Making a conscious decision to use our National Art Pass we took the two trains to Falmouth. Knowing it was late night shopping we took a slightly later train than usual which meant that we caught the Inter-City rather than the little local one. So a more comfortable and quicker journey. On arrival we went straight to the National Maritime Museum. We had been a couple of times before but it is large, has excellent exhibitions and there is always something new to see. Having had a good look at local boy Ben Ainslie’s craft, the one he retrieved from the museum to race in his second Olympics, having decided it was better than the new boat he had had designed and built(!), and other beautiful things on show, we went to the Captain Bligh Exhibition which proved fascinating. There wee got talking to one of the Volunteers and the one thing I remember vividly is him telling us that he was a veteran (as are all the Volunteers apparently), and that, serving in the Falklands, his ship had a hit from an Exocet and he spent 9 hours in the water before being rescued – quite incredible. When eventually he got home and had recovered from the smoke damage to his lungs etc etc he then became a Commandos trainer….not one to shirk from Duty then. One can only admire such as he. Almost as incredible a story as the plight and survival of Captain Bligh and his loyal men.

We then had a quick trip to the Tower which we had not seen before. First of all descending we went underneath the harbour and gazed around through the windows (no fish today), we then ascended to the top of the Tower and were brought to a standstill by an absolutely breathtaking 360 degrees view – the photos of course do not do it justice….it would be worth any visit and entrance fee for that view alone….

One last look along the balcony, and passing what looked like a great cafe with its own marvellous views, we decamped to Rick Stein’s Sea Food Restaurant across the square where we noticed they had cod and chips and a glass of prosecco for £8.95…who could resist?

The quality of the food was amazing, the batter was light and crunchy, and the mushy peas were scrumptious,  a very enjoyable experience. Plus we noted for the future that on Tuesdays they have a special offer for OAP’s (i.e. the likes of us) of cod and chips for £5.95…..he calls them ‘Vintage Lunches’ (a nice touch). We shall return…….on a Tuesday.

Rushing back for our train after shopping, we caught the Christmas procession and some hearty brass band playing. A nice end to our day.