Day 50 – a rest day with more than 15km of walking!!

~ Janet Fernihough

Today we’ve been in Plymouth seeing our youngest son who starts his chemistry degree here next week. We didn’t have any preconceived ideas of what Plymouth was going to be like, beyond the single day Mark had spent here viewing Connor’s flat and then dropping him off in July with the family cat, Suki. To be honest, reports from that visit were not a huge endorsement.

It has easily been one of the best places we’ve stayed and would have been a lovely place to rest had we not spent the entire day walking between Connor’s flat, Screwfix and gorgeous places in town. Connor also works in YO! Sushi so that was all the excuse we needed for 50% discounted Japanese food.

So first stop: Connor showed us the museum, a shrine to all things pickled and preserved for eternity, just as a proper museum should be.

Mildred the mammoth

Selection of pickled things that live in the water off Plymouth

A load of butterflies from a time when it was ok to pin butterflies to walls

A wall of TVs from the 60s and 70s, which by rights are too young to be in a museum

Walking round town we saw a lot of pretty funky university buildings, surrounded by other pretty funky buildings. The commitment that the university has to sustainability research is world leading. There’s a solid chance our son may actually change the world for the better.

The touristy bit is actually the Hoe and that too was lovely.

We then discovered the area by the harbour, which is also super gorgeous, not least because it is the home of Plymouth gin. So that was us stationary for a while at least.

It was a small piece of heaven to sit and enjoy some time with Connor before we went back to his flat for tumble drying clothes and woodwork for acoustic panels in Connor’s living room/music studio. I hasten to add I was in charge of the clothes, not the woodwork.

I think Suki even finally recognised me as friend……

One more visit to YO! Sushi for Connor and Five Guys for us finished off a perfect day. Or so we thought…..

As we were chatting in Five Guys, by coincidence, an old friend of Connor’s from Bath walked in with his girlfriend, also from Bath. They are both fabulous people and also studying at Plymouth. As if the night couldn’t get any better.

Distance – a ridiculous 15km, but worth every step (my legs will regret this tomorrow)

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