Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A trip to Torquay

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On Monday, we waved goodbye to Mum and Phil and pootled off in the sunshine to Torquay.

I'd found a bargain rate on Trivago for a room at the Imperial hotel, a faded splendour kind of a place with an outdoor swimming pool.

We had local mussels in a very old pub, explored the sea front and had a paddle at Torre Sands. Back at the hotel we delighted in the very warm outdoor pool before having a tasty pizza at Pizza Express. Torquay was very busy for a Monday night, they were the only place with a table!

On Tuesday, we went on a sea voyage tour from Torquay to Darmouth, and I really enjoyed seeing the coast from the new perspective of the water. Once at Dartmouth, we had a mooch around the shops, and saw a model of the atmospheric engine that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution.

A short ferry ride later we were on a steam train to Paignton, on what must be one of the few commercial steam railways. The views were stunning, and Tom and I were ridiculously excited by the steam trainyness of it all.

It was then a short bus ride back to Torquay where we took a ride on the ferris wheel. The views here were also fab, and we could pick out all the places we'd seen from our varied modes of transport. I love ferris wheels with their slow stately progress, height and romanticism.

We had an evening swim in the indoor pool once back at the hotel, along with a sauna and a steam. Most relaxing after a hard days tramping around.

The final highlight of a lovely sunny day was a walk along the harbour side as the sun set, and a lobster based seafood platter at No. 7, a little fish restaurant near our hotel.

Today, we explored Badbury Court and Dorchester on the drive home, and both of us were taken with the Summer berry infusion at Char Char in Dorchester.

It was lovely to be greeted with summer rain on Tarmac as we arrived home and a mammoth marrow made a beautiful supper.