Buckfast Abbey, Polperro, Plymouth

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Before we talk about today's tour, a word about the weather. Now I have been looking for the right words to use to describe the weather in the southern part of England and the kindest word I can find is unpleasant.

A more apt description would include words like wet, cold, cloudy or deeply overcast or downright miserable. Our weather has been on and off rain, cold and drab. It rains in this part of the world 1 day out of 3, so dealing with rain is a must if you are planning to come here any time of the year. This is my first summer vacation ever where I was happy I brought a jacket. I even spent money on a heavy hooded sweatshirt to accommodate! Oh well, we will persevere.

After another fine English breakfast, we boarded the bus at 8:15 and found today we were in the front of the bus, giving us a window on the world. Tour buses are large comfortable and prime seats are in the front or the very back. In the front, you have great views and in the back, you can lay across the back row and sleep. To be fair, our tour director Tom established a rotation system for seating. Since we are only 29 people, the bus is barely half full allowing for much more space available. So, Tom, has us move our seats every day. The rotation is based on moving two seats forward every day. So that is how we got to the front of the bus.

Our first stop today was Buckfast Abbey. It was a very short stop as there is not much to see. The Abbey was built in 1018. There is a long history to the Abbey going all the back to King Henry the Eighth. The short version was the King started his own religion, the Church of England, of which he was the head. He created the church to allow him to divorce his wife at the time, Catherine of Aragon, an action forbidden by the Catholic church.

Henry also outlawed the Catholic church and confiscated its wealth, causing the demise of many churches, including Buckfast Abbey. The Abbey fell into ruin, until the eighteenth century when it was reclaimed by the monks and rebuilt.

The Abby is beautiful with well-managed grounds, gift shops, and a fine store selling Sparkling Tonic. This is a very hearty drink with 15 % alcohol and a high amount of caffeine allowing for a double kick tonight. It is very inexpensive and as such has become a favorite of the underage drinking class! So here we have a religious institution contributing to the delinquency of minors, quite ironic. I did my part and purchased a bottle for later consumption. Now off to Polperro.

Now Polperro is a small fishing village reminiscent of Rockport Ma, only smaller and much older. As we got off the bus, it began a very light drizzle, just enough to make things miserable. Oh well, we are here and we must enjoy it, the weather be damned.

The main attraction in Polperro, besides the obviously quaint buildings and stores, is the food. We are in Cornish Country and as such we are the birthplace of the Cornish Pasty.

Now a pasty is a throwback to the time of the miners who lived here from the 1800s. The miner's wife wanted her man to have a healthy meal, so each morning she would bake him a pasty.

A pasty is like a thick pastry with various fillings. The original filling is a mixture of beef, onions, sweet potatoes and maybe some vegetables. The ends of the pasty are thicker because the miner's hands were often dirty so they hold the pasty by the thick crust, ate their meal, and tossed the crust. Unique idea for sure.

We walked about the village and came across the shop of one Alessandra Farina, hailing from Rome. Well, I had to stop in and introduce myself to a possible branch off the old family tree. Alessandra is a wonderful, person, friendly, and very talented artist. We spoke a bit and from her looks and background, we concluded we must be related! We said our goodbyes and Cathy and I headed off to buy a pasty and head back to the bus.

By the way, the pasty was delicious and I highly recommend giving it a try for sure.

After our wet tour through Polperro, we boarded the bus and headed to Cornwall. Here we were to board a small private ferry, reserved for our Trafalgar family and get a seaside view of Plymouth, the port from which the Pilgrims departed aboard the Mayflower. It would have been truly beautiful, but liquid sunshine intervened.

One interesting fact was that this area around Cornwall was the birthplace for Sir Francis Drake. Born of a modest family, Drake pursued a career of piracy, euphemistically referred to as privateering. During the conflict between England and Spain, Drake received letters of Mark from the king allowing him to plunder Spanish vessels and pocket the loot, save for a small fee paid to the crown. Drake was an excellent pirate, building a personal fortune on the backs of the Spanish. He is purported to have liberated 100 million pounds in today’s market. Quite the haul, eh?

Plymouth is home to a Royal Naval base, one of the larger bases in fact. They say not to visit the town on a Friday or Saturday night as the sailors are off to town for some jolly good fun! The area is also home to several retired Navy nuclear submarines awaiting decommissioning. You can see them parked along the dock. They have ten more years to wait before they can be scrapped; they have to wait for the nuclear fuel to cool. One of the ferrymen told me he went to school down the road from the naval base and he remembers every Monday they had a drill practicing what to do should the nuclear reactors blow. They would hear the sirens and duck under their desk, something akin to our nuclear drills in grammar school. Those desks must be amazing, protecting us from nuclear fallout! I wonder who tested them?

Next year is the 400th-anniversary celebration for the sailing of the Mayflower. As we docked we pulled up near the steps the Pilgrims used to board the vessel. It would have been amazing to take a photo of the steps, but they are being restored and so are covered by scaffolding. We boarded our coach. (Jeff our driver, told me, “It’s a coach, not a bus,” so I stand corrected.

Our next stop was back to our hotel in Exeter and a much-needed nap before dinner at a local Pub.

It is now 5:30 PM and we have rested and ready for dinner. We pile back into the coach, see Jeff I got it right, for the short drive to the Ley Arms Pub built in 1200. For Tom, our Tour Director, the main draw for this location is not the food or drink but the thatched roof! Tom absolutely adores thatched rooves and went on and on about how they are designed built and repaired. His knowledge about thatching was fascinating if not a little creepy.

The Pub itself is magnificent. The inside is bright airy and filled with many rooms all set in a welcoming atmosphere, some with fireplaces all historic. Our fare tonight was one of several choices. Beef braised in ale (my choice), eggs and baked ham (Cathy) and a ravioli stuffed with cheese and some other options I do not recall. We were offered a beverage of choice, and since Cathy is not drinking alcohol, I had two local Ales. We dined with several friends from the trip and talked, laughed and generally had a great time.

No Ale House is complete without a dog and this location had a beautiful older sheepdog as a permanent resident. Fido carried around a rag doll and begged for you to play with her. She loved fetch and was excellent at catch. We all, including the dog, had a great time.

Our final stop was a local church called St. Andrews built in the 1200s. It was made from local red sandstone and was beautiful. Our host was the warden of the church who must swear allegiance each year to the Vicar promising to take care of the church. and take care he did. He knew the church's history and told us about the many artifacts contained within. There are some 9 stained glass windows telling the story of Christ, a memorial to those from the Parrish who died in the wars and some interesting facts about the clock tower and the bell system. It was obvious he loved his job and took it seriously as the interior was beautiful despite its age.

A final walk around the churchyard for some cool photos and back to the coach for the ride home and much need sleep. Tomorrow we depart this hotel and are off to Wales.

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