ROSES ARE RED...
I am in a certain amount of trouble with some of my colleagues.

Being as my dearest has a birthday just around Valentines day, I took - no, I whisked - her away for a two day break in a very posh hotel.

Very nice it was too!

The problems with this arrangement are thus:
1. We have had to come back to earth and it bumped, I can tell you!
2. The spouses of one or two friends have got to hear about this outing and are asking pointy questions. I'm not popular!

However, it was very interesting to see how the other half live. (Half? I suspect my memory of 'fractions' may be a little rusty.)

The destination in question was down in the depths of the Cornish "Sub-Tropics" where a few beaten up palm trees, some early spud ground, and lots of daffs make for a different feel.

Boats on the beach at Cornwall

Our hotel room had a lovely view of the new swimming pool, or at least its steeply pitched roof.

The bedroom, in the meantime, was in a modern extension with a flat roof. (Someone's arse needs kicking there - and it's probably mine - for not checking this out in advance.)

The service, however, was firmly sat in the lap of luxury.

I'm not quite so sure if the management were keen on our arriving in a lorry but space was found in the bottom car park - out of sight.

Oh, didn't I mention that we took the truck?

Well it seemed silly not to do a couple of timber deliveries whilst so far out west! Ahh! the romance of it all!

ALL AT SEA
To counter my outbreak of lavish spending we took in the National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Falmouth whilst it was still free (charging started after the 18th Feb).

The National Collection of Small Boats housed therein is worth wandering amongst, the interactive displays are fun and the building is quite spectacular. (Lots of oak, which always gets my approval). It's generally worth going to see.

The saddest bit about the show is that it is allowing some clowns to suggest that - what with the Eden Project and now the NMM - Cornwall is going completely upmarket.

Hmm.... so the industrial scars and spoil heaps of centuries - and more recent questionable planning whoopsies - will just go away will they?

A long way from the farm

That aside, there is a significant volume of trade which frankly ain't gonna go up-market.

My pal Johnny was in Newquay for the weekend at about the same time, and Johnny's chief concern for his weekend away was proximity to a pub!

Get a grip Cornwall, half the appeal is because you are what you are, not what some marketing whiz says you could become.

There is a delightful interface between Newquay's Headland Hotel and the crusty "surfies" kipping in a clapped Dormobile just over the brow, which makes it better - not worse.

Anyway, until the next time, happy lambing or whatever it is that the rest of you do in spring.

Anton

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