Tuesday 19th July: Bath-Antony-Penzance

Ok, so don’t stay at The Old Mill Hotel in Bath. Enough said. We had a yummy brekkie though and are on the road to Antony, the house used by Tim Burton for his movie ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It’s a three hour drive south, and we’ll have some lunch before we head in. The drive down is quite nice, all lush and green, and we’ve figured out the strange blue circle/red cross road sign. It means no parking or stopping, and speed limit varies. Thank goodness for google. Some cars just fly down the motorway here. We are generally sitting on between 70 and 80 mph, and we just had someone zoom past.

We arrived at Antony a little early and so decided to head into a nearby village to have some lunch. A cute little seaside place of Torpoint was about five minutes drive away, so we headed down there, through their narrow streets and found a car park near the marina. We went to the Kings Head pub and had a lunch of Steak and Ale pie (for Jamie and I) and Chicken and Leek pie for Mark. English pies are not like Aussie pies. Instead of being totally incased in pastry, it’s a plate of the filling, with a big rectangular piece of pastry plonked on top. They were very yummy, and very filling. The guy behind the bar was a hoot, I don’t think he gets many Aussies dropping in for lunch.

We drove back up the hill to Antony House, and walked down a lovely tree lined driveway. Visits inside the house are timed and so we wandered around the gardens a little before going in. The back of the house opens out onto the estate’s enormous gardens with a little tiered area filled with camellias and lavender. The smell of the two mixed together was amazing and there were fat bumblebees enjoying the flowers as much as we were.

We went into the house at the appointed time (how very English of us!) and into a huge entrance foyer filled with big portraits and more lush opulence. These old poms knew how to make an impression! So, an enormous staircase, loads of tapestries and paintings, a grandfather clock in every room – you get the impression. The house was built in 1711 for the Carew family, who still own it, and live in it today. The family take off to other rooms in the house while people wander around. It was a little bizarre looking at all this really old furniture, and then seeing very modern photos of the family mixed in with antiques. I’m not too sure how comfy the old lounges would be though!

Upstairs to the bedrooms, and it was very obvious how ‘lived in’ the house was. Old four poster beds with sitting chairs covered in clothes. I am pretty certain I saw a pair of crocs in one of the rooms as well! It looked to me as if the mattresses were still the original 18^th century ones as they were all lumpy and bumpy – surely a modern mattress wouldn’t have been too out of place, but maybe I am just focused on that as I am not on my own fabulous mattress! I don’t think I would like to live at Antony though, all those solemn looking portraits looking down on you in every room. I would think the family would feel an extreme sense of obligation to live up to a certain standard. Plus, it was a little smelly, all that mould and oldness and all. It was fabulous to see though and I was chuffed that I was able to take some photos. Please enjoy the photo taken through the gate looking at the Summer Garden, I had to wait for about 8 people to move out of the way before I could take it.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-antony

Penzance:

We were spending the night down at Penzance, so headed off there after Antony. Penzance seems to be the Byron Bay of the UK, very arty farty, very beachy. We stayed at the Artists Residence, and this has been a little gem, to be honest! Such a great find. Each room has been decorated by a different artist, and ours is called “Ephemeral Opulence” by Rachel Ella Taylor. The walls have flocked cutouts of wild flowers which spill over onto mirrors and doors. Ornate lightshades with metal butterflies, and a metal embossed bed head all follow the same theme.

A couple of young girls run the place, it’s only been open for three months, and Charlie tells us that she believes that the place you stay should become part of the adventure as well, and we think she has achieved that here. This is without a doubt the best place we have stayed in so far, and we kind of wish we could spend a few more days here. As I am writing this section on the next day (Wednesday), I can tell you that brekkie here was just fabulous! The freshest and yummiest pastries ever! They also have an amazing collection of mismatched china and teapots, which has just added to the atmosphere of the place. It’s a fabulous… space!

Mark and I had dinner at the pub across the road last night – across the road being maybe 3 meters away (at its widest)! It looked like a little pub, but it was long, and underground in some manner, or so it seemed at least. We came outside the pub after we were done to find three men, dressed in morning suits with bowler hats and spats, just hanging around out the front having a ciggie.

We’re off to StMichael’s Mount today, and also Tintagel…. more castles, more ruins!

Click here to see our photo album about this blog entry.