Holiday to Cornwall, St Mawes

This Easter, we went on a family holiday to Cornwall with my boyfriend, Aiden. Normally we would go in the Summer, but Easter wasn't as busy and although some days were a bit windy, the weather was generally good. We stayed in an absolutely gorgeous holiday apartment called Poldhu in St Mawes, which was literally the best accommodation I have ever stayed in. St. Mawes itself is small, however it has good links to places, and has all the necessities - a pub, shop, castle and a ferry to Falmouth. Oh, and it's also beautiful.

St. Mawes

St. Mawes Castle

On our first day we took the ferry to Falmouth, which takes about 20 minutes.

St. Mawes ferry

While there we looked in the shops and had the best cream tea of the holiday at The Cornish Bakery where we also had a hazelnut hot chocolate (gutted we didn't get to go again).

We took a trip to the Eden Project which was amazing, although very hot in the rainforest dome! It was so cool to see the waterfall and walk across the rope bridge. The shop was great as well, and if I lived closer, I'd have bought so many plants.

Eden Project

Eden Project

Eden Project

Eden Project

The highlight of the entire holiday was going to the Minack Theatre.  It's a stunning outdoor theatre located right on a cliff edge overlooking the sea, where my parents performed almost 30 years ago with their acting company. Absolute dream to have a play performed there (please let it happen!) Again, maybe because of the time of year, it wasn't too busy and was so peaceful and beautiful. Genuinely one of my favourite places in the world.

Minack Theatre

View from the Minack

With Aiden

With my parents

We went to St. Michael's Mount which looks so cool. Unfortunately, we went towards the end of the day and were told the castle was closing soon so we raced to the top of the mount (which is hard enough just walking up). It has such lovely views!

St. Michael's Mount

We walked to St. Anthony's Head lighthouse, although it was a hard walk, and saw such beautiful views.

View from the lighthouse

We also went kayaking, which was great until Aiden fell in and I had to flip the kayak single-handed, while my dad floated around us in hysterics.

Kayak

It was such a lovely holiday and I wish I could go back right now.

Thanks for reading,
Jessie xx

Trip to Venice

On a bridge in Venice

 For my 23rd birthday, I went on a trip with my mum to Venice. I'm going to be totally honest here,  I didn't think I would like it and was considering going to Rome instead but decided Venice was cheaper and potentially less touristy.

Taking the boat from the airport to Venice was a real eye-opener. I'd known there was a lot of water but I hadn't known it was a city built entirely on water with no vehicles - I was amazed.

We stayed in a hotel called Hotel Santa Marina, a real Venetian hotel with material wallpaper and beautiful decorations, right beside one of the canals.

Outside our hotel

Most of the foods we ate were pizza or pasta (for some reason I assumed they would only serve fish and was worried we wouldn't be able to find any, but luckily there was more pizza and pasta than I've ever seen in my life). There are also fresh pasta shops in some of the streets where you can get pasta meals as street food if you want to save money!

We also had ice cream - the best ice cream shop in Venice is Suso, by the Rialto Bridge, but we also found a gourmet chocolate ice cream place called Venchi which dipped the cones in chocolate in front of you.

Venchi

On the first day we decided to do the tourist things like the Basilica which was beautiful and the Doge's Palace which was actually stunning (and on a Thursday wasn't that busy).

St Mark's Basilica

Doge's Palace

Inside the Doge's Palace

We also went on a gondola (because you just have to, right?!) but the tip is to always walk away because a gondolier ran after us and offered us a cheaper deal, and we loved it.

Gondola ride

In the evening we tried to do a bar crawl near the Rialto Bridge and couldn't find anywhere. I found a bar called Bacaro Jazz, with a ceiling decorated with bras and guitars (my mum was very hesitant to go in at first but she loved it). I highly recommend it, especially because the bartenders are so lovely and it has such a good atmosphere. Nothing at all to do with the very generous portions of vodka they give (half a tall glass). Not at all...

The ceiling of Bacaro Jazz

The next day (slightly headachy), we went to the Accademia Gallery Museum and then to Harry's Bar where Ernest Hemingway, James Stewart and Charlie Chaplin have all been.

Accademia Gallery Museum

In the evening we walked to a bar that I had read about called El Sbarlefo, San Pantalon which played rock, blues and country music, but probably isn't worth an hour's walk. We then walked to St Mark's Square to see the sunset and listened to the orchestras playing Time to Say Goodbye. It was honestly enchanting.

St Mark's Square at sunset

With my mum on the Rialto Bridge

I fell in love with Venice and I hope I get to visit there again. I highly recommend.


Thanks for reading.

Jessie x