From South East To South West And A Look At Traffic Lights
Friday May 7th and we now head back to Cornwall, this time for a full fortnight of walking the coastal paths and exploring different parts of this terrific peninsula.
The slow arrival of Spring mentioned in our previous post continues to confound. On the long drive down here it is obvious that leaf growth is delayed by the continuing lower than average temperatures; frost prevails, cold winds continue and this week the media showed pictures of heavy snowfalls in Scotland. In fact, a ski resort which has been closed all winter due to COVID has now reopened with good snow – the first time the resort has ever been open in May.
On arrival in Padstow we meet up with Phil’s sister Joy and husband Charlie for a couple of pints of Tribute at The London Inn – they are here just for the weekend – and enjoy an excellent fish dish at The Ship. Overnight in comes some serious Cornish weather and our sleep patterns are significantly disrupted by the sound of gale force winds and driving rain, reminding us just how exposed this narrow peninsula is.
By Saturday morning those winds have, if anything, cranked up a bit and this part of Cornwall is being properly battered, whilst the rain has become irritatingly intermittent enough to make us unsure whether venturing out is a better idea than waiting and seeing.
So while we’re waiting and seeing we start to trawl through the finer detail of today’s UK Government announcements surrounding travel restrictions being lifted. The traffic light system gives us encouragement and we currently see no reason to change our outline plan of waiting until mid June, weighing up our options and then heading off into the sun sometime in July. It’s probably unlikely we’ll go further afield than mainland Europe this year, but we’re now seriously thinking that the wanderlust cure is just around the corner.
21 Comments
leightontravels
The excitement starts to build eh? We see that Serbia is not on the current green list, but hopefully it will be by September/October which is when we plan to spend a few months in The UK. Crazy variant action aside, everything should be, touch wood, ok from here and continue moving in the right direction.
Phil & Michaela
Yes let’s hope so. The most encouraging thing for us is that, being retired, we’re not concerned about home quarantine on our return, so we’re free to choose any/all amber countries as well as green – as long as we don’t have to quarantine when we get there. So even now there’s a lot of options.
leightontravels
What’s on the top of the list?
Phil & Michaela
Well we’re pretty open so we’ll see our options somewhere around mid June – the priority will be temperate climate so probably Mediterranean or Balkan destinations. But we’ll see.
leightontravels
Maybe see you in Belgrade 😉 We are also open as to where we go after our UK visit. It’s exciting. Like you, we’ll “probably” look to stay in Europe. Lots of ideas but no decision yet on what we’ll end up doing.
Phil & Michaela
Yes, after having our travel dreams screwed by COVID, there’s a kind of perverse excitement in not knowing where we’ll be heading to!
Andrew Petcher
You won’t catch me in an airport this year, it looks way too stressful. I wish they would just ban foreign travel altogether until it is all over.
Phil & Michaela
We definitely will, all things being whatever is the current equivalent of equal. I feel as if I worked hard for 46 years to earn the retirement I craved, which was to see the world – continuing to lose out on that would be more stressful than coping with an airport.
Andrew Petcher
Good luck. Would you go to a red list country?
Phil & Michaela
No definitely not red…but either amber or green would be fine
Andrew Petcher
It is all a muddle. Why is Spain amber and Portugal Green. If I am in Spain I can cross the border and fly to UK with limited restrictions. Someone needs to get a grip.
Phil & Michaela
Absolutely. Is part of why we’ll leave our choice till the last minute
WanderingCanadians
We’re hoping that we can travel somewhere warmer this winter, but that may still be wishful thinking.
Phil & Michaela
You have to have a dream, if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna…..well you know the rest.
Toonsarah
We’re watching the travel situation carefully too. Like you we could consider visiting an amber country if needs be, although our hoped-for 40th anniversary break in Paris in September is planned to be so short that a long quarantine afterwards would be frustrating! But hopefully France will be green by then. More immediately important to me is which countries can visit as I hope to host a Virtual Tourist members gathering in Newcastle in September and I have friends from many countries wanting to come.
And yes, isn’t the weather disappointing this spring! Too cold in April, too wet (so far) in May … I hope you have a great time in Cornwall nevertheless!
Phil & Michaela
Yes I saw about your VT gathering whilst I was gorging on Fergy’s rambles and saw an exchange you had with him, hope it goes ahead for you. We actually feel quite uplifted today – it’s beginning to look more and more likely that we will at least get somewhere this summer, though whether we’ll manage as much as last year remains in question. We’re all hoping!
Lookoom
Everyone seems to be in the starting blocks, let’s hope that the parenthesis will close soon.
FERGUS Erik CAMPBELL
Oh dear, looks like Kernow is not being kind weather-wise, I do hope you get some decent skies for a walk as I know how beautiful that particular county is.
I do hope you are going to drop in and see that nice Mr. Stein, one of my favourite celebrity chefs, who apparently owns half the town now!
Phil & Michaela
Rick has more business outlets in this area than you can shake a stick at. Of course all the restaurants are closed (interior anyway) until next Monday. No doubt we’ll call in at some but the main restaurant is fully booked as you would expect. And I forgot to bring my suitcase full of £20 notes to pay for it…!!
grandmisadventures
I love your rainy window picture. Even in the rain, Cornwall looks so lovely! Looking forward to more lovely views of this area! 🙂
Phil & Michaela
Thank you…although I have to say the view is better in sunshine…