Travelling on

This lovely bed and breakfast in Padstow became our home for 3 nights. We used it as our base as we explored Cornwall. Our lovely hostess Mandy couldn't have done any more to make our stay more comfortable and enjoyable. As it was off season we were the only visitors. Just perfect!

We drove down to Padstow harbour for dinner every night. Two nights in a row we dined at Rick Stein's bistro. The only booking we could get at the restaurant was 10pm and as we were falling asleep by 9pm, that wasn't an option. The bistro was absolutely delightful, the dining experience began the minute you walked in the door and ended with our exit. The food was delicious and we were not disappointed.

Our travels in this part of the country mainly took us to coastal areas. This is the view from the cliffs at Carnewas. We visited Newquay, Portreath, St Agnes just to name a few and were introduced to the surfing culture of the English West Coast

We dropped into St Ives where the tide was out and the boats lay on the sand. We had our first cream tea here (scones, jam, clotted cream and tea). By the time we left the tide was coming in and these boats were again surrounded by water.

Our last coastal port was Boscastle. This little village was badly damaged by a flash flood in 2004 and some of these buildings have been rebuilt since that disaster.

The little harbour has a dog leg entry and just beyond that stone wall is the wild ocean. A holiday stay here would mean long walks along the cliffs or following the stream into the countryside. Definitely a place to chill out.

This was the tea house that was rebuilt in recent years and we supported the local economy by enjoying another cream tea.

We enjoyed our last weekend in London with family, which included a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich. This photo was taken from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and shows the Greenwich Navel College in the foreground. They tell me this is where the latest Pirates of the Caribbean has recently been filmed.

We also took a trip into the Victoria and Albert Museum to see some of the William Morris exhibits. This was a recent acquisition, called "Fruit", dated around 1865, and is listed as one of Morris's earliest wallpapers. The olives were replaced by peaches in the final version and the olive design reappeared in later years.

Sadly, we said good bye to family and boarded the train for Brussels where we stayed for one night. We explored the historic centre and I made time for some of their famous waffles.

We are now in Amsterdam and have a room with a view.