June 4 -Falmouth
Our last day of cruising. When we begin a journey it seems there is so much time to enjoy and then quickly the time passes and the journey is over….and that’s where we are today as we are in the port of Falmouth in Cornwall, England.
Cornwall stretches west into the sea and there was plenty of magnificent cliff-lined coast to explore. Towns with familiar names are around- St. Ives, Penzance, Flushing and Dartmouth. Seems our ancestors were not too creative in naming towns in the New World.
Falmouth features a fishing harbor, a yachting center and a fairly busy commercial port. Sailboats of many kinds glide across the water creating a beautiful picture. Pendennis Castle, built by Henry VIII in the 1540’s and improved by his daughter, Elizabeth I
Falmouth has a strong maritime tradition. Sir Walter Raleigh first saw the potential for a port here with it’s natural strategic advantages. Sir John Killigrew developed the deep-water harbor where we are anchored and said to be the 3rd deepest harbor in the world. In 1689 it became the base for the Falmouth Packets, which carried the mail to America.
We were suddenly told we were to be anchored today and not docked. There is a Holland America ship, the Prinsendam, at the dock. Don’t know how all that gets sorted out but we were surprised to learn that last evening via an announcement from the Captain. The Prinsendam is our favorite HA ship- being 750 passengers- with a former life as the Royal Viking Sun. We sailed in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for 24 terrific days in 2005….but wish they hadn’t gotten the spot at the dock here in Falmouth.
Our cabin stewardess, Miriam, has done a wonderful job. The other day we sent laundry and when it was returned we gained a man’s shirt and lost one of Jim’s new shirts. Miriam went to the laundry and returned with a board smile on her face….and the shirt. Jim has named it his “amazing grace shirt” since it was once lost and is now found. He plans to wear it on our journey home tomorrow to help us experience grace as we travel.
The classic chocolate on the pillows at night always contain some quote about traveling and we'll leave you with these chocolate quotes...
"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." Hilaire Belloc
"It is not enough to say I have been there. A voyage is not just a journey. It's a period carved out of time, when the impossible can happen." Unknown
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page." St. Augustine
"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I gave seen." Benjamin Disraeli
AND finally "No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old familiar pillow." Lin Yutang
posted by Jim and Elaine Barnett @ 4:07 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Particularly interested in Cornwall, as that is where we will be driving around come September! Know nothing more than having watched the "Poldark" series about a Cornish family in the 70's -- and we LOVED it!
I'm sad your cruise is over. I DO feel like we have been right there with you! And to me it seemed to fly by so quickly!! When is the next one??
We hope you had a GRACEful journey home with your special shirt.
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