up, and she’d snapped a picture of a rainbow, arguably better than any of my pictures! She was excited to get featured on the blog here!
Next on the list was Launceston Castle, but because I was soaked through, I needed to go back to the hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes before dinner. As such, we wouldn’t be able to fit it in today.
After a shower and a fresh change of clothes, we were booked into the Jamaica Inn. An old smuggler’s inn and the inspiration and setting for Daphne du Maurier’s novel of the same name. I took photos before and after dinner, the place looks extremely atmospheric in the dark.
Despite a cheap looking menu, the food was absolutely delicious. High quality ingredients and very well cooked. I had sausage and mash while Helen had spaghetti bolognaise. Another strong recommendation here!
After dinner, we took a stroll around the smuggling and Daphne du Maurier museum. It was a small museum, full of scripts and letters from du Maurier, and lots of smuggling tools and trinkets. Interesting and entertaining, but very short. Worth a walk around if you’re at the Jamaica Inn for some food, but not worth making the drive out for. We were only in there for 20 minutes, 10 minutes of which was watching a short film of the history of smuggling in Cornwall.
Back outside, we noticed a stock, so had to take a couple of pictures.
And finally, back to the hotel to get some rest. All in all a great day, if slightly off-plan.
You certainly filled your day, great photos of food and castles. Jamaica Inn definitely worth a visit. Ducking into funky shops could be a good tongue twister 😁
Excellent pictures Thom, I spotted Helen waving. How did the castle become a ruin ? Jamaica Inn looks like it’s worth a visit. Will stop there next time where that way.